Chinese language teaching aid for 4-year-old children
Vilnius Academy of Arts
Supervisor Doc. Rita Brakauskaitė
Nowadays it is common to speculate that the future will unavoidably be related to the Chinese language. Parents who decide to teach their children Chinese from very early age are usually cosmopolitans who think a lot about the modern future and about securing the welfare of their children.
The publication’s initial concept was developed into a teaching aid set that consists of a box, a publication and a cards puzzle game.
The publication’s educational process is facilitated by playful elements – the puzzle, as well as tasks of coloring, drawing, joining dots and tracing lines. Every new topic begins with a QR code which can be scanned in order to access an online dictionary, review vocabulary and find out the pronunciation of words. The shifting colors of every topic add to the playfulness and general structure of the teaching aid.
A fictional character Ming, accompanied by his family members, becomes a guide who helps to follow the path of learning a language. Illustrations were drawn using a graphics tablet and supplemented with textures.
The set’s box was designed so that it would be easy to take out the booklet (by affixing a special strip into the inner structure). The box had magnets installed in its lid and the interior part for ensuring that it can be closed tightly.
This creative work was commission by a teacher of the Chinese language who had revealed that Chinese language teaching aids in Lithuanian are extremely scarce. Since the need for such teaching aids was obvious, the decision was made to start the series from this publication aimed at 4-year-olds. The methodology was prepared by the teacher, however, all the information had to be systematized, formatted and put into a design.
