Customer Reviews

Early Start Mandarin Chinese with Bao Bei the Panda, Volume 2: Numbers and Fruits

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This product leaves a lot to be desired. Too much English being spoken is my main gripe. I would like to know if these people have any experience teaching a language because there is no reason to give a small child TRANSLATION, which is what they do most of the time. "Ni hao - that's how you say hello in Chinese" is unnecessary to a small child, just show children greeting each other and the viewer in context and saying Ni hao. That's how YOU learned to say hello. Also they waste about 5-10% of the very short DVD with some really repetitive piano music with no talking at all. Sometimes they just shift the scene so you have no idea how it relates to anything. I could go on and on but it's true that kids will watch it, because they use colors, kids and a puppet - all things kids like. But it's way too sparse. It's too bad they wasted a great opportunity with such a below average product - BUT it's better than nothing and there's not much out there so if you have extra money just buy it. But people should stop saying this is a great product. Please.

This DVD is fun and not overwhelming for my two-year-old and my four-year-old. Bao Bei definitely captures their attention (and affection!!) and inspires my children to repeat words and phrases in Chinese. I think that this is a perfect introductory series for English-speaking children. I have tried other DVDs, which had WAY too much information for kids and were too much like drills. The kids in this video are multi-ethnic and of various ages, which I really appreciate. My kids adore Bao Bei and her cricket friend. The quality of this series is tops!

I bought all four DVDs for my 6moold son and I love them too!I am so excited to hear about the recent filming of the next 2 upcoming DVDs. So glad this company is doing these... I bought some "other" DVDs but nothing compares to the quality of yours!

I am a Chinese American while my husband is Caucasian. Although we speak English at home, we really want our daughters to be able to speak Mandarin as well. The Bao Bei DVDs have been great and definitely a hit in our home. My almost 3 year old is always asking to watch Bao Bei and my 10 month old is fascinated by the colors and characters in the DVDs.

What's most fascinating is that my almost 3 year old now can name all the colors as well as count in Mandarin. If you are a parent and want your kids exposed to and learn Mandarin Chinese, definitely get all the Bao Bei DVD series!

I bought this for our toddler, and really appreciate that it is simple and does not over-load kids with a mountain full of information they cannot possible absorb. This DVD keeps it simple, colorful, and to the point, and gives children a chance to feel successful in their learning of Mandarin. We've had a lot of fun with it!

We own all four Early Start Mandarin DVDs and love them! We hope another video will come out soon. My kids have learned a lot from Bao Bei and love to watch the videos over and over again. The videos are entertaining and beautifully filmed. The cast of children is of varying ages and of different ethnicities. The amount of vocabulary taught in each video is not overwhelming to our children, so the videos don't feel like they are drills to our kids. The kids are learning a lot, though!

My 3 year old loves both dvds! She keeps asking for Bao Bei! I've heard her say things in Chinese around the house. I know she's definitely learning, and she's having fun while she's doing it. I don't expect her to be fluent in Chinese by watching a couple of dvds, but I think her pronunciation is quite good and this is a great introduction. Hope they come out with more.



I thought my 5 year old would be too old for this dvd, but she loved it! The colorful dvd really captures her attention. She seems to really enjoy watching the panda. There's the right amount of repetition of the words. Seems like she's picking up some words!

I'm shocked by the previous reviewer's comments. This DVD is meant for kids! My children love to watch Bao Bei and have learned a lot more than 10 words! I'm thrilled that my children prefer to watch Bao Bei over other DVDs and can't wait to get more. We own both volumes 1 and 2 and we hope that there will be a third soon. Our local preschool is now using the Early Start Mandarin DVDs to introduce some Mandarin at our preschool, too. The teachers report that all the kids love it!

Loved volume 2 although it was not as good as the first volume. My 8 year old granddaughter was bored with this one but the 2 year old liked it.

I love that this video series features children of all ages and many ethnicities -- so welcome in our bi-racial household. My kids love repeating after Bao Bei and friends. This DVD series makes my kids WANT to learn more Chinese and encourages my kids to use the vocabulary they learn here. We can't decide which DVD we like best in the series (you can watch them in any order), so our family recommends you get them all.