Shaolan Hsueh - the genius behind Chineasy

Children have a natural aptitude for learning new languages and as their vocabulary in their own native language progresses, it's the easiest time to introduce them to other languages as they progress through early years development.

We've been contacted by the developers of a new project called Chineasy - with the aim of introducing children (and adults) to the complex and sometimes seemingly unapproachable world of learning Chinese.

Behind the programme is Shaolan Hsueh, a businesswoman and entrepreneur who has developed an extremely visual and approachable way of closing the gap between eastern and western culture and language gaps.

Chineasy has a Kickstarter campaign which you can join in with here. 

Chineasy's visual approach to learning a language is a natural fit for children.

We've taken a look at some of the example words and images that are used in the learning programme and they're smart and intuitive.

It's a brilliant idea, which will at least help with the character recognition aspects of learning chinese characters and it'd be great to see it come with phonetic and spoken stuff eventually too (it already looks like a system that would lend itself very well to app-based learning).


Stop by the Chineasy Facebook Page  or visit the website for more information on this interesting project.

Pink Ethel, always packs her trunk before she goes on holiday!

Samantha and Diana are two story-loving sisters who contacted us to let us know all about their fantastic web site and blog "Stories For my Little Sister". Reading their letter to parents on the site instantly made me realise they were our favourite kind of folk. Book folk who can't wait to share their stories with the rest of the world.

Samantha (who writes) and her little sister Diana (who draws and loves Star Trek, so instantly wins us over!) have put the site and the resources together themselves completely free for parents and children to enjoy. I loved reading their bio which made me giggle and loved hearing that they (like us) grew up in an environment where a love of reading was encouraged and built on. Absolutely perfect for our #readitmummiesanddaddies2013 campaign! Yay!

So let's take a look at the site.

The lovely lass who graces the top of this post is Pink Ethel, an elephant who isn't quite sure she fits in (we know the feeling!) Read her story along with lots of others in the site's Books section. Lots of stories to enjoy (and best of all, the site works on an iPad or other PDF-enabled e-reader so you can enjoy the stories 'on the go' too!)

Along with stories, there are lots of other fun things to look at on the site. For instance, Harrison's Blog tells you all about a rather dashing little Hamster and his adventures. Dive in, you'll be surprised what the furry little fellah gets up to!

If you're a puzzle addict, the next section is just for you. There are lots of fun games, activities and resources to download and print out - particularly useful if your little ones are enjoying half term (Charlotte had hers last week but these are still great to print out for school activities or even to doodle away with in the car on a long journey!)

For budding artists there are lots of colouring and drawing activities to download and print in the next section. Break out your best crayons and colour the fabulous characters from Samantha and Diana's stories.

And there's still more! Wow! There are cards to print and colour too, for a whole range of occasions such as moving house, birthdays and fun parties. Make some hats to go with them and you're bound to have a brilliant time.

Last but by no means least, if you love the characters in the stories you can download some wallpapers to use as decorations on your desktop.

We loved this site, there's so much to see and do and though we only managed to take a very short look at each section we're very sure we'll be coming back for more activities, and to keep up with Harrison the Hamster on his blog.

Fab stuff Samantha and Diana, we LOVE what you do!

Charlotte's best bit: Annabella the Aardvark (who wants to be a rock star!)

Daddy's favourite bit: Such a packed site with a real love of stories and characters shining through with every click of the mouse. Utterly lovely!