Interview | PEOPLE | EDUCATION ASIA | 95
F or families raising children between countries and cultures, language carries something that cannot always be taught from a textbook. It is the sound of family conversations, the ability to speak to relatives in their own words, the stories passed between generations and a connection to a heritage that can become harder to maintain when everyday life takes place in another language. A Mother’s Search for a Better Way Jennifer Huang understood this challenge personally. Raising her children in France, she wanted them to grow up speaking Chinese, comfortable with their cultural identity and able to communicate naturally with family across generations. Yet finding an approach to learning that would genuinely capture their interest proved surprisingly difficult. The choices were familiar to many parents: weekend language schools, private tutors and lessons built around repetition and memorisation. Jennifer wondered whether these traditional approaches could really inspire children to develop a lasting love of the language. After a full week at school, would another set of lessons encourage curiosity, or simply become another obligation? She began looking for something that would make learning Chinese feel less like extra homework and more like a natural part of growing up. With a professional background in marketing, consultancy and technology startups, Jennifer was accustomed to questioning established ways of doing things. Although she had not set out to become an education entrepreneur, she recognised a problem that extended far beyond
Making Chinese Feel Within Reach
her own family. Across international communities, parents were facing similar difficulties, whether they were trying to preserve a heritage language or introduce their children to Chinese for the first time. Her search led to a collaboration with Professor Joël Bellassen, a respected specialist in Chinese language education who served as France's first General Inspector for Chinese Language Teaching. Their shared interest in making Chinese more accessible to young learners "What makes Jennifer's story particularly interesting is that the starting point was not technology. It was an understanding of how children experience learning." laid the foundations for hihilulu. What makes Jennifer's story particularly interesting is that the starting point was not technology. It was an understanding of how children experience learning, and the realisation that even the most academically sound teaching method must find a way to hold a child's attention.
Chinese is frequently described as a difficult language to learn, particularly for children accustomed to alphabet-based writing systems. Its characters can appear daunting, and the relationship between spoken language and written forms brings challenges that are quite different from those encountered when learning many European languages. Jennifer and Professor Bellassen believed these challenges deserved a more thoughtful approach than simply asking children to memorise increasingly long lists of characters. The methodology behind hihilulu draws on Professor Bellassen's research, including his work on Dualism in Chinese language teaching and the Snowballing Method. Instead of treating every new character as an entirely separate piece of information, children begin with 125 foundational character components. Gradually, those components build into recognisable characters, words, phrases and sentences. There is an appealing simplicity to the idea. A language that initially appears unfamiliar becomes easier to approach when children begin recognising patterns and connections. The aim is to help them understand what they are learning, build confidence and experience the satisfaction of making progress. Learning That Continues Beyond the Screen Of course, a carefully designed methodology is only part of the equation. Anyone who has watched a young child lose interest halfway through a lesson knows that the way learning is presented can matter enormously. This is where hihilulu brings together research, imagination and technology. Animated stories
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