Wink to Learn Flashcard DVD's are the current rage. To find out more about the product we spoke to the founder Hann Yeng Lee
Did you grow up speaking English and die a little inside every time you had a Mandarin test in school? Did your parents speak to you in crisp English but insist that you and your brothers have tuition for Mandarin with a tutor who always gave you spelling? Are you repeating the whole procedure to your child now?
You are not alone.
Like you, many parents speak to their kids in one language at home but expect them to have good grades in both languages. Singapore has put it across clearly in the past few years that children here are grappling with their second language. I remember having friends in college who opted for the Chinese Language B-Syllabus paper for A-levels, much to the annoyance of the others who were not doing Mandarin and could not enjoy the same format of the paper for their second language.
As a working parent, whatever little time you have at the end of the day to spend with your little one, I’m sure you’d rather not spend it teaching him Mandarin spelling words or English vocabulary. But what if he could learn it in the shortest time, have fun while learning and still spend time with you (and perhaps, you could brush up on yours as well)?
If you’re sold on that, say hello to WINKtoLEARN Flashcard DVDs. These DVDs have an aim to help children (and even adults) learn the Chinese language effectively. Former head of the business division in a company, Mr. Lee Han Yang, is now the managing director of WinktoLearn. He begin this in 2006 after watching his wife teach their little girl words, using the flash card method. TheAsianParent.com caught up with Mr. Hann Yang Lee to find out more about this effective product of learning.
TheAsianParent (TAP) : Hi Mr. Lee, when was this company started?
Mr. Lee (M.L) : The product development work started in 2006 whereby we formed a group of experienced Chinese teachers, early childhood specialists and also multimedia experts. We had also send our professional photography crew over 6 continents to take pictures. I am DAD-preneur!
TAP: What make you decide to go into this?
M.L : We see a problem in Singapore society esp. in Chinese. Kids are getting more and more against the language. Parents have difficulty and lack the know-how to introduce English and Chinese effectively to their children. We believe in flashcards and our children had been learning using flashcards. It's highly effective but one has to be mindful to manage the important elements of flashcards to ensure effectiveness for speed of flashing, size of fonts, real image association and frequency of flashing and etc.
Over the past 45 years, there is so much proven research done on flashcard methodology and early childhood learning. For mothers and fathers, there are indeed so much efforts and time behind flashing and hence we decided to help more families by creating WINK to LEARN Flashcard DVDs.
TAP : Why did you decide on DVDs rather than PC CD-ROMs?
M.L : It’s easier to slot in the DVD in the player, especially if the children are being looked after by a helper or their grandparents who would be more DVD savvy then computer savvy.
TAP : Do schools use this or is it more for home use?
M.L : Yes. Some pre-schools, kindergartens and even Chinese teachers in primary schools use our programs. But the main purpose of our programs is to help children in learning Chinese and English AT HOME. Today, the problem lies within our homes. We are no longer using Chinese frequently or we no longer speak proper English.
TAP : What is the age group for the programs?
M.L : Age group is from 6 months old till 7 years old.
TAP : Is the product popular with the overseas market?
M.L : Overseas web orders are increasing over the months. We sell to Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, USA, UK, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
WINK to LEARN DVD programs are available here and also at major department stores and bookstores (Takashimaya, Isetan, Popular and Robinsons)
