Chinese youth said | 13-year-old "educational blogger"
The video number "Yangliuyiyi's Primary School", daily "Popular Science" English slang, also shares ancient Chinese poems and stories of Canadian middle school life;
Sometimes, I will show you how to play the Guzheng, how to successfully see sharks and dolphins at sea...
Only 4 months after its opening, it was ranked 51st on the “Top 100 Educational Bloggers’ English Learning from the Media” list. It has been in operation for more than a year, and its fans have reached more than 500,000;
And this "education blogger" is only 13 years old this year...
In this issue of "Chinese Youth Talk", Chinese Canadian girl Yang Liu Yiyi and her mother told the story of their growing up together.
The following is the story of Yang Liu Yiyi’s mother:
The new crown pneumonia epidemic has changed the lives of people all over the world.
When the epidemic first started in 2020, we were in Vancouver, Canada. Although the epidemic was not serious, there were many restrictions. Adults could not go to work and socialize normally, children could not go to school and play, and a family stayed together 24 hours a day.
I think, idle is also idle, find something to do for yourself and your children!
One day, I opened WeChat "Discover", and I was pleasantly surprised to see that a video account can be opened on WeChat!
So at a family dinner table meeting one day, I proposed to let Yangliu Yiyi open a video account, and also agreed with Yiyi: keep it up!
work together!
In July, the WeChat video account began to be promoted.
Before we knew it, we went from summer to autumn, from autumn to winter, and another new year in the blink of an eye. We have persisted until now, without detailing, I can't believe it.
At the beginning, I made a video account with my child, mainly to cultivate her ability to express in Chinese and English.
Before, in order to consolidate Yiyi's Chinese, we insisted on letting her study in the fourth grade of elementary school in China before coming to Canada.
After that, her father and I were worried that Yiyi would lose Chinese. We have been trying to find a way for our children to consciously improve their Chinese language learning ability.
Video number is a good platform.
When we first recorded video, it was not all smooth sailing.
I remember that the first filming started with "Today in History".
At that time, I needed to give advice and draw up an outline. Regarding unfamiliar characters and events, Yiyi and I communicated back and forth many times.
When filming, Yiyi often forgot his lines or even made a mistake because of nervousness.
The direct result is that a short video needs to be shot back and forth many times, making it jumpy.
About half a month later, I once chatted with a local neighbor, and the neighbor said a slang term. I didn't understand it. I came back to ask Yiyi. This gave us inspiration.
Later, I negotiated with Yiyi to record slang terms or the video account, because it is closely integrated with life and is often used in daily language communication.
Yiyi particularly agrees. It was easy to record, and it has been more than a year unknowingly.
Learn both Chinese and English, and you can do two things with one stone!
In addition to consolidating language learning, the video account also cultivated Yiyi's expressive skills.
In our home, a family dinner table meeting is held every day to encourage Yang Liu Yiyi to express her views. For example, the U.S. general election, the BC provincial election, and the difference between equality and justice are all dinner table topics.
Of course there are limitations.
Many children are articulate in private, but when they face the camera, they blush and stammer when they stand on the podium.
The video number allows Yiyi "Family Expression" to smoothly enter "Public Expression".
If you look closely at "Yang Liu Yiyi's Primary School", you can clearly see that Yang Liu Yiyi is improving little by little. From the look of eyes, smile to posture, he has greatly improved, and now he is more natural and relaxed.
At the beginning, a video may have to be recorded many times, but now it can take shape at once.
We have accumulated some unintentional experience in making the video account all the way, and we can share it with you.
First of all, I think that a good video must have good content and "story thinking", that is, use stories to create content.
The second is content focus.
We have selected "English learning" in many fields and have always focused on this vertical segmentation field, so it is easy to be identified.
The other is to insist on originality.
Each issue of our video is specially filmed with real people.
Compared with many other video accounts, the like rate of "Yangliuyiyi's Primary School" is not too high, but it is average, stable, and growing.
Parents often write to me in private, saying, "Yang Liu Yiyi shoots videos, updates videos, and watches too many mobile phones, which may have an impact on schoolwork and bad eyesight." I have all considered these issues.
Therefore, Yangliu Yiyi has a limit on the time he can refresh the video on weekdays.
As a parent, I used to be troubled by issues such as "Does the child use a mobile phone", but I was relieved after opening the video account.
One of the important strategies is "play with children".
First of all, parents should change their minds.
The "video account" is not just a matter of business, it is not a process of doing business, it is a learning process, an experience of the child's growth process, so that you will not feel like a waste of time.
Secondly, we must do a good job division of labor.
The video number was made by Yiyi and I. Her job is to discuss topic selection, check information, and shoot.
I do the video upload work.
Of course, Canadian elementary education is mainly relaxed, and the homework pressure is not great; after entering the middle school, the pressure will be great, depending on the situation.
In addition, time should be arranged reasonably.
At the weekend, we decided on the topic of the week, focused on shooting and editing for two days, and uploaded it day by day.
In this order, the video number lasted for one period. Although busy, it was indeed full of rewards!
When it comes to gains, the most direct benefit is that during the epidemic, direct communication between people has been reduced, but through the video account, you can reach the society and interact with people.
Another important role is to cultivate children's sense of accomplishment.
Everyone may say that Yang Liu Yiyi's video number is on the TOP100, of course, there is a sense of accomplishment, but not everyone can achieve it.
In my opinion: there are small achievements and big surprises.
We got a sense of accomplishment on the first day we made the video. From a few fans to dozens, we were most delighted when we broke through one hundred.
There are a few likes today and a few comments tomorrow. Every day I am happy.
I think that as a parent, you must be clear in your heart: achievement is not the ultimate goal, but progress every day.
The continued persistence of the video account has benefited not only Yang Liu Yiyi, but also myself and my family.
I was busy with business in the country before, and my child was left to the nanny to take care of me since I was young.
But after immigrating to Vancouver, I became a full-time mother, cooking and picking up the children every day, and I had a psychological gap. I hope to find something to enrich myself.
It’s easy to watch the video, but it takes time and energy to plan the topic, search for various materials on the Internet, and confirm the various uses of the vocabulary.
In this process, I learned a lot of knowledge and found that I had misunderstood my language learning, and my English level has improved significantly.
Yiyi's father also changed.
In the beginning, when Yiyi and I discussed the topic selection and filming and production, my dad was not willing to participate. As Yang Liu Yiyi said in the "acceptance speech", my dad was "speaking coldly and watching coldly."
After being ranked on the list, he also actively participated in it. The video number became a topic for the family's dining table and became a family collaboration project, which invisibly enhanced the family's feelings. It was indeed an unexpected gain!
(Source of the manuscript: China Overseas Chinese Network WeChat Official Account; ID: qiaowangzhongguo; Author: Wang Qin)