Watch Intro Video

Ghibli Acrylics Class

Chinese Immersion Classes

Made Fun Through Art and Story Telling

Welcome! We offer both Mandarin and Cantonese immersion online arts and crafts classes. Please scroll down to find our offerings and course descriptions! Join our Facebook Group and see other's artwork and share your own: Motherly Notes 北美中文教學與童書分享。
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LIVE Classes

Classes taught in zoom. All classes recorded for viewing if you cannot make live classes. We welcome all time zones. You will have access to teachers to ask questions no matter what country you're from.  		Recorded Classes

Classes are view at your own pace and available right away. Some will be recordings from live sessions in the past and others are made only pre-recorded.


Current LIVE Classes (recordings available after class):


1. Doraemon Watercolor Pencil / Craft Class (哆啦A夢）

  • Starts 10/9 Fridays 4PM PST for 6 weeks
  • ~1 to 1.5 hours a lesson
  • Goal: use watercolor pencils and create your own comics in Chinese. Extras include other crafts that go with the theme. 


2. Disney Themed Acrylics Class

  • Starts 10/11 Sundays 10:30 AM PST for 6 weeks. 
  • ~1.5 hours a lesson
  • Goal: use acrylics to draw characters or scenes from Disney favorites. Learn theme related idioms. Sing some songs in Chinese and increase word recognition.


3. Learn 100+ Characters Clay Craft Class

  • Starts 10/7 Wednesdays 3:30 PM PST for 6 weeks.
  • ~1 hour a lesson
  • Goal: Learn 100+ most frequently used characters while listening to picture books and making clay and other craft creations. 


Recorded Classes:

1. Acrylics Beginners

  • Recordings of previous live classes
  • 4 lessons
  • ~ 1.5 hr/lesson
  • Goal: learn 3-4 Chinese idioms a week, 10-15 characters, 3-5 vocabulary phrases, and hopefully squeeze in some sentence structure.


2. Monsters Watercolor Pencil Class: 

  • Recordings of previous classes
  • 4 lessons 
  • ~ 1.5 hr/lesson
  • Goal: learn 3-4 idioms a week, 10-15 characters, 3-5 vocabulary phrases, and create your own monster and present it verbally or written by end of week four by utilizing the vocabulary you've learned. 
  • Age: 5+ (younger ones focus on drawing and verbally telling their own stories while older children can write and present). 


3. Zorori - Reading, Idioms, Craft

  • Recordings of previous classes
  • ~1.5 hours each session
  • Age: 5+
  • Goal: fun, enjoyable Chinese learning environment through comic storytime. We will aim to read through two to three books of 怪傑佐羅力 along with making simple arts & crafts inspired by the stories. We'll highlight and learn 8-10 new idioms each session!


4. Cantonese Air Dry Clay & Story Class

  • Recordings of previous classes
  • ~60 minutes / class
  • Goal: We will read a storybook, learn about 10 characters, 5 - 8 Colloquial / Written Cantonese, and use air-dry clay to create a character or objects in the storybook. 
  • For children 3+


5. Butt Detective Watercolor Pencils Essay Class

  • Recordings of previous classes
  • ~ 1hr/session 
  • Goal: Write or tell your own detective story in Chinese and utilize watercolor pencils and learn color theory. We will be learning vocabulary and idioms along the way. 
  • Age: 5+ (young ones tell stories, older ones write and present)


6. Ghibli/ Miyazaki Acrylic Painting Classes

  • Recordings of previous classes
  • ~1.5 hours to 2 hours each lesson
  • Paint a scene from the books read
  • Focus on key idioms and phrases in the readings
  • Books covered: Totoro and Ponyo
  • Age: whole family welcome.

7. Bedtime Stories

  • Free Course - sampler of classes for what we do. Come join in on the fun! From picture books to bridge, from watercolor to clay.
  • Age 4-9 recommended but all are welcome.


Watch Intro Video

What is Watercolor Pencil?

FAQ

  • How are classes held?

    Classes are held online through zoom. Dates and times are listed on the class site.

  • What if I can't make the time?

    We will be recording all sessions so all lessons will be available for viewing a few hours after the session. Videos will be available for you to view as many times as you wish.

  • I'm in another country, can I still register?

    Absolutely. You can register and view the video replays or if you can join in the live classes at the same time, that would be great too. Video recordings will be available after class.

  • What ages are best for these classes?

    Each class is different but as long as your child can hold a pencil and draw some shapes, we think it will be beneficial for the child to take the class to listen to Chinese and do some art. We will be reading stories in class and learning characters and idioms according to the theme of the week specific to each class. We have kids as young as 4 take the class and up to adults painting along. However, gaining the full benefits of learning painting and color theory, kindergarten or above would be ideal.

  • I have more than one child. Do I need to register for two kids?

    If they are taking the same class, then no. They can sign on together. If they are registering for two separate classes, just pay once per class.

  • How much Chinese background do I need?

    We set up the class for children who can listen to a simple conversation in Mandarin, or children who would like a more immersion experience for a simple art class given in Mandarin. It may be hard for you to follow along if you don't understand any Chinese but the replays will be available so if you'd like to follow along and replay to enforce your own Chinese learning, that's always welcome as well.

  • How many kids will be in class and how much interaction will they get?

    To provide affordable Chinese learning for everyone, we're not limiting the class size. This means your child may or may not get called on during class. We have some free lessons posted in our Facebook group that shows how the lessons will be structured. You can join us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/motherlynotes/.

  • Why are there different number of lessons listed in the courses?

    The number of lessons was counted in the website as how many attachments and videos we have uploaded and some videos needed to be divided into 3 videos due to length so please ignore that number. We're having ONE hour (plus or minus 15 minutes) each week for 4 weeks.

  • What items do I need?

    Please refer to the individual class pages.