My new business is up and running!

[Wolfman]

As I've mentioned previously, I've been working very hard over the last year to set up a new business here in China, one that teaches sign language for pre-verbal babies (that is, using sign language to communicate with babies before they can speak). If you haven't heard about it before, or only know a little about it, it could seem very woo-ish; however, plentiful research has been done on both short and long-term benefits, that definitely demonstrate that A) babies can learn to use sign language to communicate before they begin speaking, and B) that learning sign language also facilitates their acquisition of spoken language. Not to mention the significant benefit that parents derive from being able to communicate with their baby and understand what it wants.

I am the very first person to introduce this on an organized basis in China, but considering the huge focus on children, and on education, I expect it to be very popular. The plans are to begin with training centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chongqing, and then from those four cities branch out to the rest of China.

Two weeks ago, we had the soft opening of our first training center in Beijing, and thus far it has gone very well! We're still working out some of the bugs, and refining the program, but overall the response from the parents has been very positive.

Below is a video (in four parts) from one of our training sessions. Its all in Chinese, so most of you won't understand much, but if you're curious to take a look, feel free. Perhaps you can try to guess what the signs they are making mean (Chinese sign language, which we use, is fairly different from American Sign Language). Oh, and just for clarification...we don't teach the babies, we teach the parents. Some of them bring their babies with them, some of them do not.

Part 1
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Part 2
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Part 3
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Part 4
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(You might want to check out Part 2, starting from the five minute mark, and Part 4, both of which have singing and signing together, and is probably more interesting/entertaining for those who don't speak Chinese)

[tkingdoll]

yay! Congrats on your launch :)

[The Atheist]

What kind of response are you getting?

[Matteo Martini]

WolfMan,
just a question: do you speak Chinese fluently?
I mean, not the Chinese Sign Language, but Chinese..
If not, how could you make it without speaking the language?

Thanks.

[Wolfman]

yay! Congrats on your launch :)
Thanks :)
What kind of response are you getting?
Oh, the response is excellent! The first group of parents absolutely love it, and we're getting excellent feedback. And two of the babies have already started using signs after only two weeks (significantly faster than normal), which gets everyone even more enthusiastic about it.
WolfMan,
just a question: do you speak Chinese fluently?
I mean, not the Chinese Sign Language, but Chinese..
If not, how could you make it without speaking the language?

Thanks.
I speak Chinese pretty fluently, yes...I've been in China 14 years. For day-to-day conversation, certainly I have no problem at all. If you get into more professional or specialized discussions, I may have some problems...

...however, I only speak Chinese, I cannot read or write at all. I'm functionally illiterate.

There are, however, tons of foreigners who come and work in China without learning Chinese. There are more than enough Chinese who speak English (at least in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai). Personally, I feel that one should learn the language of the country you are living/working in, but it is not absolutely necessary for living/working in China.

To do what I'm doing -- starting your own business -- speaking Chinese would be significantly more important. But there aren't that many foreigners here starting their own businesses...its a very hard place to do business if you don't know what you're doing (or if you're not a huge multinational with millions of dollars to back you up).

[Matteo Martini]

...however, I only speak Chinese, I cannot read or write at all. I'm functionally illiterate.


I am trying to learn (written) Japanese as well, but it is dam difficult

[The Atheist]

Oh, the response is excellent! The first group of parents absolutely love it, and we're getting excellent feedback. And two of the babies have already started using signs after only two weeks (significantly faster than normal), which gets everyone even more enthusiastic about it.

Bloody good show!

Keep us posted.

[LibraryLady]

One of my nieces taught her two children sign language when they were pre-verbal and the results were stunning. First of all, it was such a relief to be able to communicate with a nine-month-old. No more thinking "What do you want?" Second, it was amazing how many signs they picked up. The little girl, by the time she started talking, already had a vocabulary of about 25 signs. She kept correcting my signs, which was a little embarrassing.

Finally, both these kids, now 5 and almost 2, are amazingly articulate. The little boy talks like he's about 20, but more clearly. My Mom asked him what he wants to be when he grows up, and his reply was, "Well, I'm still considering it."

I can heartily attest that this is indeed not woo, but very practical and a good thing.