Hello everyone!

I'm Andy, a community tutor from the USA who's been struggling a bit with a wonderful student, of mine, who is 8 years old! To be more specific, teaching him Chinese. We've done quite a few, and will continue to do many more, (including one a day for this month, August) but my current method doesn't really seem to lead him to retain all the vocab. Grammar is another question entirely! (and for someone of his age, should be taught in an intuitive rather than explicit manner)

We've been working with the "Zhongwen" textbook series for kids, the same one I remember from my childhood, actually. Right now, we are halfway through the first book. We go over vocab, and he seems to remember quite a bit, but really conversation using these words and basic verbs, is a bit of a struggle!

For example, I try to do very simple exercises like asking him "Do you have a dog?" "Do you have a cat?" "Do you have a ..." to drill in that structure, and also have him ask me some.

I know I'm probably missing something, like games and more fun, memorable stuff for his young mind. Also, it's hard to motivate him to do homework (which he seldom does). I'm not the biggest fan of homework, but have given him really simple 10 minute exercises to do (which he doesn't really do...) for each class. I don't really know how to motivate him!

He has made significant progress, though I am worried that it isn't enough for the many hours we have been working together. Does anyone have tips or suggestions? They'd be much appreciated!

**Also, if anyone is looking for someone to chat about any language, I can help with French, English, or Chinese. Or if you have questions about italki, animals, life, or anything in general! I'm all ears!**