Children from Beijing Meiliyuan Kindergarten sang "China-World," winner of the Second Olympic Songs Solicitation Campaign, in unison with their friend Zenia, an 11-year-old British girl.

"Run like the wind, you can run faster, swim like a fish to reach your goal," they warbled. "Jump to the sky, fly like an arrow, play for your team with heart and soul."

Although it was the first time the children had met Zenia in person, the little girl was by no means a stranger to them. They already knew her voice from the songs and stories in "Yellow House English," a series of English learning materials for kids under the age of 7.

Zenia is the series narrator and sometimes singer, but the creator of the songs and stories is her mother, linguist and musician Claire Selby.

Although Yellow House materials are available in five countries, the series was still just an idea five years ago.

Selby moved to Poland with her husband and eight-week-old daughter Zenia in 1994.

The girl had to learn Polish to speak to other children. Learning very quickly she could soon sing and even tell stories in Polish in her preschool days.

While Zenia could speak fluent Polish, her mother found it hard to master the language.

"When I say a two-word phrase, people will say that the first word is good, and the other is a disaster," said Selby.

She watched how her daughter learned Polish and discovered music played a critical role.

"Music seems the best way to approach children," she said. "Whatever nationality we are, we all love rhymes, we love songs."

The parents of some of Zenia's Polish classmates asked Selby if she could teach their children English. She could not find any suitable teaching aids so, being a musician and Oxford educated linguist, decided to create them herself.

Selby found inspiration for the songs and stories by watching the children.

"Children are so creative themselves," she said. "They are very true to the emotional response. They provide a lot of inspiration."

Within a year she had finished the first series of songs. They were all about things children liked, such as hide-and-seek, picnics, teddy bears and dinosaurs. The stories were written around the songs in very simple language, helping the children understand the songs and allowing their parents to be involved in the learning process.

"The fundamental thing is that it has to be enjoyable," said Selby. "In their own simple language, English becomes natural instead of unnatural."

She decided it would be best if the narrator was a bilingual child who spoke clear English and Polish, because she thought the child students would respond well to a child teacher.

Searching for a suitable candidate did not take her very long her daughter fitted the bill perfectly. In the following studio tests everyone, adults and children alike, loved Zenia's voice, so she became the singer and narrator. Children from the British School in Warsaw were also invited to sing the songs.

Immediate success

In 2001, a Polish radio station gave Zenia her own program, even though she was only 7 years old.

The series became an instant hit. The Polish Ministry of Education recommended it for use in all schools in 2003. In the following year it was awarded the prize for the best educational product for children in Poland. "It feels good to deliver a language to other children," said Zenia.

Her audience also enjoy listening to her voice. In Beijing, Zenia was welcomed by pupils that study her series on her first trip to the capital.

"I can follow the songs, and I like sister Zenia," said 5-year-old Chen Yiqian. She often takes the lead when singing Yellow House tunes in class.

Zhao Zewei, a 5-year-old boy fond of pulling faces, said although it was rather difficult to learn the songs, he liked trying to sing along to the music all the same.

"Chinese kids are confident, open, and not afraid to say 'hello'," said Selby.

Zenia was impressed by her Chinese counterparts. "Most of them were very good children," she said. "In very small ways they were different from kids in other countries I've been. They like to copy, but in very good ways, for copying is also a good way of learning language."

Olympic song

Meeting her little Chinese friends was only part of Zenia and her mother's trip to Beijing.

They received an award from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games for "China-World," a song written by Selby and sung by her daughter that was chosen as one of 10 official tunes.

"When I heard that Beijing had won the Olympic Games for 2008, I thought it would be wonderful for children around the world to learn more about China, and for the Chinese children to have a way to contact with children around the world," said Selby.

Although the song is simple it conveys a powerful message about winning.

Selby also wrote the song because she believes that English will play a key role at the Olympics.

In China the buzz around learning English has continued since the 1980s, and the language is becoming even more popular as the 2008 Games approach.

But there is a growing concern about the possible decline of traditional culture going hand in hand with the fever for speaking English. The linguist thinks the opposite is true.

"I believe very strongly that the future lies in the countries around the world where all the people share and understand each other's culture," she said.

"English is not about changing a culture - it is just a commodity for communication."

(China Daily August 2, 2005)