Understanding Mandarin the easy way

I started my primary education in a Chinese school which still stands today, located along Jalan Davidson, opposite the Stadium Negara.  For two years, I struggled with the language even in its simplest form.  Eventually, looking at how miserable I was, my father then decided to transfer me to an English school.  Since then I have personally sidelined the language much to my regret.

Now with the economic rise of China, Mandarin has become so important that Europeans and the Americans are putting great emphasis on the study of the language as part of their school curriculum.  They realise if they don't master the language, it will be a hindrance to them in trading with this great middle kingdom.

I stumbled upon this video while researching for articles on the internet, and after viewing it, I am just wondering how was it that my 'laoshu' did not apply this technique in his teaching of the Mandarin language. If he had, I would have begun to love the language and maybe go on to mastering the language indepth, and today, proficiently speaking it.  Well, maybe the idea was not thought of in the 50s then.