Teaching Chinese at Home

[toddles]

Hi everyone!


it's me again. currently in a bit of rut with the 好妈妈 book although I'm at 第五章 already whoohoo! it's the december slow-down that is retarding my brains.

anyway.

question! do mummies who are fluent in mandarin (but instinctively speak/dream in english) still send their kids to berries? I vaguely recall that tamarind 姐 did / does? I had bought the whole 四五快读 and am barely starting on it, but wondering whether i should sign my kid up for N1 berries instead/ as well?

from the recent feedback on berries, it just seems so fun and such a good way to expose non-chinese speaking kiddos to the language.

confess it's also the temptation for slacker mum me not to be so 呕心沥血in this journey... i foresee that going thru 四五快读 will cost much more in terms of time and energy than the berries fees.

[tamarind]

toddles:

Hi everyone!


it's me again. currently in a bit of rut with the 好妈妈 book although I'm at 第五章 already whoohoo! it's the december slow-down that is retarding my brains.

anyway.

question! do mummies who are fluent in mandarin (but instinctively speak/dream in english) still send their kids to berries? I vaguely recall that tamarind 姐 did / does? I had bought the whole 四五快读 and am barely starting on it, but wondering whether i should sign my kid up for N1 berries instead/ as well?

from the recent feedback on berries, it just seems so fun and such a good way to expose non-chinese speaking kiddos to the language.

confess it's also the temptation for slacker mum me not to be so 呕心沥血in this journey... i foresee that going thru 四五快读 will cost much more in terms of time and energy than the berries fees.

toddles 妹妹,
I found the 四五快读 books only when my girl has completed K2 in Berries in December last year. Sending my kids to Berries definitely build up their foundation in Chinese, so it is very easy to use the 四五快读 books to teach them. The 四五快读 books are of a higher standard then Berries, and they are excellent for supplementing the Berries materials.

My boy is attending Berries K2 class this year, and his teacher commented that he does not pay attention in class, but then he is among the top 1 or 2 students in class. Our secret is the 四五快读 books He has completed book 6. The truth is that he is feeling bored in Berries class because he does not find the lessons challenging.

It is definitely possible to use the 四五快读 books to teach at home, and save the money at Berries. It actually does not take a lot of time and energy every day. It is important that parents read the first 30 pages of book 1 to understand the correct methods. I spent less than 30 minutes everyday teaching my son. But parents must have the discipline to put in at least 15 to 30 minutes everyday. Note that every child is different, it may take up to 2 years to complete the 6 books. My girl only took about 3 months to complete the books because she was almost 7 years when she started. When I was teaching her, she told me that she did not need to play any games, just point and read will do. For younger kids, you definitely need to use games to teach.

If parents are not confident that they can be that disciplined, then sending kids to Berries and using 四五快读 books at home will definitely make your work easier.

Note that after completing the 四五快读 books, parents should continue to let your kids read as many Chinese story books as possible. About 1 year after completing the 四五快读 books, my girl is now reading long Chinese novels fluently. This would not have been possible if I only sent her to Berries.

[toddles]

谢谢你！说地有道理。。。should still try 四五快读 since I’ve already bought it… started reading from pg 10 where i left off the last time… 15-30 mins a day for 一删课 is quite short / doable… i think kids at this age won’t take to anything longer than that anyhow. now to finish reading the first 30 pages and cut out the flash cards… wondering if I should get a nice togoyo box with compartments to store them…


will probably go for berries trial, and see whether I should let her go from N1 or maybe can start at N2…

yes, bought quite a lot of books from dangdang too! think can last her well into primary school heh heh. excited about the day she can read the simple ones to me!

[wyou]

Hi tamarind,


May I know where can u buy the books from dangdang in china? Any particular bookstore? If I order, can they send to the hotel? Need 3 days in advance?

Tks a lot!

[tamarind]

wyou:

Hi tamarind,


May I know where can u buy the books from dangdang in china? Any particular bookstore? If I order, can they send to the hotel? Need 3 days in advance?

Tks a lot!

When I was working in China, I did not bother to visit the bookshops. This is because no bookshop in China can compare with dangdang, both in terms of variety and pricing.

dangdang does deliver to hotels. You need to be able to complete address of the hotel in Chinese, and you need a local mobile phone number so that the delivery man can call you. They support cash on delivery, so you do not need any credit card. You pay cash only when you accept the books.

Just before you place the order, you can check the location of each book. If all the books are in the city that you are located in, then it should take about 2 to 3 days to deliver. If one book has to come from another city, then it can take up to 1 week.

Make sure you select the following at dangdang.com :
送货方式
普通快递送货上门，周一至周五

付款方式
货到付款

[tamarind]

toddles:

谢谢你！说地有道理。。。should still try 四五快读 since I've already bought it... started reading from pg 10 where i left off the last time... 15-30 mins a day for 一删课 is quite short / doable... i think kids at this age won't take to anything longer than that anyhow. now to finish reading the first 30 pages and cut out the flash cards... wondering if I should get a nice togoyo box with compartments to store them...

I bought small ziploc bags from Daiso, $2 for 20 to 30 pieces, and put the cards for one lesson in one bag. More organized that way.

[wyou]

Hi tamarind,


Tks very much for the info...think itz more troublesome to get it from china. Will try to order from sin instead.:)

Cheers!

[hquek]

tamarind:

wyou:

Hi tamarind,


May I know where can u buy the books from dangdang in china? Any particular bookstore? If I order, can they send to the hotel? Need 3 days in advance?

Tks a lot!

When I was working in China, I did not bother to visit the bookshops. This is because no bookshop in China can compare with dangdang, both in terms of variety and pricing.

So very true. I've been to the so called biggest bookshops in Beijing, in Macau, in Shenzhen....many of DD's bestselling titles cannot be found in these bookshops.

[Brenda10]

tamarind:

Brenda10:

[quote=\"tamarind\"]Hi Brenda10,

You are welcome

My daughter is now reading 幸福的鸭子, a book in the 笑猫日记 series. She enjoyed it very much and often laughed when she was reading. The writing of the book is equivalent to adult books in the choice of words.

However, note that one or two of the books are quite dark, like in one book, the cat's youngest baby died shortly after childbirth, and the cat family spent a long time grieving. So parents who have kids who are very sensitive, you may want to pre-read each book first. You may want to keep the books with themes of death, etc, to when the child is older (like in secondary school).

Hi Tamarind

So happen this was the 1st book: 小猫出生在秘密山洞 that we read. DD is aware of 生离死别 is a path everyone has to go through. As such just learn to be happy and treasure what ever is with her.

BTW, she has left 40+ pages to go and I will get in the rest a.s.a.p. since she likes it.

She also told me some of her classmates who are very good in CL compo. also reading these serial of books.

Hi Brenda,
It is good that your DD is matured enough to read these books :D[/quote]Hi Tamarind

I'm happy to share with you that now dd is in no. 9 book and 3 more to go we will complete the entire 12 books.

I also get a few 马小跳 story books which have some 人物 that are related to xiao mao ri ji.

Hopefully by reading all these books during school holiday dd can improve in her compo. next year.


Thank you and have a nice day.

[ksme]

Brenda10:

Hi Tamarind

I'm happy to share with you that now dd is in no. 9 book and 3 more to go we will complete the entire 12 books.

I also get a few 马小跳 story books which have some 人物 that are related to xiao mao ri ji.

Hopefully by reading all these books during school holiday dd can improve in her compo. next year.


Thank you and have a nice day.

Wow, your dd really enjoys reading this series. Happy for her.

I hope my DS will like it too. Do you think this series appeal to boys too? I ordered it and I think it will not arrive until next year. You bought it at the Bras Basah Bookshop right? How much you paid for it? I tried borrowing from the library but it was out on loan. Maybe I should buy the马小跳 story books for him in the meantime while waiting for the books to arrive from China. Do you think boys will like马小跳?