Learning Chinese (Primary/Preschool)

[tamarind]

Dear all parents,

Please read my blog :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-raise-bilingual-child.html

Even though your kids are already over 10 years old, you can still read any of the excellent Chinese story books listed in my blog. The story books have a very high standard and may be challenging even to secondary school students.

Please remember that if you want your kids to do well in a subject, you should develop the love for the language, the best method is to read as many interesting story books as possible. I would advise you to let the child read at least 10000 words a week. It will become a very enjoyable experience if you choose good books. Both my kids often laugh when they are reading Chinese story books.

Memorizing compositions will only make kids think that they are \"forced\" to learn the language for the sole purpose of passing exams. They are going to hate the language in the future. I know many adults who are incompetent in Chinese even though they do well in Chinese up to A levels. One of my colleague who took higher Chinese in school, does not even recognize the Chinese word for soup when in China. He said that he hated Chinese and simply threw away everything after the exams. Remember that as parents, we should be concerned not only about getting good grades for exams. Being good at 2 languages, English and Chinese, are important life skills for our kids when they grow up.

I hope that parents do more research and find out what are the correct methods of teaching Chinese, instead of just focusing on how to get good grades in exams. I heard many parents complaining that Chinese is difficult to learn, that is because they have used the wrong methods. The fact is that if you use the correct methods, Chinese can be very fun and easy to learn.

Anyway, if you heard of students who memorize model essays and get high marks, that is because their foundation in Chinese is already very good. They could have already read tons of Chinese novels. That is why they can write so well. If your child's foundation is weak, memorizing essays is not going to help.

When I was in RGS, I was able to write Chinese essays effortlessly, and I often score the highest marks in class. I never memorized any essays. All I did was to read Chinese books extensively. I was crazy about Wu Xia novels back then and often read until pass midnight. The \"side effect\" was that I get very high marks and I only spent very little time studying the Chinese textbook.

[wonderm]

To share my experience. I used to think it is "horrible" to ask the kids to memorise compo. I still think it is more ideal to build a strong foundation in the language by reading widely and use the language in daily life as much as possible. However, when my DS1 was in P6 and when I saw the standard of his Chiinese compo, I started to change my mind and asked him to memorise some good phrases and a few good compo. The process of memorising is indeed very painful but I did not force him, just told him I know it is hard, but it would be good if he can do it. The purpose is not to cover all topics in the hope that he can "use" the same model compo in an exam. Instead, memorising helped him to be able to come up with more fluent sentences. Come DS2, I started the process earlier when he was half way through P5. Both of them had no Chinese tuition. DS1 got A and DS2 got A* for PSLE. Once we are over the hurdle of PSLE, I get the boys to read more Chinese books. In the long run, that is the better way to learn and appreciate the language.

[pixiedust]

wonderm:

.. The process of memorising is indeed very painful but I did not force him, just told him I know it is hard, but it would be good if he can do it. The purpose is not to cover all topics in the hope that he can \"use\" the same model compo in an exam. Instead, memorising helped him to be able to come up with more fluent sentences. ...DS1 got A and DS2 got A* for PSLE.....

Thanks for your sharing and congrats on your dss excellent results !
We use the same strategy too !

[Chenonceau]

I am getting rather good results with this digital audio method of memorising compos. See link here again (so you don't have to scroll back up)


http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2010/12/reaching-tipping-point-for-chinese.html

Enjoyable
I know this sounds odd but Little Boy actually told me that it was enjoyable because...

(1) he is in control (he likes to be his own boss, and Grandma used to micro manage him, telling him what to do for every little thing). This way, he owns the whole process. A little like what wonderm suggests. I didn't force. I proposed the method and we discussed it in the light of the impending PSLE... as well as the implications of continuing to do poorly in Chinese.

(2) he actually feels that he is learning a lot more in less time

(3) he feels good about being able to weave Chinese proverbs into his compositions with far less effort than before

(4) he thinks the stories are beautifully written and he was amused by a few specially evocative phrases

(5) he likes teaching me all the new words he had learnt

Parent Illiterate in Chinese
Because I am illiterate in Chinese (I never had the opportunity to learn it) I cannot do many of the things suggested in the other thread. But I wholeheartedly agree that extensive reading is better. This audio accompaniment to compo memorising is my way of kickstarting an extensive reading process.

High Quality Texts to Stimulate Pleasure More than Grades
I considered that if the quality of English model compos published in Singapore were anything to go by, then I didn't want my son memorising the equivalent Chinese model compos. I went to Beijing to get their compendium of the best 1000 compos produced by PRC students at their own PSLE Chinese exam.

I got my husband to read 3 or 4 randomly to me, they were very beautifully written. I was particular about the quality of writing, less because of scoring good grades but more because reading pleasure is closely associated with quality. Some texts may have lovely phrases but the language is still flat and tasteless.

A Different Approach Because Parent is Illiterate
At the end of the day, my intent is still to have him enjoy reading. When he was little, I read to him from beautiful English text and poetry. They weren't easy texts but he enjoyed them. Today, he tops the class frequently in his English compos and scores above 90 for English. But that is because he is a voracious reader in English, able at P4 to read Sherlock Holmes unabridged.

I cannot read to/with him in Chinese, so I rely on an audio recording. I cannot choose Chinese books with him so I went straight for the compendium of beautiful essays written by the best in China's PSLE. The language is very enjoyable. The stories are short and so Little Boy gets the satisfaction of completing a story quickly... and that motivates him to go on to the next essay.

So far, it has worked very well. However, in the next step, I will need to figure out a way to help him choose storybooks.

[Chenonceau]

jedamum:

pixiedust:

I am also getting ds to memorise compos. It seems to be working as he is more confident and writes more fluidly.

how to memorise compo when there are so many possible topics to be tested? :?

Hmmmm... I wasn't getting him to memorise for potential topics in order to write them out \"as it is\" during exams. Otherwise I wouldn't have chosen to use model compos from China, where the topics and rubrics are different from our PSLE.

I wanted him to learn to enjoy the language, and build up his exposure to it. Then I hoped that with a better feel for the language and a stronger base of vocabulary. It's only because I am illiterate in Chinese that I resorted to this method of exposing him to high quantities of good quality writing.

But you know... I am still keeping my fingers crossed... But reading the postings in here and the other thread encourage me. Otherwise, I feel so hopeless. I myself am illiterate.... how to help my son.

[tamarind]

Chenonceau,

One very good series of Chinese story books 笑猫日记 is available in Singapore. My girl likes this series very much. It is very suitable for P6 kids, in fact, many P6 kids may find it challenging to read. These books are some of the best selling books in China. It is written by a well established author in China. I believe that 12 year old kids cannot possibly write better than an experienced adult author.

I will be adding more books to the long list of good books in my blog.

There is no need to feel hopeless because you don't know Chinese. You can also send your son to enrichment classes like Tien Hsia and Berries. I know that they have many non-Chinese students who scored A* in Chinese every year.

Berries use 笑猫日记 in their upper primary classes, while Tien Hsia uses 马小跳 series, both are written by the same author. Both series of books are available at Popular bookshop.

For your information, it is very easy to order books from China through dangdang.com which has a huge collection of good books.

I found this book of 1000 best essays :
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20383611

It can be shipped to Singapore for a shipping charge of about ￥18.

[tamarind]

To other parents,

I want to emphasize that you should never force kids to memorize essays. Not unless they choose to do so on their own. But it is good to have such books around as a reference.

I wrote this earlier and I want to emphasize again :
Anyway, if you heard of students who memorize model essays and get high marks, that is because their foundation in Chinese is already very good. They could have already read tons of Chinese novels. That is why they can write so well. If your child’s foundation is weak, memorizing essays is not going to help.


To other parents whose kids are still young,
Do aim to read as many Chinese story books with your kids as possible. Your kids will have a much easier time in upper primary.

[Brenda10]

tamarind:

Chenonceau,

One very good series of Chinese story books 笑猫日记 is available in Singapore. My girl likes this series very much. It is very suitable for P6 kids, in fact, many P6 kids may find it challenging to read. These books are some of the best selling books in China. It is written by a well established author in China. I believe that 12 year old kids cannot possibly write better than an experienced adult author.

I will be adding more books to the long list of good books in my blog.

I want to emphasize to other parents that you should never force kids to memorize essays. Not unless they choose to do so on their own.

Yes. The books are very interesting and well written. E.g. The # 10 book is about 笑猫 and his family was in the scene of 大地震. Their 惊心动魄experience, son of 笑猫 and other animals become rescuer team etc. So happen dd had watched the 唐山大地震 and this help her further understand those scenes and circumstances that described in the story.

[tamarind]

Brenda10,

Nice to see you in this thread

Book 10 sounds interesting ! I must go and order that, currently I have the first 9 books in the series.

I remember that you show your P5 daughter Chinese TV series right ? Any more good ones to recommend ? I must start to let my kids watch Chinese swordsman series, I used to be crazy about these shows when in primary / secondary school.

I think that watching Chinese TV series is a good way to learn Chinese, especially if we can find those DVDs that have Chinese subtitles. Then the child can listen as well as read the words.

[Brenda10]

tamarind:

Brenda10,

Nice to see you in this thread

Book 10 sounds interesting ! I must go and order that, currently I have the first 9 books in the series.

I remember that you show your P5 daughter Chinese TV series right ? Any good ones to recommend ? I must start to let my kids watch Chinese swordsman series, I used to be crazy about these shows when in primary / secondary school.

I think that watching Chinese TV series is a good way to learn Chinese, especially if we can find those DVDs that have Chinese subtitles. Then the child can listen as well as read the words.

Hi Tamarind

Yes. TV series is the best way to buck up the CL especially its come with only Chinese sub-title. Last year dd watch the 还珠格格 and 9 pm CL show, . This year she finished 倚天屠龙记 and now we are watching 三国。 I would highly recommend 三国 DVD (95 episode) as the show is very interesting. Many cheng yu were originated from those historical stories and by watching all these shows in fact are the best channel to understand and apply it.