Teaching Chinese at Home

[tamarind]

toddles:

I thought speaking is the easiest... just watch enough mandarin TV hahaha...
i think speaking is so much easier to pick up for non-ethnic chinese who want to learn it. there are so many angmohs who speak fluently but cannot write or read at all. same for most languages (e.g. thai).

some of my peers started their kids on Tao shu... but I haven't researched it well enough to decide whether or not to start. It seems like the banana's quick fix to learning chinese.

For children who did not grow up speaking mandarin at home, speaking is most difficult. This is because they will think in English, then translate to Chinese, which is very ineffective. The brain really needs to process fast enough. So unless the child is very smart, he will struggle when he speaks.

In order to speak Chinese very well, we must train kids to think in Chinese too.

[hquek]

toddles:

I thought speaking is the easiest... just watch enough mandarin TV hahaha...
i think speaking is so much easier to pick up for non-ethnic chinese who want to learn it. there are so many angmohs who speak fluently but cannot write or read at all. same for most languages (e.g. thai).

some of my peers started their kids on Tao shu... but I haven't researched it well enough to decide whether or not to start. It seems like the banana's quick fix to learning chinese.

Beg to differ. I had seen my classmates who can't speak chinese for nuts get A2 in O's becos they memorised cheng yu by the dozens and liberally peppered their essays with such - and btw, they failed their oral.

[tamarind]

For parents who think that the sequence of strokes, or 笔顺 is important, just teach the kids these 7 rules will do :


笔顺的口诀有七点：自上而下，从左到右，先中间后左右，先横后竖，先撇后捺，先外后内，先进后关。

Don’t need to spend many years learning the proper strokes of every character.

[toddles]

tamarind:

[quote]
Errr.... I seriously don't think this was based on expert advice. They say it's ok cos boh pian, just a move towards practicality and sacrificing some stuff for the 'larger' good.

I thought we should have trust in MOE right ? Even boh pian, their Chinese experts must also agree to it.

I just hope that they don't lower the standard of Chinese. I would rather that my child can read long Chinese novels at 7 years old, then be very good at Chinese handwriting but cannot read well.[/quote]haha, I guess for a start I don't trust MOE!

the news report says that they cut the P3 and P4 syllabus by 10% (or was it more?). I guess there'll still be SAP schools and LEP (whatever they call it now) for those who can cope with higher standards of mandarin.

One thing I like is the translation course they have introduced in JC. Translation can be the forte of Singaporeans. And good translators/interpreters can make a lot of money on the side!

[toddles]

tamarind:

For parents who think that the sequence of strokes, or 笔顺 is important, just teach the kids these 7 rules will do :


笔顺的口诀有七点：自上而下，从左到右，先中间后左右，先横后竖，先撇后捺，先外后内，先进后关。

Don't need to spend many years learning the proper strokes of every character.

that's a neat 口诀, but on this 先中间后左右, what kind of characters does it refer to? 竖 or perhaps 进 types?

[toddles]

hquek:

toddles:

I thought speaking is the easiest... just watch enough mandarin TV hahaha...
i think speaking is so much easier to pick up for non-ethnic chinese who want to learn it. there are so many angmohs who speak fluently but cannot write or read at all. same for most languages (e.g. thai).

some of my peers started their kids on Tao shu... but I haven't researched it well enough to decide whether or not to start. It seems like the banana's quick fix to learning chinese.

Beg to differ. I had seen my classmates who can't speak chinese for nuts get A2 in O's becos they memorised cheng yu by the dozens and liberally peppered their essays with such - and btw, they failed their oral.

wow - that's very impressive mugging. I suppose a parallel to mainlanders who can't speak but can write beautiful english.

[tamarind]

toddles:

tamarind:

For parents who think that the sequence of strokes, or 笔顺 is important, just teach the kids these 7 rules will do :


笔顺的口诀有七点：自上而下，从左到右，先中间后左右，先横后竖，先撇后捺，先外后内，先进后关。

Don't need to spend many years learning the proper strokes of every character.

that's a neat 口诀, but on this 先中间后左右, what kind of characters does it refer to? 竖 or perhaps 进 types?

An example is the word 水. Write the middle, then the left and right.

[hquek]

toddles:

hquek:

[quote=\"toddles\"]
I thought speaking is the easiest... just watch enough mandarin TV hahaha...
i think speaking is so much easier to pick up for non-ethnic chinese who want to learn it. there are so many angmohs who speak fluently but cannot write or read at all. same for most languages (e.g. thai).

some of my peers started their kids on Tao shu... but I haven't researched it well enough to decide whether or not to start. It seems like the banana's quick fix to learning chinese.

Beg to differ. I had seen my classmates who can't speak chinese for nuts get A2 in O's becos they memorised cheng yu by the dozens and liberally peppered their essays with such - and btw, they failed their oral.

[/quote]True, impressive mugging...I was amazed becos I can speak with clear diction, but my written quite cannot make it - only mustered a B3. BTW, I didnt read chinese books when young, it was purely a staple diet of Channel 8. Am making up for lost time (reading) now (the things I do for my kids).

wow - that's very impressive mugging. I suppose a parallel to mainlanders who can't speak but can write beautiful english.

[Brenda10]

Extracted from http://www.zaobao.com.sg/edu/pages5/edunews110119.shtml


考试方式也必须配合整个大方向做出改变，让学生学什么就考什么，将来毕业后还能继续学以致用。因此，考试的形式需要增添互动性，而且更切合实际。比如口试时，让学生看录像对话，取代看图说话；文字考试也会测试学生使用电邮交流的能力。日后，中学和高中的部分会考，会让学生用电脑作答。

Yesterday news had reported that only Secondary school onward have to use the computer for a section of test like reply email. May be in future they may extend to priamry school too.

[toddles]

tamarind:

toddles:

[quote=\"tamarind\"]For parents who think that the sequence of strokes, or 笔顺 is important, just teach the kids these 7 rules will do :


笔顺的口诀有七点：自上而下，从左到右，先中间后左右，先横后竖，先撇后捺，先外后内，先进后关。

Don't need to spend many years learning the proper strokes of every character.

that's a neat 口诀, but on this 先中间后左右, what kind of characters does it refer to? 竖 or perhaps 进 types?

An example is the word 水. Write the middle, then the left and right.[/quote]啊！明白了，谢谢！