Teaching Chinese at Home

[tamarind]

JoeeYee:

Hi all, sorry to change the subject here suddenly but I would like to find out if anyone knows how to arrange for school immersion in China? My girl is going for training in Kunming during June holiday and I would like to arrange immersion for her 2 brothers during the same period.


I saw tamarind in an earlier post mentioned something similar, but not sure if any specific procedure was given....

Thanks in advance.

Hi JoeeYee,
I have accompanied my students to China for immersion before, this is what I know.

You need to first find a school that will accept your kids, then get the admission notice from the school.

Then you need to apply for a student visa to study in China. Check out this website :
http://www.visaforchina.com.sg/visaen/visaView.html?method=readNotify&notifyId=1113#Menu=ChildMenu2

You need to arrange for all airfare, accomodation on your own.

[24hr-mum]

tamarind:

24hr-mum:

hi tamarind


re dangdang.com, how much is the shipping? is it order online and pay by visa and how long is the shipping?

are the bks very china in design - lots of pics, tiny fonts, very wordy type？ got pinyin?

how much do u spend on bks usu? how u can keep storage?

my girl likes to read but i think those words she dont understand she just skip

oh my ikea bkshelves are collapsing due to the weight of so many bks

i agree wif u, my kids learnt chinese simply by flash cards n story bks. nvr go any presch enrichment class


My dangdang.com books used to arrive in less than 4 weeks. But now I heard it may take 8 weeks to arrive. You can pay by OCBC Visa or DBS Amex. The shipping is 50% of the original book price.

Dangdang.com is in China. They have a huge collection of all Chinese books published in China. There are books for all ages, from 0 to 99 years old. Some have big fonts, some have tiny fonts. There is a large number of picture books with less than 10 words a page. There are also many books with hundreds of words in a page. So it depends on what books you order.

My blog includes a list of wonderful books grouped by age :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-raise-bilingual-child.html

I advise you to look at the books in my list, then search for them in the libary first.

The way parents in China teach their kids to read, is simply by reading Chinese picture books bought from dangdang.com to them since a very young age. Or by using the Si Wu Kuai Du series which just came out a few years ago. If we want our kids to be as good in Chinese as the kids from China, then we must let our kids read the same books.

I don't remember how much I spent. The books are kept in my Ikea bookshelves.

[tamarind]

daddybear:

Tamarind and fellow parents,


Thank you for all the valuable information contained in this enormous thread. I really found it very beneficial and motivating. So much so that I went into dangdang.com and bought a whole bunch of books and dvds! My first time doing ecommerce on a chinese site! Wooo!
:celebrate:

My son is four and is attending Berries K1. Initially, the teacher told us that his standard is not high enough and N2 would be more suitable. But we put in a lot of effort and his teacher said he has improved a lot. Just the other day, he used the phrase \"车水马龙“ to describe a traffic jam.

Things that have worked:
Spending time every day reading chinese to him
Only watching chinese programs on TV

After getting some ideas from this thread, my plan is to
1) Use Sage books to build up his base
2) Ordered 四五快读 from dangdang.com but expect it by April?
3) Let him watch 虹猫蓝兔七侠传 (he loves this series) and 喜羊羊与灰太狼 (heard good reviews) during his TV time.

I am not so sure about getting too many books now as I suspect there might not be all that much time in a day to squeeze all this in. I have first hand experience with Sage and think that going through one lesson a day would be enough. (kid loses concentration quite fast. 15 mins usually, rarely 30 mins).

What do you all think of this plan?

Hi daddybear,
You are welcome

Your plan is good ! I want to add that besides reading Chinese to your son, make sure that he reads out loud to you everyday. Ask him to read the the lesson of the week from his Berries textbook once everyday. If possible, ask him to read from other books, like the Sage book or other Chinese books. When a child reads out loud, we can be sure that he is really looking at the words, and trying to remember how to read it. Reading out loud is also a very effective way of practicising oral skills. Try to ask him to read 300 to 500 words out loud everyday, and more as he grows older. If you can persist, he may be speaking Chinese like a bullet train by 6 years old.

15 to 20 mins a day is sufficient, the most important thing is to make sure that the child can focus within this time. When you get the Book 1 of Si Wu Kuai Du, read the first 30 pages, it includes very good advise about how to make sure the child is paying attention, and how to sustain his interest in learning.

Also, I want to emphasize that kids before the age of 6 must read a large number of picture books with interesting stories that kids can understand. Pictures are the best way to teach kids the meaning of words, and how to use the words. If we focus only on word recognition, and discourage kids from looking at the pictures, then kids may know how to recite thousands of idioms and tang poetry, but he may not understand the meaning, or know how to use them in compositions.

For example, my girl was reading 笑猫日记 to me yesterday, and I was very impressed by this paragraph :
\"就算我什么都没有看见.\" 老老鼠明哲保身的处世态度又显露无遗. \"笑猫老弟，你好自为之吧\"

3 sets of idioms used in a short paragraph. This is the best way to teach our kids how to use them, rather then simply asking them to memorize the idioms alone.

[tamarind]

keltong:

daddybear:

Tamarind and fellow parents,


Thank you for all the valuable information contained in this enormous thread. I really found it very beneficial and motivating. So much so that I went into dangdang.com and bought a whole bunch of books and dvds! My first time doing ecommerce on a chinese site! Wooo!
:celebrate:

My son is four and is attending Berries K1. Initially, the teacher told us that his standard is not high enough and N2 would be more suitable. But we put in a lot of effort and his teacher said he has improved a lot. Just the other day, he used the phrase \"车水马龙“ to describe a traffic jam.

Things that have worked:
Spending time every day reading chinese to him
Only watching chinese programs on TV

After getting some ideas from this thread, my plan is to
1) Use Sage books to build up his base
2) Ordered 四五快读 from dangdang.com but expect it by April?
3) Let him watch 虹猫蓝兔七侠传 (he loves this series) and 喜羊羊与灰太狼 (heard good reviews) during his TV time.

I am not so sure about getting too many books now as I suspect there might not be all that much time in a day to squeeze all this in. I have first hand experience with Sage and think that going through one lesson a day would be enough. (kid loses concentration quite fast. 15 mins usually, rarely 30 mins).

What do you all think of this plan?

Hi fellow daddy!

It's great that your son already uses 成语! That is one thing I dream off that my kids will use. But first I have to get them to speak chinese

I am also using the sage book while waiting for 四五快读. I find them very beneficial and simple to use. It has been very effective too. My K1 son just finished the 1st book and he was very excited about it and can't wait to start book 2. Amazing for someone who use to call himself an English boy. He seems to like chinese now.

I do agree that 15mins a day is enough, if we drag too long, it must have a negative effect, even when he seems to still show enthusiasm. I usually go through 1 lesson a day too (unless the word is something he is already very familiar) and I do it twice a day, one for revision. I will recap all lessons learned previously till I reach lesson 10 and above than I select certain lessons to revise.

One thing I notice about my son, when we reach lesson 10 and above, I select only the long sentences that contain all the words in previous lessons. He sometimes will not recognize the word in long sentences but in the short 词汇。 Sometimes it's the other way round, so I take care to ensure when I do revision, I encompass as much variety of words so that he can remember better. Each child is different so you have to see what fits for yours.

The other day I was at Popular again so I decide to just get all the level 2 and 3 books for 基础汉字。When I brought it home, I did not want to tell him about it, but he saw me putting the books in the shelf and ask me if the books are for him. I says yes and his reaction is \"Yeah! Thanks dad!\". It was a pleasant surprise.

I just bought some DVD from dangdang and hope to interest him in that.

Cheers!

I am very impressed that you Daddies are putting in so much effort to teach your kids Chinese. I wish that my hubby is like you too. He can help me with English, but he cannot help with Chinese because he needs to check the dictionary very often.

[znzyzyzx]

MyBaby:

I know this is the thread for teaching Chinese at HOME but I am looking for an enrichment centre that focuses on speech and drama (no worksheets, please!) for my P2 DS, to work in tandem with what we are doing at home.


He is dyslexic. Amongst the 4 components of language learning - Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, he has no problems with Speaking and Listening, his Reading is improving as we are building on his word recognition using 四五块读 (we are still on Book 4 and progress is slow!). Writing is still a challenge.

I am in favour of boosting his spoken skills so as to somewhat compensate for his weaker areas. Thought this is particularly important as at higher level, composition (which would be very challenging to him) and comprehension would be tough for him to handle.

He used to attend enrichment with one centre but as it was group and there were worksheets to complete in class, he was not coping well as he could not recognise many words and have difficulty reading aloud.

Does anyone know of any centre that focuses on speech and drama -rather like Lorna Whiston but in Chinese?

Hi ,
Yppae at Waterloo street provide Chinese speech and drama. http://www.yppae.org/portal/

Their program is quite structured , 45 mins of speech and 45 mins of drama and the person in charge 马老师 is very dedicated.

[keltong]

tamarind:

Also, I want to emphasize that kids before the age of 6 must read a large number of picture books with interesting stories that kids can understand. Pictures are the best way to teach kids the meaning of words, and how to use the words. If we focus only on word recognition, and discourage kids from looking at the pictures, then kids may know how to recite thousands of idioms and tang poetry, but he may not understand the meaning, or know how to use them in compositions.

Point noted. Thanks!

[phankao]

tamarind:

Also, I want to emphasize that kids before the age of 6 must read a large number of picture books with interesting stories that kids can understand. Pictures are the best way to teach kids the meaning of words, and how to use the words. If we focus only on word recognition, and discourage kids from looking at the pictures, then kids may know how to recite thousands of idioms and tang poetry, but he may not understand the meaning, or know how to use them in compositions.

Kids are not stupid. My 2yo understands the words that he is able to read. There is never a \"one-size-fits-all\" approach to learning. Never underestimate the young children's ability. What is also important is conversing to your child in Chinese. Immersion by conversation, listening, and reading - all important.

[MyBaby]

znzyzyzx:

Hi ,
Yppae at Waterloo street provide Chinese speech and drama. http://www.yppae.org/portal/

Their program is quite structured , 45 mins of speech and 45 mins of drama and the person in charge 马老师 is very dedicated.

Hi znzyzyzx, tks for the info on Yppae. DS used to attend there when he was in K2 but it didnt work for him. He had a very young teacher and his teacher frequently complained that he could not do hanyupinyin and that sort of put him off. It was also about that time that we decided to send him for assessment as there were also some other signs.

However, I got to qualify that my older child had a good experience there and benefitted from a strong foundation in hanyupinyin and her oral diction is very exact.

Anyway, I think I \"off topic\" here for too long already. Will check out more information from the thread on Chinese Enrichment. Tks!

[tamarind]

phankao:

tamarind:

Also, I want to emphasize that kids before the age of 6 must read a large number of picture books with interesting stories that kids can understand. Pictures are the best way to teach kids the meaning of words, and how to use the words. If we focus only on word recognition, and discourage kids from looking at the pictures, then kids may know how to recite thousands of idioms and tang poetry, but he may not understand the meaning, or know how to use them in compositions.

Kids are not stupid. My 2yo understands the words that he is able to read. There is never a \"one-size-fits-all\" approach to learning. Never underestimate the young children's ability. What is also important is conversing to your child in Chinese. Immersion by conversation, listening, and reading - all important.

As full time working mommies, I do not have time to teach my kids for many hours a day. I can only teach Chinese for less than 30 mins a day, so I need to look for methods that are most effective.

I remember that once I saw on TV, a 3 year old boy who could read hundreds of 成语. His mother pointed to a book with rows of 成语, no pictures, and the boy was able to read everyone of them. I was not impressed at all, because the boy could not use them in compositions.

I also never teach my kids to memorize San Zi Jing, Di Zi Gui, etc, because I think these are irrelevant and not practical nowadays. I do teach my girl Tang poetry, only because I love Tang poetry myself and my girl loves them too. I wonder how many parents in Singapore really understand the meaning of San Zi Jing and Di Zi Gui ?

It is most important to develop a love for the language, not just forcing kids to memorize things that are meaningless to them.

[MyBaby]

tamarind:

phankao:

[quote=\"tamarind\"]
Also, I want to emphasize that kids before the age of 6 must read a large number of picture books with interesting stories that kids can understand. Pictures are the best way to teach kids the meaning of words, and how to use the words. If we focus only on word recognition, and discourage kids from looking at the pictures, then kids may know how to recite thousands of idioms and tang poetry, but he may not understand the meaning, or know how to use them in compositions.

Kids are not stupid. My 2yo understands the words that he is able to read. There is never a \"one-size-fits-all\" approach to learning. Never underestimate the young children's ability. What is also important is conversing to your child in Chinese. Immersion by conversation, listening, and reading - all important.

As full time working mommies, I do not have time to teach my kids for many hours a day. I can only teach Chinese for less than 30 mins a day, so I need to look for methods that are most effective.

I remember that once I saw on TV, a 3 year old boy who could read hundreds of 成语. His mother pointed to a book with rows of 成语, no pictures, and the boy was able to read everyone of them. I was not impressed at all, because the boy could not use them in compositions.

I also never teach my kids to memorize San Zi Jing, Di Zi Gui, etc, because I think these are irrelevant and not practical nowadays. I do teach my girl Tang poetry, only because I love Tang poetry myself and my girl loves them too. I wonder how many parents in Singapore really understand the meaning of San Zi Jing and Di Zi Gui ?

It is most important to develop a love for the language, not just forcing kids to memorize things that are meaningless to them.[/quote]I do agree with you, Tamarind, about it not being meaningful for kids to memorise/recall lots of things but couldn't apply their knowledge.

Your post came in at a time when I logged in to give a tip to fellow parents who are using 四五快读。

DS is already in Book 4, towards the end. I didn't cut up the words in the word cards given with the books as firstly, I can't be bothered and secondly, I thought as DS is older, there is no need to do so.

We usually start each session with him recalling and reciting the words at the back of the book up to where we last stopped. He can read them off quickly and correctly. then we will go to the book where I will introduce new words, and he reads the phrases and sentences or short passages that follow. In book4, there are longer passages (about 1.5 to 2 pgs long) and as he read the longer passages, I realised that there are some words that he could not recognise (eg. 驼， 着急), when he could read these individual words without problem.

I immediately realised that he is simply memorising and reciting the unfamiliar words when reciting based on word order. There are some words that he knows and when the words he does not know is interspersed in between, he could \"read\" them by following a certain pattern. [DS has good memory and is very creative in finding ways to compensate for his shortcomings).

This encounter reinforced that young kids have good memory and can memorise anything as long as they are interested and are exposed to it (like this mummy who talked about how her DS could recall all the capitals of different countries and their location on the world map). The crux is, whether the child can meaningfully apply what they have learnt. To me, the ability to apply is a higher order learning skill and only when this happen, do real learning occur.

As for 四五快读, heh heh, dear DS, mummy's going to cut up the word cards today and let's see how many of those words (from Book 1 to 4) do you REALLY know