Teaching Chinese at Home

[daddybear]

porcupine12trade:

Wah the music very nice :)! Very cute videos! But may I ask, what is the benefit of introducing such to kids? My #1 Pri school teaches them these, she loves reciting and memorizing but i just wonder what is the intent of such? Thanks!

but i v keen to buy (itchy hands la) coz the music v nice and the recital v cute :). Btw how does the cover look like? I tried google for image but cant find much, if popular has, mayb i go take snap shots hee. I am thinking of getting a friend get from JB for me, they go there real often. Is it legal to bring back :p?

Really paiseh to say i dont know what exactly is San Zi Jing and Di Zhi Gui, though I heard about san zi jing. I can speak ok/proper chinese but not so powerful to know all these :oops:

Actually, i found it very useful as a parent as well as a person of chinese origin. The values and the concepts are actually foundations of the chinese culture. The CD plays the words but also provides explanation. So convenient!!! :lol:

There is a useful translation at the following site. Between the chinese explanation and the english translation, its very easy to understand. And you don't have to do it all at once. Right now, what I learn, I \"transfer\" to my kid 24 hours later. Must absorb, digest and then transfer in kids language mah...

http://www.yellowbridge.com/onlinelit/sanzijing.php

Should be legal lah... The discs were on the front seat but the customs also just wave me along. The packaging is just a plastic cover. But i think its quite famous. When the salesgirl play it for me (must test mah), all the kids magically crowd around and can recite! :shock:

[hquek]

laughingcat:

Anybody have any info on pictorial San Zi Jing or Tang poetry?

For san ji zing - line by line translated in english and explained, http://www.yellowbridge.com/onlinelit/sanzijing.php

[tamarind]

porcupine12trade:

Your methods sound very logical and time efficient. However I have some questions, what if the child prefers me to read and not reading it out herself/himself (usually i mean my #2 n 3 coz my #1 is v teachable, how i wish her sis/bro are like her, but I know I cannot compare). My #2,3 enjoy reading with me alot (both eng n chinese), in a single day we have many a few reading sessions and if I dont put a stop, they will not request to stop. I try to get #2 to read out loud, but her reading will get softer and softer....hmm overall just not \"loud and clear\" and she always say she prefers me to read for her. As for my #3, he cant read!! but he will want to read :s.... he will read from memory or base on pictures so obviously he can only get abt 50% right... how how how

but I will definitely try to persevere like what you say... continue for 1-2 yrs and I do believe it will show results

Are you using the Sage Basic Chinese 500 books ? These books repeat the same words in different sentences throughout the series, and every page has different pages. You will know whether he remembers the word or is he reading from memory by looking at the pictures.

Also, try not to let him read the same books over and over again, keep reading new books, so that it is less likely for him to remember the sentences related to the pictures.

For your #2, its OK for her to read softly, just make sure that she pronounces every word correctly. It is fine to read to her, if you can make sure that she is looking at every word, and she can remember new words that you have read to her before.

[tamarind]

I just read this :


http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/electronic-chinese-dictionaries-psle

The Ministry of Education has allowed the use of electronic CL-CL dictionaries during examinations for all levels from PSLE to pre-University starting 2007. However, only handheld electronic dictionaries that are approved by the Singapore Examinations & Assessment Board (SEAB) will be allowed for use in the CL composition component of national examinations. Here is a guide to getting one of these e-dictionaries for your child.

http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2005/pr20051025.htm
Currently, print dictionaries approved by SEAB are allowed in ‘O’ level Mother Tongue and Higher Mother Tongue composition examinations. From 2006, print dictionaries approved by SEAB will also be allowed in PSLE Mother Tongue and Higher Mother Tongue composition examinations.

I am pleasantly surprised to learn about this, because I have been training my girl to write compositions by checking the Chinese dictionary since she was in P1, and she is able to do so independently now at P2. She knows how to write most of the commonly used words, but she can recognize far more words than those, so she will check the dictionary whenever she wants to use a difficult word. Looks like I have been doing the right thing !

That means parents should focus on character recognition, and stop asking your kids to practice writing many pages of Chinese characters !

Also, I want to emphasize that the only way to learn Chinese effectively is by reading as many picture books and story books as possible. It is not necessary to memorize anything. MOE is doing the right thing, and parents can now focus on letting kids learn Chinese in a fun and enjoyable way.

I highly recommend this dictionary :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2011/01/learning-chinese-independently.html

When my girl is looking up a word, I find that she is learning new words by looking at other words in the same page !

[phankao]

tamarind:

I just read this :


http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/electronic-chinese-dictionaries-psle

The Ministry of Education has allowed the use of electronic CL-CL dictionaries during examinations for all levels from PSLE to pre-University starting 2007. However, only handheld electronic dictionaries that are approved by the Singapore Examinations & Assessment Board (SEAB) will be allowed for use in the CL composition component of national examinations. Here is a guide to getting one of these e-dictionaries for your child.

http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2005/pr20051025.htm
Currently, print dictionaries approved by SEAB are allowed in ‘O’ level Mother Tongue and Higher Mother Tongue composition examinations. From 2006, print dictionaries approved by SEAB will also be allowed in PSLE Mother Tongue and Higher Mother Tongue composition examinations.

I am pleasantly surprised to learn about this, because I have been training my girl to write compositions by checking the Chinese dictionary since she was in P1, and she is able to do so independently now at P2. She knows how to write most of the commonly used words, but she can recognize far more words than those, so she will check the dictionary whenever she wants to use a difficult word. Looks like I have been doing the right thing !

That means parents should focus on character recognition, and stop asking your kids to practice writing many pages of Chinese characters !

Also, I want to emphasize that the only way to learn Chinese effectively is by reading as many picture books and story books as possible. It is not necessary to memorize anything. MOE is doing the right thing, and parents can now focus on letting kids learn Chinese in a fun and enjoyable way.

I highly recommend this dictionary :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2011/01/learning-chinese-independently.html

When my girl is looking up a word, I find that she is learning new words by looking at other words in the same page !

You didn't know this? They introduce in compo exams from p3 or p4 onwards in school to train them. And your daughter in around that level now, right?

My eldest was in the 1st 2006 batch that used dictionaries for psle CL compo.

[tamarind]

phankao:

You didn't know this? They introduce in compo exams from p3 or p4 onwards in school to train them. And your daughter in around that level now, right?

My eldest was in the 1st 2006 batch that used dictionaries for psle CL compo.

My daughter is only P2 this year

I am surprised that many parents still pushed to lower the weightage of mother tongue in PSLE last year :

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20100512-215849.html

Chinese is already made so easy ! Kids only have to read story books regularly, and practice writing the words in their Ting Xie list over 6 years which will be sufficient for them to write most of the commonly used words. I think most kids only need less than 15 mins a day to practice the Ting Xie words.

The main focus is character recognition, and reading story books written by contemporary authors will enable kids to learn good sentence structures and build up their vocabulary. In fact, my girl told me that Chinese is a lot easier to learn than English, because there is no past tense, present tense, past perfect tense etc.

[tamarind]

Sharing this section from a book, about how Chinese should be taught to young children, and the benefits of picture books. In summary, kids' eyes are like cameras, Chinese words should be taught as pictures. That means there is no need to let kids practice writing a word stroke by stroke in order to remember it.


It is also very important to teach kids in a way that interests them, then they will naturally want to learn much more.

和儿子一起成长
作者：杨文
http://read.dangdang.com/content_2188351?ref=read-3-C&book_id=12021

我认为，早期教育，不是局限在教孩子认字、背唐诗、做算术上。识字、做算术是教育内容之一，但不是唯一；是一部分，而不是全部。识字、做算术是小学的任务，不是幼儿阶段的任务。我认为学龄前是孩子口语发展的最佳期，而正式的识字阅读教育是在学龄期，学龄期是开始书面语教育的最佳期。

　　现在很多父母包括很多幼儿园，把学龄期的课程加给了还在上幼儿园的孩子。我觉得这样可能会对孩子将来的课业学习适得其反。因为孩子对新鲜、未知的知识感兴趣。如果在学龄前就给他开始小学的课程，那上学之后，他已经掌握了那些内容，上课一坐坐几十分钟没有新的知识点，没有新的知识信息，他就失去了好奇和兴趣。我是在生活中让夏杨认字，但关于笔画、拼音等都刻意让他回避。所以，他刚上小学，有一个阶段迷上了字的笔画。别人说一个汉字，他能够马上把它的笔画一一罗列描述出来。速度之快，让亲戚朋友惊讶不已。

　　研究发现，九个月到两岁之间是孩子理解语言的最佳期，而两岁到四岁是孩子语言表达发展的关键期。因为我了解了幼儿这一阶段生理、心理、语言发展的特点，所以在夏杨小时候，我就不失时机地在整体识读中，开发他的语言和阅读能力。

　　夏杨几个月大的时候，我会指着房间的灯，对他说“灯”；指着天空对他说“天”……类似这样的话，只要我和他在一起，总是适时地说给他听。有一次，他躺在婴儿床上，我给他穿裤子，对他说“蹬，蹬”——他就用小手去指天花板上的灯。很有意思。几个月的孩子，已经开始有了理解力了。我马上再告诉他，现在是“蹬腿”的“蹬”，那是“电灯”的“灯”，然后我拉着他的小腿做蹬腿的动作，用这种他可以理解的输入方式，把“蹬”这个字的概念输入到他的大脑里。以后，我再在不同的场合，说“灯”和“蹬”，他都能正确地理解了。

　　所以，我一直在幼儿的语言教育中，提倡这种“可理解性的输入方式”，这种“情景教学法”，不管是我们的母语还是外语的启蒙，都是对孩子行之有效的早期语言教育方式。

　　孩子学习语言是从理解词开始的。大约六个月以上，他就能“听懂”一些词，但说不出；到一岁至一岁半，他理解的词的数量猛增，然后，就开口说话了。那时，我们除了在日常生活中，用夏杨理解的语言跟他说话，还选取一些适合幼儿心理的图书、材料。夏杨最早的阅读习惯和最早接触汉字，就是从我上面说到的那本《我的第一本书》开始的。

　　那时候早期识读的书很少，现在想来我还很感谢这本书的作者。这套书很简单，每页上半页是图画，下面是一句话，一页一句。第一页上写着：“呜，火车开过来了。”画面是火车头。翻到第二页，有一句话：“火车上运的是什么呀？”画面上是火车拉着大苹果……我在给他念的时候，我坐在他身后。我给他看书讲故事时，有时指着图画，有时就指着字念：“呜，火车开过来了。”他就看，字和画相配，字像图画一样输入了他的大脑中。这样的识读，从他五六个月刚会坐时就开始了。

　　在马路上，在商店里，我也是随机对他进行整体识读训练。不要一说“训练”就觉得“多累啊”。实际上，只要有这种意识，就会在生活中很随意地去做。抱着他，领着他，我都会对他说：这是百货商店，他就认识了一个“百”，一个“店”。中国字是象形文字，很适合这样的整体识读方式。慢慢积累，很多字就和很多实物、事物或场景，像画一样地输入了他的大脑，将来在别的书上、报纸上再看到这个字的时候，他就可以单个地识读了。有时，他还会在他画的图画旁边，把自己看到的存在脑中的字“画”出来。有一次，他画理发店。我们发现他写的“理发店”的“理”字是反过来写的，当时觉得很纳闷。后来我发现，原来他理发时，从门里面看到的门玻璃上的“理”字确实是反的。

　　孩子的眼睛像照相机一样，在孩子成长的过程中，很多时候很多东西就是这样，在自然习得、无意学习中进行着。

　　只有契合了孩子兴趣点的教育方式，才有可能开启他求知的窗口。丰富的知识也就如三月的春雨，随风潜入他的脑中了。

　　

[phankao]

tamarind:

phankao:

You didn't know this? They introduce in compo exams from p3 or p4 onwards in school to train them. And your daughter in around that level now, right?

My eldest was in the 1st 2006 batch that used dictionaries for psle CL compo.

My daughter is only P2 this year

Well for your son's batch onwards, the CL format will once again change. More on practical usage. See, lots of us are using computers to type our CL correspondence, yah?

[windows]

tamarind:

When my girl is looking up a word, I find that she is learning new words by looking at other words in the same page !

hihi, can share how yo teach your kid to check chinese character using dictionary? is it by 偏旁？

[smurf]

tamarind:

In fact, my girl told me that Chinese is a lot easier to learn than English, because there is no past tense, present tense, past perfect tense etc.

:lol: I agreed with this...coz I'm super poor in English, dunno what are all the tenses about. Got me confused.