Teaching Chinese at Home
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nz:
chrismei,
That makes no sense as a new delivery should take 8 weeks. I would suggest you ask for a full refund and make a new order.daddybear:
[quote=\"chrismei\"]
yes i agreed that it is still reasonable compared to the price in Singapore. Tot of getting more saving since the shipping fee is about 75% of the cost of a book ??? and to ensure that i can receive my books in time. The storybooks that i ordered in Oct 10 has not arrived yet and dangdang informed that they need another 3 months to check from the date they reported lost...
my order was shipped out in early Dec but til date, still no news. DD said needs 3mths to trace my parcel.
daddybear,
not so straightforward. DD told me since it had been shipped out, the only way to get a refund is do not accept the parcel when they deliver to me. Parcel will be returned to DD and DD will then refund the money to me. Quite ridiculous since DD was the one failed to deliver the goods within 8weeks. Quite a number of mummies had similar encounter. I guess there's nothing we could except waiting...[/quote]wah sian leh like that, i dont know 3 mths later, can still rem there is a lost parcel with DD to follow up or not! -
windows:
Me too taught my #1 to use dictionary coz I find it a hassle she kept asking me how to read/write. Its very useful to learn, she can then write compo or do homework without disturbing me hehe. she uses both HYPY (for words she cant write) and 遍旁 (to look up words she cant read). Most of time i dont read for her, coz I want her to practice how to use 遍旁 check the dictionary
oic, thank you!tamarind:
Most of the time, she use the dictionary to find difficult words that she can read, but not too sure how to write it, so she use hanyu pinyin to locate the word. When she turns to the page, she can find the correct word. This is what MOE expects students to do when writing compositions, not to look up on how to read words.
For words that she cannot read, it is necessary to check by 遍旁. But when I read with her, I don't make her check the dictionary for every word that she does not know how to read, I just teach her. -
porcupine12trade:
Me too taught my #1 to use dictionary coz I find it a hassle she kept asking me how to read/write. Its very useful to learn, she can then write compo or do homework without disturbing me hehe. she uses both HYPY (for words she cant write) and 遍旁 (to look up words she cant read). Most of time i dont read for her, coz I want her to practice how to use 遍旁 check the dictionary[/quote]I like to use the iphone ktDICT app to draw in the supposed character and find out what the word is. Either that, or use the online one nciku.com . But iphone one is more convenient.
oic, thank you!windows:
[quote=\"tamarind\"]
Most of the time, she use the dictionary to find difficult words that she can read, but not too sure how to write it, so she use hanyu pinyin to locate the word. When she turns to the page, she can find the correct word. This is what MOE expects students to do when writing compositions, not to look up on how to read words.
For words that she cannot read, it is necessary to check by 遍旁. But when I read with her, I don't make her check the dictionary for every word that she does not know how to read, I just teach her. -
Actually, with such long waiting time for DD to be delivered, won't it be better to get the books from brick and mortar store? Be a member and you get 20% off? I thought it's better than having to wait for fe mths and maybe the books won't reach at all.
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smurf:
Actually, with such long waiting time for DD to be delivered, won't it be better to get the books from brick and mortar store? Be a member and you get 20% off? I thought it's better than having to wait for fe mths and maybe the books won't reach at all.
smurf,
The dangdang books are not available in Popular bookshop, except some titles by 杨红樱, the author of 笑猫日记.
You can find some of the books in a bookshop at Bras Basah level 3, but the prices are about 2 to 3 times more. Even then the selection is not very good.
I have bought a few hundred books from dangdang, so the savings are very substantial. I don't mind waiting for 4 to 8 weeks for the books.
The problem is that local bookshops have a very bad selection of Chinese books. If parents depend on them, your kids will never be good in Chinese.
Another alternative is to borrow from the National Library. But the popular books are always on loan, you need to pay $1.55 to reserve for the book, and the condition of the books may be very bad.
So far I pay about $3.00 to $4.00 per book from dangdang.com, inclusive of shipping. I would rather buy new books then resell them after my kids have finished reading. -
chrismei:
yes i agreed that it is still reasonable compared to the price in Singapore. Tot of getting more saving since the shipping fee is about 75% of the cost of a book ??? and to ensure that i can receive my books in time. The storybooks that i ordered in Oct 10 has not arrived yet and dangdang informed that they need another 3 months to check from the date they reported lost...[/quote]The shipping is 50% of the original book price. Sorry to hear about your lost parcel.tamarind:
[quote=\"chrismei\"]does anyone know of good and cheap courier company in china? tot dangdang's transport fees are quite expensive...
Actually I thought the dangdang direct shipping fees are reasonable, even including the shipping fees, the books are still 40%-50% cheaper than prices in Singapore.
So far I have ordered more than 10 times, my parcels always arrive.
Have you tried calling your credit card bank to dispute the charge ? I think the bank can reverse the charge if you complain to them that you never receive the items. Then dangdang.com needs to produce proof that you have received the items in order to get their money. -
But if u really need the books now, what would you do? Just pluck it from the shop right?
I thought the shops are good enough for basic reader, of course if u want advanced readers, then china website would be a better choice as they stock much more. But for very young children, I think brick and mortar stores are good enough.
For example, for the siwukuaidu, I just plucked them from the store last mth. although they cost few dollars more, but I dun mind, coz at least they can be used immediately. If I wait for DD to be delivered, I think until now, I would still be waiting and risk not deliver at all.
I think DD is good if you have the time to wait and you have ample books to read while waiting. -
nz:
chrismei,
That makes no sense as a new delivery should take 8 weeks. I would suggest you ask for a full refund and make a new order.daddybear:
[quote=\"chrismei\"]
yes i agreed that it is still reasonable compared to the price in Singapore. Tot of getting more saving since the shipping fee is about 75% of the cost of a book ??? and to ensure that i can receive my books in time. The storybooks that i ordered in Oct 10 has not arrived yet and dangdang informed that they need another 3 months to check from the date they reported lost...
my order was shipped out in early Dec but til date, still no news. DD said needs 3mths to trace my parcel.
daddybear,
not so straightforward. DD told me since it had been shipped out, the only way to get a refund is do not accept the parcel when they deliver to me. Parcel will be returned to DD and DD will then refund the money to me. Quite ridiculous since DD was the one failed to deliver the goods within 8weeks. Quite a number of mummies had similar encounter. I guess there's nothing we could except waiting...[/quote]
The problem is not with dangdang. It is with the shipping service. It could also be due to wrong delivery by Singapore Post.
Previously I had one parcel from amazon.com delivered to the wrong address. I called Sing Post, was told that someone already signed for it. But it is not anyone in my family !
I read a few letters in the Straits Times complaining about the poor delivery by Sing Post.
In any case, try to push dangdang for a refund. Tell them that you are in Singapore, how to return the parcel to them ?
I advise you to quickly call the bank to dispute the charge. You have up to 60 days from the date that the charge shows up in your account to dispute the charges. Then you don't have to pay until the bank investigates with the merchant.
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smurf:
But if u really need the books now, what would you do? Just pluck it from the shop right?
I thought the shops are good enough for basic reader, of course if u want advanced readers, then china website would be a better choice as they stock much more. But for very young children, I think brick and mortar stores are good enough.
For example, for the siwukuaidu, I just plucked them from the store last mth. although they cost few dollars more, but I dun mind, coz at least they can be used immediately. If I wait for DD to be delivered, I think until now, I would still be waiting and risk not deliver at all.
I think DD is good if you have the time to wait and you have ample books to read.
Actually there are no books that are so important to me, that I must have it now
Even for the Si Wu Kuai Du series, you may take up to 1 to 2 years to finish the books, so 8 weeks is not a very long wait.
I think that Local shops have a very poor collection of basic readers. I stopped buying Chinese books for my kids at Popular bookshop since they were 3 years old. The quality if simply very poor.
Please take note that dangdang.com is only an online website, it contains the largest collection of all books published in China. If someone can offer an alternative website that delivers faster, I am very willing to try.
dangdang is very reliable in China, too bad the shipping service causes so much problems.
I do advise parents to check out the Si Wu Kuai Du series at the Bras Basah bookshop first before deciding how to buy it :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaching-chinese-at-home.html
Yes there is risk when ordering from overseas, there is a possibility of lost parcel. I also wrote in my blog that :
If you do not have experience ordering books online, I don't advise you to order directly from dangdang.com. -
Siwukuaidu is quite important to me. I cant wait, so I just pluck them from the store. Although 8 weeks may not be long time to wait, but its better to start early using the book rather than start late. Coz I dun have any other useful books. Some of the books that I bought were not useful at all.
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