Teaching Chinese at Home
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tamarind:
There are words in these books that even Singaporean adults cannot read and need to check dictionary.[/quote]Is that so? But you know the words, right?[quote]
Books from dangdang such as 可爱的鼠小弟,鸡蛋哥哥 - too simple?.
I just looked through the pages of one of the 鸡蛋哥哥 online:
http://huiben.mykk5.com/article/201008/5.shtml
Doesn't seem too difficult. My 2yo son should be able to read 95-98% of them except for a few of the words that he might not have come across.
But the words/phrases used are not what we are probably used to. Is that what you are referring to instead? Like eg. 碰到, and the 沉多了 ? Haha - I probably wouldn't have know that 沉 word if not for my elder boy who performs 夜深沉 from the Beijing Opera 霸王别姬.
The 鸡蛋哥哥 has an interesting storyline. I'll show my 2yo later. Maybe I can find it in the library too. Wonder why they must have such small words. My poor \"old flower eyes\"!!!!!!!! -
chrismei:
I'm not sure where you got the TWD? What's that? Where did you see that?
Books from dangdang such as 可爱的鼠小弟,鸡蛋哥哥 - too simple?.phankao:
Oh, the scroll series, he had read before and he does enjoy those. But it's quite simple for him too.
He loves books like those from the Peach Blossom publications, particularly the SHAPES series - he's finished all of them. Wish there were more!
http://www.learnchinesebooks.com/category/books
And he also likes these - the concept in these books can be a little more profound though, eg. the Little Aeroplane is on the Water Cycle plus pollution and having the aeroplane fitted with \"green\" tech!.
http://www.shop.panasiabooks.com/index.php?cPath=2&osCsid=29ad52180de96569dfecc3000bc8a8ba
Peach Blossom publications - not cheap. It comes with CD?
Panasiabooks - what is TWD?
Peach Blossoms - generally can get at discount with membership at stores and such. For Shapes, actually I was approached and introduced it bc of my son and we loved it. The vocabulary and phrases introduced in the books are not that simple but I was surprised that he caught on to them by the time we were done with all 3 sets of the Shapes books.
I also do actually explore library books. Not easy to find suitable books for him but there are a few that I like.
I'm not sure about the 可爱的鼠小弟,鸡蛋哥哥. I've not bought from dangdang before. I think I'd browsed through 可爱的鼠小弟 before as there's quite a number of them in the library. I've not borrowed them bc the words so small that my \"old flower eyes\" have to narrow real hard to focus on! Need to get magnifying glass! -
tamarind:
Heh Tamarind, you can sometime try the http://www.opentrolley.com. :lol: I bought some of the books that you recommended in this online. Normally I will do a simple calculation and made comparison between Amazon price and Opentrolley. If it works out to be the same, i will opt for Opentrolley coz sometime have good discount. Also I can get it quite fast. Can even opt for self collection which is at Plaza Singsmurf:
It's good to order online as the difference in prices is quite substantial. But the waiting time can kill. Even amazon also. Amazon also takes about 3 weeks right? And sometimes, you have to ti gam tigam, see if they put your books in big parcel. If they dun, you are lucky, if not, by using vpost, you would not know what is the shipping charge until e parcel reaches vpost. So I rather go to bookshop and browse, can get the book immediately. Of coz, that only applies if I need the book immediately, if I dun, I just browse online.
bookdepository.com offers free shipping. I have ordered many books from them, the price is all cheaper than local book shops.
For amazon.com, I used to organize sprees, the shipping charge is shared with other people and is cheaper.
The problem is that many good books cannot be found in Singapore. That is how pathetic our bookshops are.
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tamarind:
Unfortunately, for people like us, to go through the dangdang website is a challenge already. Having to read thru' all those chinese. *faint*.phankao:
[quote=\"tamarind\"]
I really don't have the luxury of time to go through every book in a book shop to find good ones. I live in Jurong West, it takes a lot of time and money to go down town. I love to just point and click to order books, then have it delivered to my doorstep. In fact, I don't even buy English books from local bookshops anymore. I look for books with excellent customer reviews at amazon.com, then order it online from either http://www.amazon.com or http://www.bookdepository.com. The prices are cheaper then local bookshops, and I don't have to waste time and money going downtown.!
Actually to ace exams and compo - there's always a method. But in reality, the child would still be weak in CL. I know bc my ds1 is very poor in CL but can still win prize for compo in both p4 & p5, much to my surprise, which means he's like top 3 in his level for CL writing? *siao*. And his compo marks rather consistent even now in sec 2. But try to carry on a conversation with him and it would be quite a failure (on his part).
This is the big problem with our education system. I know many adults who did well in CL when in school, but when they cannot speak or read or even navigate a Chinese website (you are not the only one).
The way that Chinese is taught in our schools is really a failure, hopefully the new changes will improve things. I heard that a lot more emphasis will be put in oral skills. So kids who cannot speak well will lose out.
That is why I want my kids to read books that the kids in China are reading, and I want them to read out loud, this is the best way to teach Chinese. My P2 girl can already quarrel with people in Mandarin
Don't forget that there are more and more kids from mainland China studying in Singapore. Their English is as good as our kids because they are so hardworking. Their Chinese standard is far better than ours, you have no idea how good they are. I just read a book 狼图腾：小狼小狼, highly acclaimed and widely read by many primary school kids in China, quite shock that their kids can read such a difficult book. I am quite certain that many adults in Singapore cannot read and understand that book.
Our kids will be competing with the PRC kids for a place in the top secondary schools. So better make sure that our kids are as good as them in Chinese.[/quote] :faint: Oh NO! I have been trying to improve my CL, so that I can read to my boy more effectively. It seems so difficult. :clubmyself: -
deardear07:
Is this the sage formula u referring to?They sell until 3rd level only.staff said tat 4th and 5th level not out yet...duno true anot~ So i bought all till level 3 only...
allseasons, you can order from popular online and then selfcollect at the popular outlet you indicated (no delivery charges).dimsum:
[quote=\"tamarind\"]
You can order online from the Popular website. Check this webpage for the delivery charges :
https://www.popular.com.sg/jsp/main_page/shipping_info.jsp
My dd1 nw k2 and i tested her till book 3 of level 1 and she was shooting off like a train without any help.hopefully when i show her the remaining 2books in e level,she'd b able to read well too.Then can proceed to level2.Should be good enuf for beginning k2 right? Hopefully i can consistently go thru with her till level3 by 1st term n proceed to other books...
Anyone knows where to get the remaining levels of the series?and would si wu kuai du book 1 be repeat of Sage? Where else to proceed?
Thanks in advance!![/quote]I bought all of the Sage books (up to level 3). Also have 45KD. Personally 45KD is more advanced than Sage books. -
Hi laughingcat,
There will be more emphasis on oral skills. My hubby told me there will be oral test for P1s later part of this year. The students will also be banded at the end of this year although all will move en-bloc together to P2.
Oral is very important and the HOD Chinese told parents (at least one parent) to speak to students in Mandarin…ci yu is necessary to know and remember as students have to know how to reply in Chinese, for eg ‘zhe is cheng’ (this is an orange). Students also have to borrow books in Mandarin to be read by parents at home. -
janet_lee88:
Oral test for P1! :!: Oh no! My spoken CL sucks real big time. :faint: I guess I need to polish mine first.Hi laughingcat,
There will be more emphasis on oral skills. My hubby told me there will be oral test for P1s later part of this year. The students will also be banded at the end of this year although all will move en-bloc together to P2.
Oral is very important and the HOD Chinese told parents (at least one parent) to speak to students in Mandarin...ci yu is necessary to know and remember as students have to know how to reply in Chinese, for eg 'zhe is cheng' (this is an orange). Students also have to borrow books in Mandarin to be read by parents at home.
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laughingcat:
Tried to speak to daughter when she was in K2 last year, but half the time she asked me to translate. But starting from this year, must seriously start speaking to her in Mandarin...she must know what is 'na2 ge wan3' (take a bowl). According to the HOD for Chinese, P1s must not only understand what they see on paper but express it in Mandarin as well.
Oral test for P1! :!: Oh no! My spoken CL sucks real big time. :faint: I guess I need to polish mine first.janet_lee88:
Hi laughingcat,
There will be more emphasis on oral skills. My hubby told me there will be oral test for P1s later part of this year. The students will also be banded at the end of this year although all will move en-bloc together to P2.
Oral is very important and the HOD Chinese told parents (at least one parent) to speak to students in Mandarin...ci yu is necessary to know and remember as students have to know how to reply in Chinese, for eg 'zhe is cheng' (this is an orange). Students also have to borrow books in Mandarin to be read by parents at home. -
deardear07:
Is this the sage formula u referring to?They sell until 3rd level only.staff said tat 4th and 5th level not out yet...duno true anot~ So i bought all till level 3 only...
allseasons, you can order from popular online and then selfcollect at the popular outlet you indicated (no delivery charges).dimsum:
[quote=\"tamarind\"]
You can order online from the Popular website. Check this webpage for the delivery charges :
https://www.popular.com.sg/jsp/main_page/shipping_info.jsp
My dd1 nw k2 and i tested her till book 3 of level 1 and she was shooting off like a train without any help.hopefully when i show her the remaining 2books in e level,she'd b able to read well too.Then can proceed to level2.Should be good enuf for beginning k2 right? Hopefully i can consistently go thru with her till level3 by 1st term n proceed to other books...
Anyone knows where to get the remaining levels of the series?and would si wu kuai du book 1 be repeat of Sage? Where else to proceed?
Thanks in advance!![/quote]deardear07, the levels are released progressively by the publisher. As of now, Level 4 and 5 are not out yet.
SWKD is of higher standard than Sage. Do not just focus on these learning books. Buy interesting story books for her to read. Sometimes, my boy can read some words in SWKD but when the same words appear in another story book, he could not recognise. -
Hi. Found this list of chinese supplementary readers for primary school on MOE website. Thought it is useful for parents wondering what type of chinese readers to get for their kids.
http://www.moe.gov.sg/resources/files/chinese-supplementary-readers-primary.pdf
I noticed that 不一样的卡梅拉 are listed as for P3-4 while 杨红樱成长主题绘本 series of books are stated as for P1-2.
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