Teaching Chinese at Home

[tamarind]

ky:

Is there a systematic way to teach my ds to remember how to write chinese words? He can read the words but he cannot write it out from memory.

Hi ky,
Before the age of 7, we should focus only on character recognition. It is very important that we do not make kids practice writing many words before the age of 7, this may kill their interest in the language.

Between the age of 3 to 6, most kids can learn enough Chinese characters to be able to read over 80% of the words in Chinese newspapers. When kids can read any Chinese books independently, then you don't have to worry about their grades in Chinese anymore.

Kids can recognize far more Chinese characters than they can write. This is perfectly fine. From 6 years old onwards, they have lots of time to practice writing Chinese. I remember that I only practice writing all the words in the Ting Xie list, that is enough for me to do very well in Chinese all the way to JC.

I have written a section about effective methods of learning to write Chinese, click on the following page and scroll down to read :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-raise-bilingual-child.html

[jerejoy]

tamarind:

jerejoy:

Hi Tamarind,


Thanks for sharing with us yr blog and advices. My boy is now able to read P&J level 5 and he is reading the sage collection book 3 at 35th month old now. However, he is not able to communicate with us in Mandarin in full sentences only partial but can ans us back in English when we speak to him in Mandarin. I am wondering if I shld send him to Berries. Do u think it will help? Kindly advise.

Hi jerejoy,
Even if you send to Berries, you still have to consistently practice the week's lesson with him everyday. He will improve quickly if you speak only Mandarin to him. Otherwise, once a week in Berries is not sufficient. Both my kids attended Berries since 4 years old, though they can read many words, they still did not feel confident enough to speak Mandarin when they completed K2.

I find that the best way to practice oral skills is to ask the child to read out loud from Chinese story books. When your boy has completed the 3 series of Sage, total 15 books, you can try to let him read simple Chinese story books. If he can read up to one thousand words out loud everyday, then he will be much more confident speaking Mandarin. Start with one hundred words a day, then slowly increase the volume as he reads faster.

My P2 girl now reads about 3000 words out loud to me everyday, she can finish reading in about 20 minutes or less. She is very confident in speaking Mandarin now.

Thanks for yr advise. I try to speak to him alt days in Mandarin. I hope he can read as well as yr kids. They r v good.

[jerejoy]

deardear07:

jerejoy:

Hi Tamarind,


Thanks for sharing with us yr blog and advices. My boy is now able to read P&J level 5 and he is reading the sage collection book 3 at 35th month old now. However, he is not able to communicate with us in Mandarin in full sentences only partial but can ans us back in English when we speak to him in Mandarin. I am wondering if I shld send him to Berries. Do u think it will help? Kindly advise.

Wow! Ur son is onto p&j level5? Read with understanding?

My 34mth son cannot read yet... Most letters cannot recognize too... Only recognize some words in books that he had constant exposure to.even then,he will forget at times.

He is better at recognizing chinese words though... Weird coz his spoken mandarin is poor due to lack of exposure.we expected him to pick up english faster. He is onto a little phonics so mayb need more time?

Hi deardear07,

Yes, he reads with understanding. He is strong in his English. Maybe becos I have been reading 15-20 books to him everyday since birth. He started to read on his own when he was 25th month old. I followed v closely to Tamarind teaching methods. I think her methods r really awesome. A v big thank you to her. U can try to follow her phonics part. A good start for early reader.

[porcupine12trade]

Hi keltong


Have u rec’d ur books? Mine are shipped out 17 and 23 Jan, till now not rec’d yet. The wait is indeed long haaa

[keltong]

porcupine12trade:

Hi keltong


Have u rec'd ur books? Mine are shipped out 17 and 23 Jan, till now not rec'd yet. The wait is indeed long haaa

Nope...not yet. I have order on 20 Jan, 26 Jan, 31 Jan and 15 Feb. All still no news. But the one I bought via 65daigou already got it...will write about the service later.

[deardear07]

My froggies still taking aeroplane...haha,but ds is v keen on word caper n can sing it...same goes for my elder dd.she loves the storybook factory.


Ds knows most of the letters in the alphabet and some phonic sounds already. Maybe my fault for any lack in early exposure. But he is fast with his numbers.1yr plus can recognize single numbers n soon after,can count meaningfully up to 5 too.that was gd enuf for me... nw just working on progressing on since he is keen to learn.

but generally,children this age do not knw hw to recognize alot of symbols other than pictures. Maybe parents in ksp really ks...lol.wana help our kids so tend to have many children who have gd exposure.

Normally in preschool,teachers don't teach alphabet recognition n phonics till nursery coz itz nt developmentally right. Of coz,advanced learners will always knw their stuff faster.

porcupine12trade:

deardear07:

Wow! Ur son is onto p&j level5? Read with understanding?

My 34mth son cannot read yet... Most letters cannot recognize too... Only recognize some words in books that he had constant exposure to.even then,he will forget at times.

He is better at recognizing chinese words though... Weird coz his spoken mandarin is poor due to lack of exposure.we expected him to pick up english faster. He is onto a little phonics so mayb need more time?

Hi deardear,

I am impressed too at 34th mth he can read Level 5!! my son still at Level 1 hehe. Hey, did you try Leapfrog DVDs on ur son? When my son was 30 mth old, gosh he cldnt even recog A-Z, even the teachers commented too. I was worried coz at the same age, my gals already knew single sounds. I had Leapfrog from about 6-7yrs ago, however he was not keen. When he was abt 32mths, I tried to on the Leapfrog DVDs again and he watched, after a mth or 2 of watching, he can recog all letters and make all the sounds. I think the Leapfrog DVDs are fantastic.

My #2 is similar to your son, she speaks v poor mandarin but very interested to learn the characters.

[tamarind]

jerejoy:

Hi deardear07,

Yes, he reads with understanding. He is strong in his English. Maybe becos I have been reading 15-20 books to him everyday since birth. He started to read on his own when he was 25th month old. I followed v closely to Tamarind teaching methods. I think her methods r really awesome. A v big thank you to her. U can try to follow her phonics part. A good start for early reader.

Hi jerejoy,
I am happy to know that you find my methods helpful Your son is amazing !

[cimman]

my son is in P4 this year. We don’t speaking Mandarin at home. He has failed twice in his Chinese test this year and his Chinese teacher says that he will most likely fail his exams. He can’t read words that P2 students can. I really don’t know what to do. He is so reluctant to learn Mandarin. He goes for Chinese Tuition, but doesn’t seem to be helping him.

All the parents here seem to have started the groundwork early. Unfortnately for me, that is all in the past now.

[deardear07]

tamarind:

jerejoy:

Hi deardear07,

Yes, he reads with understanding. He is strong in his English. Maybe becos I have been reading 15-20 books to him everyday since birth. He started to read on his own when he was 25th month old. I followed v closely to Tamarind teaching methods. I think her methods r really awesome. A v big thank you to her. U can try to follow her phonics part. A good start for early reader.

Hi jerejoy,
I am happy to know that you find my methods helpful Your son is amazing !

Just realized this...r a sahm? Wow...thatz a lot of books to read a day...

[Jennifer]

cimman:

my son is in P4 this year. We don't speaking Mandarin at home. He has failed twice in his Chinese test this year and his Chinese teacher says that he will most likely fail his exams. He can't read words that P2 students can. I really don't know what to do. He is so reluctant to learn Mandarin. He goes for Chinese Tuition, but doesn't seem to be helping him.

All the parents here seem to have started the groundwork early. Unfortnately for me, that is all in the past now.

Dun give up now. Start from the basics.