Teaching Chinese at Home

[pinkiepirate]

Hello everyone, I am beginning my Chinese journey with my son!


I have a question - when I read the storybook with my son, do I point to the Chinese characters as I read along? He is two years old and he is interested in the pictures and in listening to the story, so I’m not sure if I should "distract" him from his enjoyable experience.

Thanks in advance!

[hquek]

pinkiepirate:

Hello everyone, I am beginning my Chinese journey with my son!


I have a question - when I read the storybook with my son, do I point to the Chinese characters as I read along? He is two years old and he is interested in the pictures and in listening to the story, so I'm not sure if I should \"distract\" him from his enjoyable experience.

Thanks in advance!

hi pinkiepirate, it's ok to point as you go along. What I'm hearing from books and speakers is that we should not break the story when we hit an unknown word (ie insist the child go and check dictionary). I also point as I go along - just to ensure my kid knows where I am in the story.

[pinkiepirate]

Thanks hquek! I was unsure because, in a lot of books that we have, the Chinese characters are on the opposite page from the pictures, and I’m sure that my son is watching the pictures on one side, and not the Chinese characters. At the moment, all that is holding his attention is the pictures. I was not sure whether, if I draw his attention to the Chinese characters at this early beginning stage, I would lose his interest completely.

Thanks for your pointers!

[hquek]

pinkiepirate:

Thanks hquek! I was unsure because, in a lot of books that we have, the Chinese characters are on the opposite page from the pictures, and I'm sure that my son is watching the pictures on one side, and not the Chinese characters. At the moment, all that is holding his attention is the pictures. I was not sure whether, if I draw his attention to the Chinese characters at this early beginning stage, I would lose his interest completely.

Thanks for your pointers!

No worries. As your son progresses, you may want to play some games with him. For mine, I will sometimes break and ask him to 'jie' (continue) for a couple of words (familiar ones). There is no stress on him to know but I think he's quite ok with this. My younger one is more naughty, he will keep saying 'jie' 'jie' just so he don't have to read.

[pinkiepirate]

hquek, your sons sound adorable!


My little one is a complete Englishman. Everything that he knows, he knows in English. When I go through colours in Chinese with him, he will say the colours in English. Same with numbers. Maybe my pronunciation is really terrible. I shall see how long it takes before he \"absorbs\" my terrible Chinese.

[smurf]

Just want to ask, does anyone knows where to get resources for teaching 字旁? Dunno how to say it, but these are some example:


氵

汀
汤
汁

Etc etc

Does anyone knows where to get book on 笔画 also?? :?

Thanks!

[GSK]

Hope it helps


部首
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%83%A8%E9%A6%96


笔画
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AC%94%E7%94%BB

[phankao]

pinkiepirate:

Thanks hquek! I was unsure because, in a lot of books that we have, the Chinese characters are on the opposite page from the pictures, and I'm sure that my son is watching the pictures on one side, and not the Chinese characters. At the moment, all that is holding his attention is the pictures. I was not sure whether, if I draw his attention to the Chinese characters at this early beginning stage, I would lose his interest completely.

Thanks for your pointers!

I usually point, and i usu fold the page with pictures back while i read the words, unfolding it near the end of the text. I read v quickly n w expression. It takes practise. I usu check the dictionary b4 i read the book to him, n have a word card with me of words i can quickly glance at w/o stopping my reading. Like i said, the quick reading & fold/unfold pages take practise, but i've done that since he was a bb so quite comfortable w it. My son is 2yo.

[phankao]

pinkiepirate:

My little one is a complete Englishman. Everything that he knows, he knows in English. When I go through colours in Chinese with him, he will say the colours in English. Same with numbers. Maybe my pronunciation is really terrible. I shall see how long it takes before he \"absorbs\" my terrible Chinese.

Poor chinese is better than no chinese.

[pinkiepirate]

phankao, thanks for your tips! That’s an interesting technique!


Yes, my Chinese is beyond redemption. I can only buy Chinese books for my son with hanyu pinyin and even then I am not truly reading according to HYPY rules, I am just guessing what the intonation is.

I find this thread so fantastic, with all the parents so knowledgeable. I think I can only read less than 50 Chinese characters, so I am clueless most of the time. Today I was reading to my son and I realise I don’t even know how to read the characters for "read book" in the storybook, I was just guessing based on the HYPY and the picture in the storybook! Sigh, it’s going to be a long and tough journey for me.

BTW, is there another thread for parents like me, who can be considered as having zero Chinese proficiency? This thread is wonderful, but I think many of the parents here do know Chinese. For me, when Chinese characters pop up here, and when Chinese articles are quoted (on how I wish I can read them!), I am lost.