Teaching Chinese at Home

[MyBaby]

tamarind:

MyBaby, ksme,

佐贺的超级阿嬷 is one of the most meaningful books that I have ever read. I really hope that schools make every student read this book.

Yes, agree with you. My sister introduced the book to me a few years back but the copy she has was from Taiwan - so in 繁体字 and printed vertically. I have some problems reading Chinese text printed vertically and so gave it a miss. When I got the copy from the book fair which is printed in China (so in 简体字）and text printed horizontally, I was so glad that I read it.

Now that you've brought it up, I don't think schools practise such a thing as booklist anymore. I remember during my school years, I was given booklists for recommended Chinese and English storybooks to read. Don't remember DD ever coming back with any recommended booklist ...

Share a good news - just collected the books from my friend's place last night. DD \"wolved\" down one 笑猫 and just picked up another one from the bag as I am typing. So happy! Never happen for Chinese books before, leh!

DD's definitely more interested in Chinese as a language (as opposed to as a subject) this year. I think the access to good story books as well as the decision to drop HCL (and hence having a more 'relaxed' mother tongue teacher) help.

[tamarind]

MyBaby:

tamarind:

MyBaby, ksme,

佐贺的超级阿嬷 is one of the most meaningful books that I have ever read. I really hope that schools make every student read this book.

Yes, agree with you. My sister introduced the book to me a few years back but the copy she has was from Taiwan - so in 繁体字 and printed vertically. I have some problems reading Chinese text printed vertically and so gave it a miss. When I got the copy from the book fair which is printed in China (so in 简体字）and text printed horizontally, I was so glad that I read it.

Now that you've brought it up, I don't think schools practise such a thing as booklist anymore. I remember during my school years, I was given booklists for recommended Chinese and English storybooks to read. Don't remember DD ever coming back with any recommended booklist ...

Share a good news - just collected the books from my friend's place last night. DD \"wolved\" down one 笑猫 and just picked up another one from the bag as I am typing. So happy! Never happen for Chinese books before, leh!

DD's definitely more interested in Chinese as a language (as opposed to as a subject) this year. I think the access to good story books as well as the decision to drop HCL (and hence having a more 'relaxed' mother tongue teacher) help.

MyBaby,
I am happy to know that your DD is keen to read the 笑猫 books. I enjoy reading those books myself too Though these books are not as good as the best of the English children's literature, the 笑猫 books are very well written in Chinese and it is the best model for students to learn from.

I only heard of an English book list for GEP students, but they don't have a Chinese book list. This is sad because all students need to know which are the best books to read in both English and Chinese, because this is the best way to develop a deep interest in the languages.

[tamarind]

http://media.gv.com.sg/imagesresize/img8225.jpg\">


I bought Rapunzel, A Tangled Tale, from a video shop in Jurong Point. I just showed it in Mandarin, with Chinese subtitles to my kids. It is a fantastic movie ! Highly recommended. Both my kids have never watched it in English before, so now they think that Mandarin movies can also be so cool !

I think that watching good movies in Mandarin (suitable for children) is a very good way of learning oral skills, and it also helps to build up their vocabulary (by reading the subtitles). Too bad the DVD that I bought is in traditional Chinese, but many words are the same as simplified Chinese, so it is still helpful.

I also asked my hubby, now working in China to buy famous 宫崎骏 movies like :
龙猫[高清典藏版]国粤英日四语
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20678109&ref=order-2-A

It costs only RMB10, dirt cheap !

I also highly recommend this DVD :
萤火虫之墓
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=7385205&ref=search-1-pub

Though I did not dare to watch it a second time, because the first time I watched it I cried buckets of tears Highly recommended for upper primary kids.

[Brenda10]

tamarind:

I also asked my hubby, now working in China to buy famous 宫崎骏 movies like :

龙猫[高清典藏版]国粤英日四语
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20678109&ref=order-2-A

It costs only RMB10, dirt cheap !

I also highly recommend this DVD :
萤火虫之墓
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=7385205&ref=search-1-pub

Though I did not dare to watch it a second time, because the first time I watched it I cried buckets of tears Highly recommended for upper primary kids.

Hi Tamarind

Thank you for sharing. I would look out for 萤火虫之墓.

[allcc6]

Does anyone have any feedback on 淘气包 马小跳 VCD?

http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20132518&ref=shopping-0-C


Is it as good as the 喜洋洋 series for young children?



http://www.postimage.org/

[tamarind]

allcc6:

Does anyone have any feedback on 淘气包 马小跳 VCD?

http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20132518&ref=shopping-0-C


Is it as good as the 喜洋洋 series for young children?



http://www.postimage.org/

I have not watched this before, but it looks interesting. I may ask my hubby to bring back from China for me, and I will post my reviews here.

[porcupine12trade]

tamarind:

porcupine12trade,


My P1 boy has read 6 books in the 不一样的卡梅拉 series, thanks to the Si Wu Kuai Du books, he knows about 80% to 90% of the words, and that is enough for him to enjoy the stories. He learned many new words after he has the completed the series.

There are some 杨红樱 starter books that are in hanyu pinyin :

http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20821323&ref=search-1-pub

You can find them in Popular bookshop. But don't buy her too many, just try 2 or 3. We must let kids read books without hanyu pinyin otherwise they will not learn the Chinese words.

Hi tamarind

I saw the books and liked them coz the colour v attractive and the words do not look small. but was hesitant to get it coz it comes with HYPY. I found another series and it looks \"too good to be true\"? It combines many of 杨红樱 stories and is only ￥52.50. Reviews on dangdang are good and the pages/pics/words look decent to me, hope i choose it right and this set is what i think it to be...combines many 杨红樱 stories, nice pics, not too small words and decent quality haa

杨红樱童话珍藏版（全4册）
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20644982&ref=search-1-pub

I thought about my gal's reading habit (after what you have said) and decided to go easy on her, will not set too many rules abt when she should be reading, afterall reading is good and she indeed influences her siblings to like books.

Hi phankao,tamarind and mummies/daddies,

Thanks for all ur advice on books w HYPY. Initially I thought hypy is good so the kid can read independently since there is hypy to guide them. but after hearing from you that they may not learn the characters if they rely too much on hypy, i started to buy loads of books w/o hypy. But i am thinking, if a child has reasonable reading skills (reasonable, not as good as both of your kids :)), will hypy help the kid to recognise more chinese words indirectly? I mean if they look at 1 character, they cant recog, so they will look at the hypy and find out how to read, after that they will have impression that the character is read that way. or is my thinking too simplistic?

[porcupine12trade]

Hi tamarind,


I have prepared the 45kuaidu (cutting the cards and numbering them according to book/lessons). Also finished reading the instructions. But I dont know "where/how" to start. I tested my kids where i should start them (coz my #2 n #3 dont have to start from book1 lesson1)

I understand the writer mentioned we need to repeat 7-8times a character for them to be locked into kid memory, but 1 thing i dont understand is, if i intro 5 characters day 1, then on day 2, day 3 etc, other then repeat/revise the day 1 5 characters, do I have to into new characters on day 2,3 etc…if i intro new characters every day, means by day7 or 8…i hv so many characters to revise? (day 1 + day 2 + day 3?)…very confusing.

Or do i simply intro 5 characters then just do them for 7-8days until the kids rem…then start another new set of characters from the 9th day, means Day 1 for the new characters. Wah i sound messy not haaa. And how many words to intro… the write says younger start little, n then incr as days pass…but i m clueless! Its like i know the techniques, but dont know how to execute!

[mummy always]

hello mummies, i am new to this thread, so appreciate it if you could help me orientate, as there is a wealth of information here!


i am a desperate mother here. with a p4 and a p5, who are struggling with chinese. they spoke mandarin with their grandmas when they were younger, but never became very fluent in it, and sadly, i did not read many chinese books for them…

now their school work is so heavy, i am hard pressed for time to read with them, esp when i have a younger one with language delay which i also need to spend time teaching/playing with.

anyway, i want to do what i can. i am anxious, so i don’t think i wanna order from dang dang (which took 2 months to deliver what i ordered). can i get good books from local bookstore, at bras basah? i saw you guys mention a bookstore. and the xiaomao books looks like the favourites? is it age appropriate for my two boys?

also, they are spending a lot of time practising writing compositions and comprehensions (from their tutor), and yet their mandarin is still borderline pass. i am trying to find a better tutor. but do you think i should just drop the tuition, and concentrate on reading with them? do you think i have time to work with them before their PSLE?

actually my chinese was good as a student, and i do like the chinese language, and the children are not adverse to chinese, but i do feel that i am coming late in the game. my target is for the children to eventually become fluent reader/writer/speaker, but it is difficult not to worry over their psle chinese results…

[tamarind]

porcupine12trade:

Or do i simply intro 5 characters then just do them for 7-8days until the kids rem..then start another new set of characters from the 9th day, means Day 1 for the new characters. Wah i sound messy not haaa. And how many words to intro... the write says younger start little, n then incr as days pass...but i m clueless! Its like i know the techniques, but dont know how to execute!

I taught all the words in one lesson, repeat the same words for a week using different games each day. Then start a new lesson the next week, revising the previous lesson as often as I can. I did not follow exactly what the author wrote, but my boy still learned quite well.

What the author wrote in the first 30 pages are very useful guidelines. However, every child is different, some kids can remember words forever after just one or two repetitions, but some kids may not remember a word even after 20 repetitions. Repeating 7-8 times is only an example. Parents should adapt the methods according to the ability of the child.

The period of time in between revisions is important, read the last secion in this page :

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w1nyHWTEh94/SzQMM0_2kGI/AAAAAAAABas/fiu6YIcA5gk/s1600-h/b2.JPG