I'm at a loss with my p5 son's Chinese

[pixiedust]

Hi chamonix,


Thank you for sharing ! You have a clever method ! Brilliant ! It is similar to using mnemonics for English spelling.

I will try in that direction...but mommy needs some creative juice to think up the interesting stories (no time to watch Kim Jun-won drama liao :lol:)


Hi ksme,

Thanks for sharing your story. Good to read that your son had a luck break. I hope such a good 天时地利人和 momment will arrive for my son soon. Keep us posted of your ds's progress!

[Brenda10]

chamonix:

My son was in the exact predicament just a month ago. Repeated practices on writing the chinese characters just didn't work for him. As a result, he got very frustrated and I was left wondering how else I could make learning easier for him.


That's when I thought some fun elements in learning might help. And viola, it does!

Instead of getting him to just practise writing, we concoct silly stories about words. On example is 金. Here's how it goes : 八个王子两条腿. And to expand on his vocab, I explained to him that if he missed out the legs, the word will be 全 as in 安全, 全部.

Another way is to build new words upon words that he already knew or break the word down into simple forms. For instance, the word 戴. 土下有田，田下有共。因为可以戴在我身上，所以旁边有个斜勾点。I also took the opportunity to teach him that 異 is actually the traditional chinese version of 异.

The above methods work very well for my son. Hopefully they can give you some ideas to include fun in teaching your son to write Chinese characters.

加油, all the P5 mommies!

Thank you for sharing and it's interesting as we can see all type of 法宝 that can help to improve in learning CL. That's wish everyone 有志者事竟成! :celebrate:

[tamarind]

Page 4 and page 16 of the first book of 四五快读 series explains how to teach kids to relate the shape of a word to its meaning. Actually that was the way my Chinese teachers taught me when I was in school. I will be surprised if Chinese teachers nowadays don't teach that way anymore.


The author also explains a much more efficient method of learning Chinese :

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w1nyHWTEh94/SzQNqxhw_hI/AAAAAAAABa8/l086PP3oR54/s1600/b11.JPG

Book 7 contains many groups of words with common parts, made easy for kids to learn. Actually this was how I learned Chinese words when I was a student

The first 30 pages of 四五快读 book 1 is really a must read for all parents whose kids are learning Chinese.

More information in my blog :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaching-chinese-at-home.html

If we use good resources like the 7 books of 四五快读 series, kids can learn a lot faster and easier. Without these books, kids will take a much longer time in order to know enough words to read long Chinese novels. Using the 四五快读 series, it is possible for kids to read novels by P1.

[metz]

pixiedust:

Hi chamonix,


Thank you for sharing ! You have a clever method ! Brilliant ! It is similar to using mnemonics for English spelling.

I will try in that direction...but mommy needs some creative juice to think up the interesting stories (no time to watch Kim Jun-won drama liao :lol:)

No worries, the drama will still be there waiting for you

Once you start the ball rolling, I'm sure your son will be making up all sorts of stories in no time.

Another way that I try to increase his chinese vocabulary is introducing similar characters to the new word we come across. For example, 痛, I will introduce 勇 蛹 涌 通 桶 诵 捅 along with their meanings and usage. Having a good dictionary by my side is very important. Also, as far as my rusty brain allows me, I'll teach him good phrases whenever they pop into my head. Eg. from 信, I also taught him the meaning of 言 and 言之过早. from 过，we have 过了这个村儿，没这个店儿. All these may be unrelated to his textbook, but they certainly add more fun to our learning.

I'll share more if I can think of interesting methods.

[metz]

Brenda10:

Thank you for sharing and it's interesting as we can see all type of 法宝 that can help to improve in learning CL. That's wish everyone 有志者事竟成! :celebrate:

I'm still at the beginning stage of learning to coach my kids on Chinese. I happened to see your recommendation on 古月照今尘 by 文章. That's really cool! It's a good song to introduce China and its culture to kids. Can't wait for my kids to be ready to enjoy this song.

[metz]

janet_lee88:

I'm losing (actually lost) my cool with my p1 gal's Chinese. Done several assessment books and revised with flash cards but to no avail...very tiring and stressed too. She refuses to pronounce the hanyu pinyin and unconfident to write the correct tone. In the meantime, just have to keep on revising with her w/out textbook as she has memorized format and pic inside.

For eg 猪，洗衣，杯 always seeing all these but cannot remember.

Hi Janet,

To encourage my kids to pronounce the words with the correct tones, I taught them to use hand movements with the different 声调. For instance, the first tone, the finger or hand will go straight like a car; the second one is climbing up the roller coaster; the third tone is the thrilling valley; and the last tone is going down the roller coaster.

Another way to improve their diction, (especially my daughter), we have mini performances by enacting out the stories in storybooks. One of us will be the narrator, then the other two - the actors. We then rotate the roles. It's fun, at the same they would reread the stories without boredom. (In fact, I'm the one that cannot keep up with them.) I would recommend picture books for this activity. For my kids, I choose books that are more for pleasure reading. But these books do introduce good vocabulary and phrases too. For instance, my kids are now using 火冒三丈 to describe their 'anger' with each other.

For character recognition, how about getting her to a sentence first, then rearrange the word cards? When she gains more confidence, you can introduce more new characters. That will give her time to consolidate her character recognition skill.

Since she has memorized the textbook, why not consider using other books to supplement instead? With varied content/stories, she might be more motivated to learn Chinese.

[pixiedust]

chamonix:

I'll share more if I can think of interesting methods.

chamonix, yes, please do !
So far I've tried breaking up the words : 解
Somehow, 角刀牛 is easier for him to remember than 解 !

I see hope !

re: 皮皮鲁 - I saw your recommendation about this series of books and managed to find some in our public library. It seems there are quite a few series. Some has bigger fonts and colour illustrations (总动员) but some are more like novels. Will test them out with ds. Initial impression is that this series will appeal to boys. Thanks for sharing on this. If you come across any other similar series that may appeal to boys, share with us too.

re: good dictionary

So far we are still using the paper dictionary. The exam approved one are quite limited in functionalities and vocab. Are you using electronic dictionary ? Past 2 days, I've been checking out the ones here but they are quite costly..running up to S$500.

Anyone else has any suggestions ?

Brenda

I saw your recommendation 古月照今尘 by 文章 too but I don't know it ! :stupid: I should go find it. I've only heard 外婆的澎湖湾, I remember 裘海正 sang it ? Yup, I am that old. Hahaha...

Anyway, I couldn't picture ds listening to these songs but I think I should give it a try. If you come across any good Chinese pop songs that appeal to children, do share with us.

[sakura_2009]

pixiedust:

chamonix:

I'll share more if I can think of interesting methods.

chamonix, yes, please do !
So far I've tried breaking up the words : 解
Somehow, 角刀牛 is easier for him to remember than 解 !

I see hope !

re: good dictionary

So far we are still using the paper dictionary. The exam approved one are quite limited in functionalities and vocab. Are you using electronic dictionary ? Past 2 days, I've been checking out the ones here but they are quite costly..running up to S$500.

Anyone else has any suggestions ?

Brenda

I saw your recommendation 古月照今尘 by 文章 too but I don't know it ! :stupid: I should go find it. I've only heard 外婆的澎湖湾, I remember 裘海正 sang it ? Yup, I am that old. Hahaha...

Anyway, I couldn't picture ds listening to these songs but I think I should give it a try. If you come across any good Chinese pop songs that appeal to children, do share with us.

Errr...thought the original singer for 外婆的澎湖湾 should be 潘安邦? Now who's older... :lol:

[metz]

pixiedust:

chamonix:

I'll share more if I can think of interesting methods.

chamonix, yes, please do !
So far I've tried breaking up the words : 解
Somehow, 角刀牛 is easier for him to remember than 解 !

I see hope !

:rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:
[quote]
re: 皮皮鲁 - I saw your recommendation about this series of books and managed to find some in our public library. It seems there are quite a few series. Some has bigger fonts and colour illustrations (总动员) but some are more like novels. Will test them out with ds. Initial impression is that this series will appeal to boys. Thanks for sharing on this. If you come across any other similar series that may appeal to boys, share with us too. [/quote]Yes, I saw a few versions online too. Some are with HYPN and some are without. (This is one of those times when I wish I'm home in Singapore - easy access to books.) I'm not sure if you are aware of this store - http://www.lingzi.com.sg/. It has a file that recomends books for the different primary levels. Follow this link URL: http://www.lingzi.com.sg/download.php and click on the download files for 玲子传媒小学分级图书清单 and 中学阅读计划－本地推荐. Hope it can give you more ideas on books for your son.

I remember I used to enjoy composition compilations by various Junior Colleges when I was in Secondary School. Perhaps you can try the compilations by our local secondary schools or junior colleges and see where our local standard stands - http://www.lingzi.com.sg/products.php?cid=13

In addition, I am also inclined to share with my kids books such as 小故事大辛福 and 心花朵朵开. One excerpt from 心花朵朵开 :


得寸进尺

每当我汪汪叫时，
就会有一根骨头飞过来。

那么，
只要再叫大声一点，

应该飞来
更大的骨头吧！

啊！怎么会是一根棍子呢？


Some are humourous while others are sweet:

好朋友

我有一位好朋友， 早已离我而去.
她那那弯弯的眼睛，
看起来好像一直在微笑。
没想到我会这么的想念她，
没想到我会如此的难已忘怀。


My son and I enjoy these little stories very much. I hope, besides the funny bits, my kids will learn the art of using such simple words in expressing themselves in Chinese. 文字用词虽间单， 但它就像一阵春风，给我一种很温馨的感觉。

The only grouse I have about these books is the words are in Traditional Chinese. On the other hand, I see it as a good exposure to Traditional Chinese, just that I have to do more work.


re: good dictionary

We are currently relying on both types of dictionaries. The paperback dictionary allows me to introduce more new words and phrases while the electronic dictionary helps me to translate the meanings into English. Easier and faster for them to grasp their meanings.

[pixiedust]

chamonix

Thanks for taking the time to share.
Besides the actual information, it is really heartening to see your efforts to help your children with Chinese. The quoted stories from 小故事大辛福 and 心花朵朵开 are indeed very 温馨 - simple but they invoke emotions.

LingZi goes around the primary schools here to do 2days book sales but they usually only bring down a small selection. I've also visited their office to buy some DVDs eg. 马丁的早晨. Will check their updated book list.

I think checking out our local secondary school compilations is a great idea. I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks again !

sakura_2009
Wah...okay, I think you win liao ! Hahaha...




SA2 Oral is around the corner, 加油 all P5 moms !