Teaching Chinese at Home

[znzyzyzx]

acforfamily:

Hi I went to check out the books but realised that they are all for younger kids.

Just want to recommend this series 小白龙，my son does not like Chinese but he likes these books because they are written in comic form and yet teach Chinese. (though I have yet to find out whether he reads the Chinese or is only looking at the pictures! )

They have a website here but I think Popular sells them too.
If anyone knows of any interesting books for 10 year old and above, kindly recommend!

http://www.zippyhotel.com/dobystudio/store/index.html

I went to their website, but am confused by the pricing. Some books are selling for $1 , some $20 , and some $12 ???

[znzyzyzx]

tamarind:

Hi,

You must apply for the Secure Online Shopping Service :

http://www.citibank.com.sg/SGGCB/APPS/portal/loadPage.do?path=/info/sub_det/sos_activ.htm&tabId=Citibank%20Online%20Promotions

Still rejected after entering the secure code. Why ?

[tamarind]

znzyzyzx:

Still rejected after entering the secure code. Why ?

I am not sure. May be you need to check with Citibank.

[dimsum]

znzyzyzx:

Still rejected after entering the secure code. Why ?

Both citibank visa and master can be used. I was using master then too.

Regarding rejection after entering the secure code, calling both dangdang and citibank helpdesk won't help. I encountered rejection so many times until i wanted to give up. Then, suddenly, it was accepted! Very frustrating indeed.

Basically, our credit card transaction is handled by PayEase, not directly by Dangdang. You can refer to PayEase website Help section which provides some info on the frequently encountered problems.

http://www.beijing.com.cn/views.do;jsessionid=5A21A7CEEBDD9595328961BE9DD876CC?mid=web_help&rows=1

One important thing to note is once your dangdang order is rejected after you enter the secure code, you must re-create a new order (which will have a new order number). DO NOT keep submitting the same order request.

[znzyzyzx]

dimsum:

Both citibank visa and master can be used. I was using master then too.


Regarding rejection after entering the secure code, calling both dangdang and citibank helpdesk won't help. I encountered rejection so many times until i wanted to give up. Then, suddenly, it was accepted! Very frustrating indeed.

Basically, our credit card transaction is handled by PayEase, not directly by Dangdang. You can refer to PayEase website Help section which provides some info on the frequently encountered problems.

http://www.beijing.com.cn/views.do;jsessionid=5A21A7CEEBDD9595328961BE9DD876CC?mid=web_help&rows=1

One important thing to note is once your dangdang order is rejected after you enter the secure code, you must re-create a new order (which will have a new order number). DO NOT keep submitting the same order request.

Hi, thanks a lot. Managed to get thru' when done from home.

[dimsum]

tamarind:

Charmaine, dimsum,

I just tried to order from dangdang.com, I found out that they allow bank transfer.

Tamarind, need your help. Did you personally go down to the bank to do the transfer or online? I tried doing it online using UOB account. But the list of currencies in the drop down list doesn't include Chinese Yuan.

[tamarind]

dimsum:

tamarind:

Charmaine, dimsum,

I just tried to order from dangdang.com, I found out that they allow bank transfer.

Tamarind, need your help. Did you personally go down to the bank to do the transfer or online? I tried doing it online using UOB account. But the list of currencies in the drop down list doesn't include Chinese Yuan.

dimsum,
I gave up on bank transfer. Too much of a hassle. and the transfer fees are too high. My Citibank credit card is approved, I received the cards within a week and I successfully placed the order already.

Also, dangdang.com uses the company name as the account holder. Bank of China, requires the account holder to be an individual's name. I found a money changer who says that they can transfer to a company name, but not sure whether I can trust them.

I just PM you. Please check.

[tamarind]

Dear all,

I received my books from http://www.dangdang.com !

四五快读 is the best resources I have seen for teaching Chinese at home.

Read my blog for a detailed description and photos of the pages :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaching-chinese-at-home.html

I have recommended these books to the National Library. I will update here when the library has these books

In fact, I think that these books are even better than the materials at Berries. A 6 year old child who can complete the entire series of 7 books, will be much more proficient than a child who completed K2 class at Berries But parents must be prepared to put in the time and effort.

Note that these books do not teach hanyu pinyin. They are from China so we should trust that they know the correct methods of teaching Chinese. Kids must learn to recognize hundreds of Chinese words first, before they start to learn hanyu pinyin. If kids are taught Hanyu Pinyin before they learn Chinese words, they will find Chinese difficult to learn, and will lose interest in the language.

[Blobbi]

tamarind:

Dear all,

I received my books from http://www.dangdang.com !

四五快读 is the best resources I have seen for teaching Chinese at home.

Read my blog for a detailed description and photos of the pages :
http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2009/12/teaching-chinese-at-home.html

I have recommended these books to the National Library. I will update here when the library has these books

In fact, I think that these books are even better than the materials at Berries. A 6 year old child who can complete the entire series of 7 books, will be much more proficient than a child who completed K2 class at Berries But parents must be prepared to put in the time and effort.

Note that these books do not teach hanyu pinyin. They are from China so we should trust that they know the correct methods of teaching Chinese. Kids must learn to recognize hundreds of Chinese words first, before they start to learn hanyu pinyin. If kids are taught Hanyu Pinyin before they learn Chinese words, they will find Chinese difficult to learn, and will lose interest in the language.

Dear Tamarind,

Thank you so much for your sincere recommendations. This one looks really interesting! I've never bought from Dangdang before, but I'll certainly try to order these. I take the approach of \"learning along\" with my son since my Chinese is so kantang. This is one area we (son and I) need serious help.


:thankyou:

[tamarind]

Blobbi,

You are welcome !

Dear all parents,
The standards of Chinese in these books are very high. Although it is meant for 4 to 5 years old, by book 6, the standard is equivalent to our P3. I also highly recommend these books for P1 and P2 kids who need help with Chinese.

However, if parents can spend about 15 mins to teach the kids everyday, and start from 3 to 4 years old, then by 6 years old, the kids should be able to complete book 6, and it would seem like they have learned effortlessly. I used the same approach to teach my boy http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-do-i-manage-to-find-time-to-teach.html.

Also note that the book advises parents to use games to teach the kids so that they can have lots of fun when learning