Teaching Chinese at Home

[ksme]

wonderm:

ksme:

[quote=\"wonderm\"]

I bought the full set of xiao mao ri ji for DS. He read a few but didn't like it and I agree it is more suitable for girls. Hence I have given them to my friend who has a girl. My DS is current reading 冒险小虎队 and he really enjoys it.

Thanks Wonderm for your comments and recommendation of冒险小虎队. I bought 1 of the book last year but DS did not like it probably because then, he was still not used to reading all words book. Will dig it out again and see if he likes it now.

ksme, how old is yr ds? My ds just finished psle. He wouldn't be able to read and enjoy the book earlier due to limited Chinese vocab.[/quote]Hi, my ds is going to P5 next year.

[Koolmama]

Hi Yuppy, thanks so much for sharing the info about this app!!


Btw, does anyone know if such apps can be downloaded and used on the iPad?? My ds has been bugging me for an iPad... i'm thinking maybe i should get him one and download all the Chinese shows and apps onto it... Then he'll have no choice but to use them hahaha :lol:

yuppybb:

hey for those who are eyeing on \"学前阅读计划-首100字“...not too sure if any of you realise that there is an IPHONE APP that also carry this series. I check with my HARDCOPY book liao. The apps and the actual book is the SAME! :lol: :lol:

there is a voice recording that u can play to listen to the story. there is oso a quiz session to test on recognition of words.

the first book for the 首100字 is FREE!! so download n try. subsequent books u will need to pay 0.99/bk. u can search under STICKBOY LEARNS CHINESE / CHINESE 100

(pls dun be mistaken - m not working for this company heee)


:celebrate:

[tamarind]

Brenda10:

tamarind:

[quote=\"Brenda10\"]
Hi Tamarind

So happen this was the 1st book: 小猫出生在秘密山洞 that we read. DD is aware of 生离死别 is a path everyone has to go through. As such just learn to be happy and treasure what ever is with her.

BTW, she has left 40+ pages to go and I will get in the rest a.s.a.p. since she likes it.

She also told me some of her classmates who are very good in CL compo. also reading these serial of books.

Hi Brenda,
It is good that your DD is matured enough to read these books

Hi Tamarind

I'm happy to share with you that now dd is in no. 9 book and 3 more to go we will complete the entire 12 books.

I also get a few 马小跳 story books which have some 人物 that are related to xiao mao ri ji.

Hopefully by reading all these books during school holiday dd can improve in her compo. next year.


Thank you and have a nice day.[/quote]Hi Brenda,
Your dd is very impressive ! I have not heard of any other local primary school kid who has read so many of the 笑猫日记 books. Though these books are widely read by primary school children in China.

Actually I do recommend these books for both boys and girls. 笑猫 is a boy cat, and most of the characters in the books are boys. The problem is that our primary school syllabus does not teach enough words for kids to be able to read long novels like these. So most kids may find that there are so many words that they cannot read and understand, and they lose interest. I advise other parents to read these books together with your kids. Ask the kid to read every word out loud, and help him if there is any word that he does not know. Discuss the story with your kid. Kids will learn to enjoy the stories, and they will be able to learn many new words and phrases.

Actually learning to read in Chinese is easier than English. All we have to do is to read together with the child. I have often heard of kids who are capable of reading long English novels by 7 years old, but it is a pity that most Singaporean kids are not able to read long Chinese novels in primary school.

Most parents make the mistake of forcing their kids to memorize as many individual words as possible. The fact is that even if you memorized 1000 words, you still cannot write a good Chinese composition. The key to doing well in Chinese, is to read as many good story books as possible. When a child has read extensively, she will know what to write, and how to form good sentences.

[allseasons]

Hi Tamarind,


Really impressed by your patience and knowledge to share how to improve our children Chinese.. :)).

I am learning chinese together with my children :oops: . They have been pestering me for some comics that I couldn't find in the bookstore...

I try to order some books for them (and me too :oops: ) from Dangdang, however my chinese is so lousy.. I even don't know how to sign up, and how to order.. Do you have any clue, how to place an order there, if my chinese is so limited? I tried to call them yesterday, but it was all answering machine.. Thanks a lot :celebrate:

[ksme]

tamarind:

Hi Brenda,
Your dd is very impressive ! I have not heard of any other local primary school kid who has read so many of the 笑猫日记 books. Though these books are widely read by primary school children in China.

Actually I do recommend these books for both boys and girls. 笑猫 is a boy cat, and most of the characters in the books are boys. The problem is that our primary school syllabus does not teach enough words for kids to be able to read long novels like these. So most kids may find that there are so many words that they cannot read and understand, and they lose interest. I advise other parents to read these books together with your kids. Ask the kid to read every word out loud, and help him if there is any word that he does not know. Discuss the story with your kid. Kids will learn to enjoy the stories, and they will be able to learn many new words and phrases.

Actually learning to read in Chinese is easier than English. All we have to do is to read together with the child. I have often heard of kids who are capable of reading long English novels by 7 years old, but it is a pity that most Singaporean kids are not able to read long Chinese novels in primary school.

Most parents make the mistake of forcing their kids to memorize as many individual words as possible. The fact is that even if you memorized 1000 words, you still cannot write a good Chinese composition. The key to doing well in Chinese, is to read as many good story books as possible. When a child has read extensively, she will know what to write, and how to form good sentences.

Tamarind,
What do you think of the 马小跳 series? There are 20 books in the series. Is it good read for upper primary kids? Many thanks for your kind sharings on this topic.

[tamarind]

Hi ksme,

The 马小跳 series is very popular in China. I heard that teachers in China recommend this series to students. So it should be good. I have only read the first few pages of one book before, the words and phrases are as difficult as any Chinese novels for adults. Our primary school kids may not be able to read many of the words, and may become discouraged. Kids will be more motivated to read these books if parents read with them. Also, I don’t think that every book in the series is interesting to local kids, parents should pre-read each book and choose carefully.

But personally I find that 笑猫日记 is more interesting, since those books are about animals, and there is a fantasy element in each book, which should appeal to both boys and girls.

[tamarind]

allseasons:

Hi Tamarind,


Really impressed by your patience and knowledge to share how to improve our children Chinese.. :)).

I am learning chinese together with my children :oops: . They have been pestering me for some comics that I couldn't find in the bookstore...

I try to order some books for them (and me too :oops: ) from Dangdang, however my chinese is so lousy.. I even don't know how to sign up, and how to order.. Do you have any clue, how to place an order there, if my chinese is so limited? I tried to call them yesterday, but it was all answering machine.. Thanks a lot :celebrate:

allseasons,
It's my pleasure to share.

Have you tried the Maha Yuyi bookstore at Bras Basah level 3 ? They have many books from dangdang, though the prices are more expensive.

Otherwise, you can PM one of the parents who are ordering from dangdang, and see if they can help you to order. I will not be ordering from dangdang again, bought too many books already.

[ksme]

tamarind:

Hi ksme,

The 马小跳 series is very popular in China. I heard that teachers in China recommend this series to students. So it should be good. I have only read the first few pages of one book before, the words and phrases are as difficult as any Chinese novels for adults. Our primary school kids may not be able to read many of the words, and may become discouraged. Kids will be more motivated to read these books if parents read with them. Also, I don't think that every book in the series is interesting to local kids, parents should pre-read each book and choose carefully.

But personally I find that 笑猫日记 is more interesting, since those books are about animals, and there is a fantasy element in each book, which should appeal to both boys and girls.

Thanks Tamarind. Btw, I saw that the author of these books, 杨红婴， will be speaking at the Popular Bookfest tomorrow afternoon on the笑猫日记 series.... Too bad I don't have time to go tomorrow.

[tamarind]

ksme:

tamarind:

Hi ksme,

The 马小跳 series is very popular in China. I heard that teachers in China recommend this series to students. So it should be good. I have only read the first few pages of one book before, the words and phrases are as difficult as any Chinese novels for adults. Our primary school kids may not be able to read many of the words, and may become discouraged. Kids will be more motivated to read these books if parents read with them. Also, I don't think that every book in the series is interesting to local kids, parents should pre-read each book and choose carefully.

But personally I find that 笑猫日记 is more interesting, since those books are about animals, and there is a fantasy element in each book, which should appeal to both boys and girls.

Thanks Tamarind. Btw, I saw that the author of these books, 杨红婴， will be speaking at the Popular Bookfest tomorrow afternoon on the笑猫日记 series.... Too bad I don't have time to go tomorrow.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know that she is in Singapore

BTW, I think her books are not the best in children's literature, though she is one of the best children's books writers from China.

I still think that there are better children's books written by Japanese writers and translated in Chinese, especially these :
佐贺的超级阿嬷
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20669176&ref=order-2-A
窗边的小豆豆
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=706089&ref=search-0-mix

[Koolmama]

Hi mummies,


I recently bought alot of chinese books at the Popular Bookfest. Actually, I feel that as citizens or residents in Sg we should support local bookshops and suppliers... So even if their books are a little bit more expensive than ordering directly from China, well they do need to earn a bit to feed their families and pay their bills right?? So if ordering from a local mom's website like Sunshine is only a few dollars more than from dangdang.com, why not??

Anyway, i wanted to share some good books that i found at the local library...

http://postimage.org/image/2zsz6575w/


http://postimage.org/image/2zte1zblw/


http://postimage.org/image/2ztpmqr2c/

For the 3rd book, there are about 5 or 6 books in this series which I love... The pictures are big and beautiful and nice character fonts... beautiful storyline... Sorry I don't have the time to take photos of all of them ^_^

Hope you can find these books at your local library or bookshop :lol:

By the way, I found the Odonata readers at Popular bookshop. At the Suntec Bookfest, they are selling at NETT price of about $26.90 (this is for the 200 word series... Different series have different prices). However, if you have the Popular card AND 20% discount voucher from the Popular magazine, you can buy it for $28.78 - 20% = $23.02 only at the bookshop!!! i got mine from Bras Basah Popular... what a good deal!! :lol: Please don't travel all the way to JB just to save a few dollars (and waste all that petrol)... Support local bookshops!! Ha ha