Learning Chinese (Primary/Preschool)

[pixiedust]

Passerby:

Hi Chenonceau


Just wanted to let you know that I have always enjoyed reading all your posts, they come across as very well balanced & well thought through. Your POV are always well put and argued, without being strident or abrasive, and they come across as very mature views.
, without being the \"end all & be all\", always appreciating that everyone has different considerations & priorities.

Most of all you are truly a very gracious lady, whom many have lots to learn from, myself included. I do hope to continue having the privilege of reading your POV on the varied subjects that you have an interest in. Thank you.

:goodpost: I wholeheartedly AGREE with passerby above.

Chenonceau, thanks for your time in sharing your thoughts and approach on this thread.
Hope to continue seeing you around.

Chenonceau:

.... Employ the faculty of critical and nuanced thinking. As parents, we owe it to our kids to do enough due diligence. Cannot just follow expert advice in blind faith.....

:goodpost:

[rosemummy]

Just my 2 cents. There’s no right or wrong way. It depends on your priority, what you want to achieve and the amount of time you are able to devote to it. Different techniques is needed at different stage. During the time I was in school, many of my friends resorted to memorising model essays. Many got their children to do that as parents. They got distinctions for their Chinese without having to unduly sacrifice time for other subjects.


I do not like to get my child to memorise in order to regurgitate. In US colleges, you get a zero immediately if you had lifted just 1 sentence somewhere without credit. But I do think that there’s room for it for second or foreign languages. I got her to memorise sentences for her Chinese compo, but not for anything else. And she had As in her Chinese for both PSLE and O levels, without spending an inordinate amount of time on it, freeing her to learn other languages which had definitely enriched her life more than just excelling in Chinese (and English) would.

Memorising does have an important role in learning. The Koreans are made to do a lot of memorising from young. For example, they’re not allowed to use calculators and have to memorise the values of all the log. According to my daughter, the Koreans students almost always top the college in Maths. All her Korean friends speak at least 5 languages. 1 Korean boy, who’s her senior, is fluent in 7 languages. They did a lot of rote learning but they’re no less creative.

[metz]

Chenonceau:

tamarind:

I find it even more strange that someone who cannot even read anything in Chinese, can write such so much about how to learn Chinese.

Ah yes... you are right. I don't know Chinese. That is fact indeed.

Hi Chenonceau,

Your effort in helping your son in Chinese, despite your own handicap in the subject, is indeed applaudable! His results and growing interest in Chinese is the very evidence that you are heading in the right direction. Not everybody has the opportunity to help or teach her child in areas that she herself is lacking in. Hence, the stark differences in views. However, there are many other parents who are on the same boat as you. Even for myself, I have learnt something from your posts on learning Chinese. So, please do continue with your sharing, which I believe will benefit many parents in the same plight. (I know zilch about French, but I can probably work on a thesis on how to learn French with kids. And oh yes, memory work is also part of our learning too. )

:offtopic: Btw, would you mind sharing with me how you mastered the 'r' and 'u' (as in rue) sounds in French? I just can't get these two sounds right...

笑猫日记 is a rather popular series by the China author 杨红樱.I was recommended this series by a sales staff Maha Yu Yi when my son was in K2. (Unfortunately we didn't get the books because there was no stock then.) I just took a quick look on joyo.com and I found the difficulty levels of this series varies.
http://www.amazon.cn/%E6%A8%B1%E6%A1%83%E6%B2%9F%E7%9A%84%E6%98%A5%E5%A4%A9-%E6%9D%A8%E7%BA%A2%E6%A8%B1/dp/B0028QGQWK/ref=pd_sim_b_2

http://www.amazon.cn/%E7%AC%91%E7%8C%AB%E6%97%A5%E8%AE%B0-%E7%90%83%E7%90%83%E8%80%81%E8%80%81%E9%BC%A0-%E6%9D%A8%E7%BA%A2%E6%A8%B1/dp/B003QCJU5U/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301534087&sr=1-1

The above series would serve as a good supplementary for my children to acquire new Chinese words (with the electronic dictionary and my help, of course). So, I'm not sure if this series would be a little too simple for your son, since he has been absorbing a large dosage of good Chinese phrases the last few months. Alternatively, you may want to check out other series by the same author such as男生日记 or 非常校园系列. Unlike笑猫日记, they seem to cater more to the older children. (Another series I have in mind is 皮皮鲁. I have this feeling it would entice my son to continue reading the entire book himself.)

Erm, I mean, that is, if your son is keen in Chinese storybooks.

[rosemummy]

chamonix:

[(I know zilch about French, but I can probably work on a thesis on how to learn French with kids. And oh yes, memory work is also part of our learning too. )


:offtopic: Btw, would you mind sharing with me how you mastered the 'r' and 'u' (as in rue) sounds in French? I just can't get these two sounds right...

Mind sharing how you do it? Maybe start another thread?

My girl is fluent in French, but like you, I can't speak a word.

[tamarind]

lee2004:

chinese word is difference with english word, right?


How to remember and understand chinese words faster?

plz check

http://shuowen.supfree.net/

and other website about chinese learning :

http://edumall.sg
http://xuele.edumall.sg
http://www.lead.com.sg

help you understand english words.

Thanks for sharing. My kids' primary school require them to do homework on these websites.

However, for http://www.lead.com.sg, students require a login name and password, so it is not free for all to use ?

[pixiedust]

tamarind:

..However, for http://www.lead.com.sg, students require a login name and password, so it is not free for all to use ?

The school has the subscribe to it.
DS's school is using it for all levels.

[tamarind]

pixiedust:

tamarind:

..However, for http://www.lead.com.sg, students require a login name and password, so it is not free for all to use ?

The school has the subscribe to it.
DS's school is using it for all levels.

Thanks for the information. I wonder if all schools are using it ?
Kids will not be able to use it before entering primary school.

[lee2004]

[ :love: :celebrate: [/img]

[MyBaby]

Hi Tamarind, lead.com (now called MCOnline) is a commercial education portal by Marshall Cavendish. Access is based on school's subscription. For my kids'school, subscription is \"compulsory\" and money is deducted from edusave account.


I find that for younger kids (P1 and P2), word recognition is very important. So I have been doing flash cards (both from 字宝宝 and 四五快读）to boost up DS word recognition. I am also reading aloud Chinese books to him.

tamarind:

pixiedust:

[quote=\"tamarind\"] ..However, for http://www.lead.com.sg, students require a login name and password, so it is not free for all to use ?

The school has the subscribe to it.
DS's school is using it for all levels.

Thanks for the information. I wonder if all schools are using it ?
Kids will not be able to use it before entering primary school.[/quote]

[tamarind]

MyBaby:

Hi Tamarind, lead.com (now called MCOnline) is a commercial education portal by Marshall Cavendish. Access is based on school's subscription. For my kids'school, subscription is \"compulsory\" and money is deducted from edusave account.


I find that for younger kids (P1 and P2), word recognition is very important. So I have been doing flash cards (both from 字宝宝 and 四五快读）to boost up DS word recognition. I am also reading aloud Chinese books to him.

tamarind:

[quote=\"pixiedust\"]The school has the subscribe to it.
DS's school is using it for all levels.

Thanks for the information. I wonder if all schools are using it ?
Kids will not be able to use it before entering primary school.

[/quote]OIC. I don't even remember how much money they deducted from me

I do find that using books like 四五快读 and story books are more effective than using computers for learning Chinese.