Posted in music, Videos on 02/22/2009 10:01 pm by sophie
As I have written before, memorizing songs and poems was one of the first ways L learned to speak Chinese. There is something about the rhythm of classical Chinese poetry that makes it very appealing to children; they can memorize the rhymes without even realizing that they are learning some of the most beautiful, eloquent, and profound works of literature ever written anywhere.
One of the most common poems, memorized by almost every schoolchild in China, is “Jing Ye Se” by Li Bai. Watch an animation on YouTube:
Here is the poem, in simplified characters with pinyin, followed by the English translation:
Before my bed, the moon is shining bright,
I think that it is frost upon the ground.
I raise my head and look at the bright moon,
I lower my head and think of home.
This site provides a nice version of the poem, with pinyin and English translation as you hover the mouse over each character.
Posted in Education on 02/22/2009 10:51 am by sophie
I just discovered a great resource, aimed primarily at teachers of Chinese language at all levels, but it has a tremendous amount of information for parents too. The CAIS Institute, a project of the San Francisco-based Chinese American International School, one of the oldest Chinese immersion schools in the country, has started a Mandarin Center as a resource center and community forum for Chinese educators. The site includes lists of schools that offer Chinese, textbooks and story books, videos, websites, and much more.
I haven’t had time to thoroughly browse the site but can see it has a lot to offer.
Posted in Books, Videos on 02/17/2009 02:36 pm by sophie
With a four-year-old boy in the house, we spend a lot of time talking about, dressing up as, watching, and otherwise channeling the great spirit of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King. L and his Baba spend many hours telling the numerous, intricate stories from the epic Journey to the West, and the full DVD set of the CCTV animated mini-series (52 episodes), provided by an uncle in Shenzhen, is just about the only movie or TV L watches. He loves the characters: A magical, omnipotent but mischievous monkey; his traveling companions a Buddhist monk, a pig, and a white dragon horse, and all the creatures they encounter on their way to India, where they have been sent to retrieve Buddhist scriptures.
We have many books which tell stories of Sun Wukong’s adventures. L’s favorite, which has beautiful illustrations with tales adapted into short but detailed stories easily digested by four-year-olds, is published by the Shanghai Century Publishing Group (上海世纪出版集团少年儿童出版社) and is hard to find outside of China. But another favorite that is in both English and Chinese, and is more widely available here (including from Amazon) is Tang Monk Disciples Monkey King. This is part of a series by the same authors.
The CCTV-produced animated series is a rich, beautifully conceived piece of work which, with 52 episodes, provides endless entertainment. The full set can be bought on VCD through ChinaSprout. L has memorized and frequently belts out the theme songs from the series. Clips of the songs are on YouTube (see below). Read the rest of this entry »
T is now ten months old and entering that amazing stage when she is beginning to understand words and trying to communicate. It’s also the stage I remember well with L when they piece together what they know in a mish-mash of language, gesture, and random sounds. When L was one, before he really talked, he had a Cantonese-speaking babysitter, from whom he learned that shoes were “hai-hai.” Being obsessed with anything with wheels, he also called the color green “go” and red “stop,” though he pronounced it “bop.” So for a long while in our home his favorite red shoes were called his “bop hai-hai.” We knew exactly what he was talking about, even if no-one else did. Eventually he began to sort out the words and languages into different channels. For now, T responds in whatever way comes easiest for her: When Baba says “再见” she waves and says “Bye-bye!” And when he says, “拍拍手” she enthusiastically claps her hands, just as she does when I say the same in English, or when she hears recorded applause on a CD. It will all come together in time.
Editor’s Note: I have asked Robin, a long-time bilingual educator, to write an occasional column for Hao Mama to provide another perspective for parents considering immersion education or just looking for advice on how to create a bilingual environment at home. Here’s her second installment (The first installment can be read here):
==
ROBIN’S NEST
“A bird does not sing because it has an answer.
It sings because it has a song.”
- Chinese Proverb
Notes From Inside One Early Childhood Language Immersion Classroom
What is the teacher’s role in a language immersion classroom?
It is ironic that all the non-verbal teaching techniques are the ones that most successfully promote excellent language acquisition in a language immersion program. It will be most helpful to give you some examples of what this means. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in At Home, music on 02/09/2009 10:05 pm by sophie
A friend just sent this link, which has a few popular Chinese children’s songs available to download, with pinyin and English translation. Here is the link for Two Tigers 两只老虎 – the most popular song, with the strangest lyrics (and a familiar tune).
I just discovered that the Mandarin Immersion Parents Council of the San Francisco public school system keeps a blog, which has a lot of good information and resources for families in immersion programs. Most of the site focuses on the immersion program in San Francisco, which is offered at two public schools. But one post, Mandarin Immersion Frequently Asked Questions, I found useful for anyone with questions about bilingual education and how to best teach your children Chinese. Another post explores the benefits of teaching kids to read Chinese fluently before teaching them characters. They have also posted a list of Mandarin immersion programs in schools throughout the U.S. Immersion programs are getting to be more and more popular: A new Chinese immersion charter school is getting ready to open in Washington DC as well.
Some of the best Chinese books that L likes to read over and over are translated from popular English children’s books. There are more of these available than I ever imagined, and while many lose something in the translation (ie Dr. Seuss books, which for some reason are translated literally), these are among our favorites:
- Frog and the Wide World (English-Chinese), by Max Velthuijs. Frog tries to be brave on an adventure around the world, but ends up missing his friends at home. Part of a series about Frog. For those in the Bay Area, these books are also available at the Berkeley Central Library.
- The Little Bear and Frog & Toad series. The text of these sweet stories is in both English and Chinese, and some books come with a CD of the book read aloud (in English only).
- Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. This popular English story is nicely translated and also comes with both English and Chinese text. Also available from ChinaSprout.
- What Am I? (English-Chinese), part of the Who Am I? What Am I? series of riddles about common animals, vehicles, etc.
I have asked Robin, a long-time bilingual educator, to write an occasional column for Hao Mama to provide another perspective for parents considering immersion education or just looking for advice on how to create a bilingual environment at home. Here’s her first installment:
== ROBIN’S NEST
“A bird does not sing because it has an answer.
It sings because it has a song.”
- Chinese Proverb
Notes From Inside One Early Childhood Language Immersion Classroom
What is an immersion classroom like?
Imagine yourself to be four-years-old. Get down on your knees and enter the classroom. What does it look like to you? Can you navigate yourself around and reach everything and wash your hands or find a book, find the bathroom or take a puzzle out and know where to put it away? Do you see your name? Do you see where you can put your lunch box?Are you attracted to look or touch or discover something in this room? Do you feel safe and happy? Every year as I prepared my classroom for the school year this is what I did. It is the best way to know immediately what the children will sense when they enter. Read the rest of this entry »
This is part of a series by the same authors.
, by Max Velthuijs. Frog tries to be brave on an adventure around the world, but ends up missing his friends at home. Part of a series about Frog. For those in the Bay Area, these books are also available at the Berkeley Central Library.
, part of the Who Am I? What Am I? series of riddles about common animals, vehicles, etc.
