Emmet's Student Diary - Studying Mandarin

"When I decided to start studying Mandarin all my friends asked me why on earth I wanted to study such a difficult language. It’s not an easy question to answer. People study the language for all kinds of different reasons."

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Only bad memories of Chinese lessons stay

"I appreciated the value of Mandarin only when studying in the United States, when my non-Chinese friends saw that I was able to communicate with people from China and Taiwan."


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Learning Chinese by rote a mistake

"the way to correct this was to get children interested in the language, regardless of their linguistic ability, he said, because, with interest in the language, they will have it for life."

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Giving away FREE* cute Japanese Iwako erasers

Brand new Xihaha Online Chinese Bookshop website http://www.xihaha.co.uk/
Giving away FREE* cute Japanese Iwako erasers with single order over £10!

Xihaha Ltd distribute cute Japanese Erasers in the UK

London November 6, 2009 - Xihaha Ltd (http://www.xihaha.co.uk/) has launched its first range of stationery products - the popular Iwako erasers from Japan.

Trading as Fun Art Online (http://www.funartonline.com/), they offer a wide selection of made in Japan luxury erasers with design ranging from animals, food to toys. The miniature character erasers can be taken apart and reassembled, making it fun for children to use as stationery, a toy to play with and to improve their manual dexterity.

The unique erasers are made of environment-friendly styrene resin and the coloured powder is kneaded safely into the eraser materials. The safety of Iwako erasers is proved by certificate of analysis, which is carried out under JAB (JAPAN ACCREDITATION BOARD) criteria. Therefore, are safe for children to handle, even if they were to lick the eraser accidentally (* not recommended for those below 3 year old due to small parts).

These collectable erasers are ideal presents for children. "Children would love to have cupcake or helicopter erasers as rewards! This fun erasers are excellent gifts for children during birthday parties," said Chooi-Huey Ng, the executive director of Xihaha Ltd. ” We intend to bring the full range of Iwako erasers into the UK by early 2010 and make them available across the UK. We are also keen to work with stationers, gifts and collectable retailers in the UK."

The premium eraser is competitively priced at 99 pence per piece with FREE UK shipping if the total purchase is over £10. "Christmas is around the corner! The creative character eraser would make perfect Christmas stocking filler too," added Chooi-Huey.

About Xihaha Ltd:
Xihaha Ltd (http://www.xihaha.co.uk/) was established in January 2007 and it is the first online chinese bookshop for children in the UK. Xihaha caters for children aged 0 to 16 years, and aim to help them learn Chinese using books, CDs/VCDs/DVDs, and computer softwares. Their product ranges cover traditional and simplified Chinese with English translations including developed by education experts and award-winning Chinese learning materials.

About Iwako Japan:
Iwako is a renowned eraser manufacturer in Japan, which has been established for more than thirty-five years. More information about Iwako Japan can be found at http://www.iwako.com/

About Fun Art Online:
Fun Art Online is a global distributor and online retailer of Iwako's popular range of unique and creative miniature character erasers in the UK.

For more details, please visit: Fun Art Online http://www.funartonline.com/ or contact them at: 020 8428 0909 (Tel) or 087 0922 3985 (Fax)

Chinese Children Story in Cantonese

Xihaha Chinese Children Story in Cantonese
《三分鍾童真世界》 - 廣東話


Exclusively in Xihaha Online Bookshop.
Click here to listen to chinese children stories in cantonese.

A Blessing In Disquise
《三分鍾童真世界》- 塞翁失馬

The Goose Laying Golden Egg
《三分鍾童真世界》- 生金蛋的鵝

The Frog and The Turtle
《三分鍾童真世界》- 井底之蛙

The Greedy Dog
《三分鍾童真世界》- 貪心的小狗

The Monkey and The Fisherman
《三分鍾童真世界》- 猴子捕魚

Thomas Alva Eddison
《三分鍾童真世界》-愛迪生

Note: The Chinese Children Stories in Cantonese was previously broadcasted by Spectrum Radio

Iwako Erasers - Free Gift!

Available in  Xihaha Online Bookshop as collectable, IWAKO, a unique and creative Japanese premium brand erasers!

The IWAKO erasers come in different unique designs, ranging from food, animals, toys, cars to desserts! They are made from environmentally friendly styrene resin and can be used safely by children – it is safe even if they were to lick the eraser accidentally. The children can also have fun taking the eraser apart and putting it back together (*not recommended for children below 3 years old).

Between 1st to 30th November 2009, customers who spend a minimum of £10* in a single purchase from Xihaha online bookshop will receive one free IWAKO eraser of your choice**.

Free Gift (6 types chinese food erasers) for November 2009

Iwako Pork Noddle Eraser	Iwako Ramen Eraser	Iwako Fried Rice Eraser
Iwako Chinese Bun Eraser	Iwako Siu Mai Eraser	Iwako Dumpling Eraser

Source: http://www.xihaha.co.uk/

New Products for Young Learner (Let's Sing Mandarin by Xiong Huali)

 Let's Sing Mandarin 1, 2 & 3 by Xiong Huali


Let's Sing Mandarin (Xiong Huali) series promotes the learning of Chinese as a second or foreign language through songs now available in the UK!

Singing greatly enhances the learning of a language and is instrumental in engaging all children.

This results to greater language acquisition and production. Songs are task based. Also incorporates other approaches to language-teaching, such as total physical response, inquiry skills, and multiple intelligence.

Souce: http://www.xihaha.co.uk/?=xihahablog.blogspot

Xihaha Fun Art - Mid-autumn Festival

NEW!! FREE Printable Colouring Pages

Colouring pages for Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节

How to Choose a Chinese Learning Book for your Children?

Age 0 - 2 Books for Babies & Toddlers

It is never too soon to introduce babies to books. Child experts believe that babies and toddlers who love books tend to read earlier which can give them an edge at school. By introducing your baby to books, you are creating a reader for life.

Books that are small and indestructible - board books and cloth books are perfect for them. Wordless books can also stimulate them, and encourage them to create their own stories.

Choose:

-          A book with bright colours, with big and clear pictures

-          A book with familiar pictures such as animals, transports, babies and food

-          A book with simple text, good rhymes, songs and lullabies

Some Recommendations:

Baby Picture Cards ( 7 sets) 

My Do It! 

Touch and Feel animals books (3 Books) 

Baby Picture Board Book (12 sets)

Baby Pull and Learn Book (Complete set of 4 cardboard books) 

Let's Pull the Carrot (Pinyin book with VCD) 

Age 2 - 4 Toddlers & Older Children are more interested in understanding the words than just looking at the pictures. They are able to concentrate for longer periods of time, so you may want to look at books with short sentences. According to the child expert, the most important periods for learning and development is between the ages of 18months and 6 years. Therefore, this is an important stage of your children’s learning life.

Choose:

-          A book that depicts familiar objects and hold a child's attention. E.g. Favorite Characters, Animals, nursery stories

-          A book that is fun like pop-up books, flip books and activity books

-          A book with rhymes and repetitions

-          A story-telling CD which the children can listening to

Some Recommendations:

Happy Snappy Pop Up Book (4 books)

Baby fairy tale flips Books (4 colored hardcovers) 

Fairy Tale - Little Red Riding Hood (Book + CD + VCD)

Dora's Pirate Adventure (3 books (6 stories) and 1 VCD)

Miffy Goes to Party (Bilingual)

The Crunching Munching Caterpillar (Bilingual)

Age 5- 8 Some children start reading before the age of 5, but the majority begins during and after their Year 1. This is an exciting time for young readers!   They are being introduced to lots of books at school; but they also need lots of encouragement and support at home. Reading with and to children is very important at this age. It helps to improve their language development skill.

-          Choose a picture book with strong storylines and characters development. Illustrations will help them to understand the text.

-          Choose a book with short chapters or classic stories

-          Choose story books with lots of humour and fun with familiar figures

-          Let the children have the chance to choose what they like to read

-          Encourage book reading by providing a range of story books for the children

Some Recommendations:

The Rabbit's Friendship (Bilingual book + CD)

365 Successful Fables (12 Books)

Chinese Painting in 5 strokes ( Vol 3)

Creative Drawing - Numbers

Ginseng Babies (Bilingual)

Fairy Tale - Snow White (Book + CD + VCD)

Age 9 - 11 This age is the stepping stone between childhood and teenage.

When you choose a book, consider your child’s personality traits and personal preferences and make decisions with your child in mind.

Information books such as encyclopedia or classic stories

Some Recommendations:
Chinese Classic Story (5 coloured books)
Yu Gong Moves the Mountains
Adventures of the Monkey God Vol. 1-4 (Bilingual)
Legends of 10 Chinese Traditional Festivals (Bilingual)
The Biographies of 12 Successful Men (12 Books)
The Complete Book of Activity Paradise (9 volume)

Age 12 + Your children are becoming mature readers at this age.

Choose (together with your child):

-          Books that have strong story lines

-          Family stories

-          Humorous books

-          Historical fiction

-          Fantasy books

Some Recommendations:

The Little Prince (Mandarin, English, French)

Confucius - Sage of the Orient (Bilingual)

A General History of China Vol. 1-4 (Bilingual)

Creative Drawing - Palm Shape

A Dream of Red Mansions Vol 1-3 (Bilingual)

Chinese Classic Story - Butterfly Lovers

Culture Cubs - Hand in hand, let’s learn Mandarin!

Introducing CULTURE CUBS™! Hand in hand, let’s learn Mandarin! is a new bilingual DVD tailored to children 2-8 years old who are learning Mandarin. It’s a fast-paced, 30-minute show filled with animation, songs, dance, vibrant art, kung fu stunts and much, much more. Theme song, "Hand in Hand, Let's Learn Mandarin" by Joyce Lee Lok Si.

Click image for demo video (popup window):-

Popular series:

Culture Cubs - Time to Eat (DVD)
小龍與小克 (DVD)

Culture Cubs - Time to Meet the Animals (DVD)
小龙與小克 - 亲亲小动物(DVD)


Culture Cubs - Time to Swim (DVD)
小龙與小克 - 乐游游(DVD)

Source: www.xihaha.co.uk

Fun Teaching is the Key to Successful Learning

By MaiSim Merry
Headteacher of Buckinghamshire Chinese School

I have been using the Better Chinese – My First Chinese Words series as our nursery class course curriculum for children ages between 5-7 years old since September 2007.

This series is designed for children who are learning Mandarin as a second language. It is, therefore designed in both English and Mandarin with Hanyu pinyin(Chinese phonic system) . The pressure of written work is taken off as the emphasis of this series focuses on the children to learn to read first and at the end of the series, they should be able to read 250 characters and be able to hold some basic conversation.

Some parents were delighted when their children ran up to them and said ‘我爱我的妈妈’(I love Mummy) or ‘我爱我的爸爸’(I love Daddy) in Mandarin at the end of their the first lesson. This is what I like about My First Chinese Words series — the content is very well written based on every day situation which the children can relate to, it is written in sentences so that they can develop their listening and speaking skills rapidly; after reading book 1 & 2 , they can read , speak and make over 30 sentences! The series also included some very interesting facts about Chinese characters, and the children get to learn and write some very basic characters expected from this age group.

I have received excellent feedback from parents:- from ‘ He asks to go to Chinese school’ to ‘ she is more interested in listening and reading characters when we go out’ to ‘ Can we finish our homework please’!

The series is also very well supported with the teacher’s guide, audio music CD, games cards, audio CDs , a set exercise books, large print flash cards and a interactive CDRom where the children can test their memory at the end of each lesson. This takes some pressure off the teachers to prepare learning materials. They can instead, focus on making learning fun and interesting for the children.

The interactive CDRom is also very useful for families which do not have Mandarin speaker at home. Our school can only provide 1hr 30 minutes of active learning; but with the help of the Better Chinese CDRom at home, it is possible for the children to read one book a week and therefore, making it possible to finish the first set of reading in just one year .

This is a very powerful and effective learning material for school or home learning. My First Chinese Words is definitely one of best teaching materials that I have seen in the recent years.

About MaiSim Merry
Mai Sim was born in Hong Kong and grew up in the UK. Whilst she was growing up, she has attended a community Chinese School in London. Mai Sim has also loves books, and was an avid reader from an early age and her family home was always full of books of different subjects, therefore even though she was growing up in the UK with very little chance of using her language in everyday life, she did not loose the use of her language and she took every opportunity to learn about everything that is related to Chinese culture. As a mother of 3 children, she firmly believes that learning starts at home and furnishing the home with appropriate learning material is very important.

Mai Sim became a voluntary teacher of Chinese for the local Chinese School to learn the effective ways to teacher her first child and over the years has came across different teaching methods of both English and Chinese school as well as taking appropriate training course to develop her teaching method.

At present Mai Sim is a registered Social Service interpreter, a voluntary Chinese School Head Teacher, a private tutor for Business people in language centre as well as mother to her 3 children.

She remains a student of many subjects and loves to share her knowledge with those who wishes to learn.

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By Hsiu Nian Wei
Chinese teacher of Various London Schools"My first chinese words is an exellent teaching material, it is very popular for children. They like the picture and the card games. The book is easy for both children and parents to read together. For teacher, the book plus other supplying sets, like Songs,Games, CD-Rom, makes the preparation much easier and it is a great pleasure to see students enjoying it as well as learning well. "

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By Rose Gao
Teacher of Harlow Chinese School

I teach Year 1 class in the Harlow Chinese School. My pupils and I all very enjoy in using "My First Chinese Words" series in the class. The Attention-grabbing pictures, the exciting content appeal to children’s curiosity. The CD ROM and the exercise books are an excellent range of teaching resources. They are an idea series for the young children to learn Chinese as a secondary language.

source: www.xihaha.co.uk

Promoting Chinese in Primary Schools

By Mr Hua Yan - Hummersknott School & Language College

Promoting Chinese in primary schools comes at a very opportune moment, as the National Languages Strategy for England urges every pupil in Key Stage 2 to have access to high quality language learning by 2010. Moreover, ‘Catching them young’ is in compliance with the language-acquisition theory, as current research suggests that the best time to study a new language is before the age of 12.

However, teachers must keep Chinese classes light-hearted to maintain children’s interest. We must ensure their first experience of Chinese learning is enjoyable. Otherwise we will lose them in Key Stage
3. Success in Chinese delivery can only be judged by pupils’ enjoyment and enthusiasm for the lesson.

In order to engage all pupils and develop enjoyment of their Chinese learning, we should bear in mind in our daily teaching what primary pupils want to learn and how they want to be taught.

I. What pupils want to learn

As we all know, the most effective way of learning is to learn through our own experiences. Primary children in particular like to learn through the world around them. So when we devise learning materials we must focus on common childhood experiences.

When teaching them what they want to learn, we can hold their attention and motivate them in the classroom. For example, when we teach the topic of ‘House and Family’, we could devise a picture story about playing hide-and-seek at home. Pupils might be able to learn ‘Rooms in the House’ more effectively in this way than simply learning a short text like ‘我家的房子很大，有厨房、卧室、客厅。’. When they learn ‘Clothes’, it might appeal to them better if we relate it to ‘Casual Clothes Day’ with a short text like ‘明天星期五，我不用穿校服上学，我想穿足球衫、牛仔裤和运动鞋。’

The easiest way to ensure what we are teaching appeals to pupils as much as possible is simply to ask them what they want to know within the planned timeframe. This can stimulate their interest dramatically. When teaching ‘Hobby’, we can ask pupils what hobbies they have and teach them the right ‘Hobby’ words that are most related to their personal experience.

When devising learning materials it is advisable to start with words of a high interest level - to choose words with multiple functions and words which are most frequently used in spoken Chinese. We can certainly achieve more with less effort by doing so. After they have learnt 鱼，they can use it when talking about their hobby - 钓鱼; they can use it when talking about their food preferences- 吃鱼; they can use it when talking about pets at home - 养金鱼.

As we are teaching Chinese as a foreign language, we have to modify the format of the language we want to teach – short sharp bursts can hold their attention. Where appropriate, we might use some word repetition in the text to provide opportunities for reading practice and for reinforcement of spoken Chinese patterns.

II. How they want to be taught

As for the most effective teaching method, it is an ongoing process for teachers to try and adapt and find out the most suitable way to teach a specific class and even an individual pupil. Teachers require the professional knowledge and skills to do so.

We can bring enjoyment into the Chinese classroom by teaching Chinese songs as it helps to create a soothing and enjoyable environment for learning. Singing Chinese songs can also enhance the Chinese learning. Fortunately primary pupils are comfortable with singing in class. So many simple Chinese songs are related to various language topics. 《虹彩妹妹》 is good for ‘Describing a friend’. We can sing it again and again, simply changing ‘长得好’ into ‘长得高’、 ‘长得矮’、 ‘长得瘦’. 陕北信天游《三次到你家》can help to learn ‘第一、第二、第三、妈、爸、狗’ . It can be an English song translated into Chinese, e.g. ‘Head, shoulders knees and toes’ for teaching ‘Body parts’. It can also be English melody with Chinese lyrics, like singing ‘123,321, 1234567, 8 9 10, 10 8 9, 你是我的好朋友。’ with the melody of ‘This Old Man’.

PowerPoint is particularly useful in primary Chinese teaching. The software allows us to show coloured text and images with simple animation and sound. Now more and more classrooms and teachers have computers and the equipment to use PowerPoint. PowerPoint has made it possible and very easy to design learning materials in bright colours, which all children love. We can grab pupils’ attention more effectively simply by presenting learning materials in bright colours. We can use PowerPoint to design storytelling and follow-up activities, and other tasks, which will enable young learners to develop their Chinese skills.

We can also use PowerPoint to create games for use in the classroom. The ‘Drag and drop’ game is very useful in reviewing Chinese sentence structures. NJStar combined with PowerPoint can make it more fun and effective to test Chinese characters. A similar but free resource for character writing is www.chinaontv.com/index.php/write_chinese. When used with PowerPoint, this interactive software can strengthen pupils’ ability to memorize characters to the best possible level.

For those who like to learn by doing, we can teach them how to handle chopsticks and how to make jiaozi as a supplement to a ‘Food’-topic class.

The best way to teach children a foreign language is to do it within the context of the culture. To English children, Chinese culture is so different to their own and therefore really fascinating to them. We should take advantage of this. In Chinese classrooms pupils should have the chance to learn about China and Chinese culture as well as the Chinese language. For example, we can talk about Chinese festivals in the Chinese class – let them know Santa Claus doesn’t call in China and Chinese children don’t get anything for Christmas, but they receive ‘red envelopes’ instead, for the Chinese New Year. We can set up school links with China and bring children of different cultural backgrounds together and let them work on some projects of common interest. They can improve their Chinese language skills when they interact with Chinese buddies. They can also have a better understanding of the Chinese way of life.

One more tool for effective teaching is ‘praise’. Teachers from a Mainland China background are inclined to announce pupils’ results in the order of their places in the exam. They like to compare a less successful pupil with others who have been more successful. Evidence has proved that this is unlikely to motivate pupils. It will instead lead to their withdrawing from the learning process when they have been made to feel they are ‘no good’. The fact is that every pupil can improve in comparison with previous achievements. If we bear this in mind we can always find opportunities to praise them. It is important to promote a culture of success in the class. What a teacher can do to contribute to the culture is to inform pupils about the strengths and weaknesses demonstrated in their work and give feedback about what their next steps should be.

III. Conclusion

How do we get primary pupils to communicate in Chinese, a language that is so different from English and other European languages? How can we tap into children's natural ability to acquire the language? We have a long way to go to explore strategies on how to translate key principles from child psychology and language-acquisition theory into practical language-learning activities.

Contributor's Biography
Mr Hua Yan has been a teacher of Mandarin at Hummersknott School & Language College, a state comprehensive school in Darlington in the North East of England, since 2001. He teaches Mandarin to Primary school pupils, secondary school students, sixth formers, Cantonese-speakers from Chinese communities, and local business people. The qualifications his learners are studying for include: OCN Level 1 & 3, GCSE and A-level. He also uses Asset Languages in Key Stage 3 Mandarin teaching.

Source: http://www.xihaha.co.uk/