a multiple choice question in a Chinese test
Try to take this test. 太阳从西边出来（tài yáng cóng xī biān chū lái: the sun rises in the west), what does it mean? Have a look at the 4 choices. The answer is
c. 不可能发生的事情（bù kě néng fā shēng de shì qíng)
Does sun rise in the west? Impossible! Yes, that is the answer. Do you get it right?
Please see the flyer. For any questions, please leave a message either to me or in the comment field. Thank you.
Lijiang (丽江), located in the southwestern China, is a really beautiful little town in Yunnan Province, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (青藏高原) and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau (云贵高原/雲貴高原) converge. There are many different minorities; some of which even have their own languages. Naxi, for example, has their language in both spoken and written forms. The diversity of people and minority culture adds unique characteristics to Lijiang’s beauty, making it an attractive place to visit.
The show of Impressions of Lijiang, like Impressions of West Lake, is also directed by the Olympic Games opening and closing ceremonies director, Yimou Zhang. It demonstrates the traditions and lifestyles of the local minority people such as Naxi, Yi and Bai. The show takes place at the foot of Yulong Snow Mountain (or Jade Dragon Snow Mountain) at 3500m in an outdoor theater with the snow mountain as the backstage. A cast of over 500 people in their traditional clothing and lots of horses make the show even more impressive. It has been one of the best shows I have seen in my recent trip to Sichuang and Yunnan.
I read an article featured in the New York Times recently and I thought it is interesting to read.
According to the article, a lot of families in USA are hiring baby sitters with a foreign language background. Why?
Parents cite different reasons for hiring baby sitters and nannies to speak a second language with their children. Some struggled to pick up foreign languages and want to make life easier for their children. Some believe it makes them smarter. And naturally, this being the melting pot that is New York, many parents have a connection to another language and want to reinforce it.
This is a very interesting move since not long ago when families hired baby sitters or nannies, they required them not to use other languages other than the one used by the family for the fear that additional languages might confuse the children. This move reflects the new research results that “learning a second language makes it easier to learn additional languages. “
According to the research of Ms, Ellen Bialystok, a professor of psychology at York University in Toronto and the author of “Bilingualism in Development: Language, Literacy and Cognition”, “bilingual children tend to have smaller vocabularies in English than their monolingual counterparts, and that the limited vocabulary tends to be words used at home (spatula and squash) rather than words used at school (astronaut, rectangle). The measurement of vocabulary is always in one language: a bilingual child’s collective vocabulary from both languages will probably be larger. ” What’s more, it actually slows down the kids when they try to find the right word in the right language. However at the same time, “bilingual children do better at complex tasks like isolating information presented in confusing ways. ”
For young bilingual children, being bilingual does not seem to help getting them admitted for competitive kindergartens. This is not surprising since they have to sort out the languages with smaller vocabulary, but in the long run, being bilingual can be beneficial for them.
Take Chinese for example, it is a language based on symbols rather than alphabet; the four tones makes the pronunciation different from most other languages. Having a babysitter or nanny can guarantee a constant exposure to the language, at least verbally, which is a big benefit for young learners. Even if for whatever reason, the babysitter or nanny has to leave the family, the accumulated passive knowledge of the language would remain in the brain of the child’s and benefit his/her later studies if s/he decides to continue learning Chinese.
For many of the Chinese language learners, getting the learning materials is challenging; getting the right materials is even more challenging. This is the reason I create books and worksheets to cater to different needs. Frankly speaking, it is not easy. It requires a lot of thinking and it is time consuming. To credit own effort, I added a store in our website to feature some of our books which were created and tested recently.
The books are about colors and fruits|vegetables. Worksheets are also included to enhance the learning experience. I am sure that parents and teachers will find them useful in helping / teaching kids Chinese.
Please visit our store to browse the books and welcome to leave a comment either here or to us by email.
Tongue twister is always fun to learn in any language. Here is one in Chinese. Listen carefully and then try it yourself.
Heard the song when I was in Chengdu, China two weeks ago and liked it immediately. Like “Invisible Wings“, it is another song about dreams, inspiring young people to keep dreams alive and try hard to make them true. That is why it is so popular.
梦的芽快乐生长
mèng de yá kuài lè shēng zhǎng梦就是我心的方向
mèng jiù shì wǒ xīn de fāng xiàng她是我的信仰
tā shì wǒ de xìn xiǎng勇敢去闯
yǒng gǎn qù chuǎng梦是最美的地方
mèng shì zuì měi de dì fāng梦就是全部的希望
mèng jiù shì quán bù de xī wàng我骄傲的倔强
wǒ jiāo ào de juè jiàng是我的力量
shì wǒ de lì liàng
