I asked my daughter how a friend of hers Chinese was. She said it was OK, but her friend thinks my daughter has an accent. My daughter's comment was her friend has the wrong accent.

So both are in high school in the US, what's the missing info. My daughter's family is from Shanghai, where my daughter's Mother is from Taiwan. Chinese does have accents, the standard accent in China is called a Beijing accent. The Taiwan accent is a little bit softer. Both understand each other fine, and the Taiwan accent last I checked is seen as a little bit more stylish because of pop singers.

Labels: chinese accents

I have two lesson plans now for Chinese Poetry!

Chinese Poetry Lesson Plan					History of Chinese Poetry Lesson Plan
			Learn more about Chinese Poetry including: Learn some of the history and purpose of Chinese poetry. Hear some examples Practice writing Chinese Poetry					Learn more about the history of Chinese Poetry including: Learn some of the history and purpose of Chinese poetry. Hear some examples Practice writing Chinese Poetry

They go with this book. Great book. Lots of interest per my site reports. I believe now there is 2 lesson plans this will help.

				A Thousand Peaks: Poems from China in English and Chinese
				Our Price: $19.95
				Poetry that spans 2,000 years--from the Han dynasty to the 20th century--is presented here in faithful but inventive and rhythmic translations that capture the astonishing beauty of the original Chinese. The accompanying text describes the world of these poets, the culture that inspired them, and the history that stirred their deepest emotions. The work is enhanced by illustrations that foster an appreciation for the close relationship of poetry to other art forms.

Labels: chinese poetry

For Chinese Athletes, Western-Style Perks - from the Washington Post.

A sentence that capture everything:
Attitudes about sports in China have undergone a dramatic shift from the days when the government focused on collective gain rather than individual accomplishment. Those changes have helped foster the development of a new kind of athlete, one whose sacrifices result in fame and fortune -- and, if the athlete has a distinct personality, national celebrity.

Labels: China Olympics

This is my 300th post!

Achievements since I started this blog:

• Posts about Why Learn Chinese. One of my posts is at position 1 on Google!
• Probably to many posts about the Olympics and China and some of the challenges
• Posting on a daily basis.

My favorite posts:

Comments are always appreciated on the blog!

Best Wishes,

Ray, Owner
ChildBook.com - Great DVD's & Books for Learning the Chinese Culture and Language

Labels: Learning Chinese Blogs

Exploring America’s Chinatowns from MSN.

It only lists a couple of Chinatowns, my list has a few more :-) Chinatowns of the United States and Szechuan restaurants are a bit scarce. In LA, which has a huge selection of Chinese restaurants from A-Z, the two best are in Monterey Park (no, I have not had the guts to go there). LA Weekly - Eat+Drink - Chile Scenes of Summer - Jonathan Gold ...

Cantonese in the older Chinatowns are the most common. New Chinatowns will have a mixture of Northern China and Taiwanese, along with the usual dim sum places.

Cute book - Exploring Chinatown: A Children's Guide to Chinese Culture

Labels: chinatowns

Shaming statistics:

• 75% of High School Students don't graduate in Detroit.
• 30% nationwide of students don't graduate from High School in the US
• There are schools in Los Angeles that have a 60% drop out rate (I did my student teaching in one. Nice kids, but so sad).

I find the overall state of Education in the US sad. The US seems to do a poor job with the lowest performing, and a great job with the higher performing students. With the disappearance of most high paying jobs that need limited education in the US that can support a family, this is a big concern as a society. As a parent there is a lot you can do to help your child. Many Chinese in the US have figured out the system enabling their kids to go to great colleges/universities.

Some articles in the new section School Tips & Education Articles:

• Chinese Students - What can be Learned from them for Getting Good Grades?
• Time Management Tips for Middle School Students
• Rubric - What it is and how use it to improve your grade!

So why do I care about this? I have a Teaching Credential and education is highly important to my family. And yes, may be someday I will go back to teaching, because I do enjoy making a difference. That is the great feature of teaching, that you can make a difference in a person's life that can change their life, it usually makes up for all the negatives.

Reference/Resources:

• Fear, despair in L.A.'s poorest schools
• Op-Ed Contributor: A Nation at a Loss
• Study Suggests Math Teachers Scrap Balls and Slices
• First to Worse - California's School Special Report on Frontline
• School Tips & Education Articles
• A series of LA Times articles about the drop out rate
• Grades, Study Skills, and College Admission Books

Labels: Education, Education Improvements

L.A.'s Chinese siding with Beijing from the LA Times.

Keypoints:

• Chinese embassy had limited involvement
• Buses were paid for by the groups themselves
• Thousands of protesters outside CNN.

Previous post with information about the protest China Protests - Pro China and Tibet

Labels: China Olympics

The Great Rice Squeeze from the SF Chronicle. Some Costco's and Sam's Clubs are limiting purchases in SF Bay area of large bags of rice. My wife did not know about it, till my Father called and asked if we were stockpiling rice. No - we still have around 20 lbs left (we buy in bulk).

Labels: rice

I am in the process of adding new bundles of products. Here is the first one:

				Harry Potter Set - Simplified Chinese
				Our Price: $145.00 Sale Price: $128.00 You Save $17.00!
				Harry Potter Complete Set of all the books translated into Simplified Chinese Big discount when purchased together. Great addition to any library Guaranteed to keep the reader busy for a few days.

More to follow...

Labels: new products

A school that is having kids learn English, Spanish, and Chinese! My daughter is also trilingual - English, Mandarin Chinese, and Taiwanese. Spanish and Chinese - great combination for additional languages beyond English. My brother-in-law is Quad lingual - he speaks Mandarin, Spanish, Taiwanese, and English.

From the San Diego Union Tribune:
Language immersion to become trilingual

Labels: Learning Chinese

Chinese New Year Coloring Pictures Zodiac are great. All 12 of them. I like the Mouse the most.

Labels: free coloring pictures

With the recent negative publicity on China, should you still Learn Chinese?

China does have challenges and many of the activities of the government are not the most popular. Darfur, selling weapons to Zimbabwe, corruption, largest green house producer, environmental issues, intellectual rights, product safety, Taiwan, Tibet, Burma, Falun Gong, religious control are all issues that are unpopular with many people.

So with all these negatives, Why Learn Chinese? Learning Chinese is not about liking the Chinese governments actions, I view it as doing what is best for your kids.

Updated List of Why Learn Chinese

1. I believe a lot of what is happening in China is growing pains and China emerges from a period of stagnation (100+ years). China's the second largest economy in the world and still has a high rate of growth.
   
2. China's growth in the world is not going to change. China has become the factory of the world.
3. China's 5000 years of culture and a great way to learn and understand more, is by Learning Chinese.
   
4. Chinese imports from the US (trade goes both ways. China is a huge market).
5. The world is become more interconnected, and China is part of this. This change is both good and challenging for China. It's because of this growing interconnection that China is having many of these challenges. An event that happens halfway across the word in South Africa (dock workers refusing to unload Chinese weapons for Zimbabwe) gets global attention. Images of Darfur are easily accessible from one of the more remote areas of the world.
   
6. Learning Chinese does give another viewpoint. From the grammar and how sentences are formed, to the differences between a character based language and a romanized. Chinese poetry/poems are better in their original language Chinese, than English.
7. Many jobs already are connected to China, and as China's economy grows many more will be. Knowing Chinese gives your kids an advantage in taking advantage of the opportunities with this huge market for both imported and exported goods.
8. Learning of Chinese is going through Huge Growth in the US. Can you afford not to have your kids learn Chinese?

Further Resources:

• Chinese Culture DVD's
• Learn Mandarin Chinese Video's/DVD's for Kids/Children
• Bilingual Book on Chinese Poetry A Thousand Peaks: Poems from China
• Learning Chinese Tips for Children
• Free Coloring & Projects

Labels: Why Learn Chinese

Protesters target CNN after Jack Cafferty's remarks on China in Hollywood. Currently the most viewed article on the LA Times. Note in the picture the signs are well done with clear English (many Chinese protests in the US have signs only in Chinese) and their are a lot of older protests.

And in Wisconsin, a Double rally on the Wisconsin Capitol steps: Free Tibet + Pro-China.

Wisconsin I am surprised as a location for a pro-Tibet protest - apologies in advance to anyone from Wisconsin, this is probably showing my fourth generation California bias :-) The pro-China protesters from the age are probably college students. There are a lot of college students spread out across the US from China.

I find all the protests to be extremely positive because people are using their right of free assembly and speach.

Labels: China Olympics

China Stocks, Once Frothy, Fall by Half In Six Months article from the Wall Street Journal. They have lost 49% of their value, or 2.5 Trillion dollars of value.

Labels: china economy

LA Times has an article with more details - China tries to limit Internet vitriol toward the West

China is using there Internet monitoring ability to delete any posts about boycotts and protests of foreign companies.

China's government is in a tough position. They need to appear responsive and stand up to foreign criticism of China (such as by CNN's commentator Jack Cafferty who described China's leaders as a "bunch of goons and thugs."), and still make foreigners welcome for the Olympics that's goal is to show how modern China is. The 8/8/8 Olympics is seen as China's coming out party, after over a century of China being seen as backward and not a major power (starting with the Opium War).

Previous related post of mine on the subject - China's Response to Nationistic Anger
and China's Youth

Labels: China Olympics, China Politics, china's future

There is an old Doonesbury Cartoon when Kim was in High School. Kim is an orphan from Vietnam, and adopted by two Jewish parents. This other student is asking her why do Asian's do so well. Her first answer is lots of studying and do the homework. The other kid does not accept this. Then Kim answers she's secretly an Alien and the kid accepts that answer.

My 2 cents on why many Chinese Students do so well in the US:


1. High expectations in school work
2. Working with the kids on Home Work. Every night my wife works with my daughter on her Algebra 2 work.
3. Setting a career path at an early age (you will be a DR., you will be a Lawyer, etc.). Per a Harvard Business School study graduates that had written goals/plan made a lot more than those who did not.
4. Pressure to perform. B's are not acceptable.
5. Putting a premium on education. Examples of this is the huge amount of tutoring that Chinese parents will send their kids to. From reading at a young age to SAT preparation. There are so many of these after school tutoring where i live.
6. High expectations of going to a great college. Chinese American Education Expectations
7. Community expectations (my son is a law student at UCLA).
8. The amazing amounts that parents will spend on their kids education (My daughter now has a Grand Piano, that's a great example of this). My daughter is also going to Piano, Cello, and Voice lessons. Another example is how the best school districts in Southern California have huge Chinese populations. Why, because they are willing to pay the money for houses in good districts. Examples are San Marino, Arcadia, Walnut, and Diamond Bar. My daughter goes to school in Diamond Bar.
9. Proof of this working - high acceptance rates at University of California Berkeley for example. Chinese Asian Representation in Colleges
10. Focus on academics verses sports for status.

I have seen an article that lays out some of these ideas, but I can't find it right now.

Another example is one of my daughter's friends. Only spoke Chinese at home. Now in 9th grade is one of the top students in English.

An article on my site that summarizes the above with more information: Chinese Students - What can be Learned from them for Getting Good Grades? in my new section: School Tips & Education Articles

References:

• The Learning Experience Of Chinese Students in America - long article that is more about social issues and does not get into academics.
  

• Motivation Matters: Comparing American, Chinese, and Indian Students - Video of comparing following 2 students each from US, China, and India who are at the top of their class.
  

• The interplay between social and cultural determinants of school .,. - Useful
  

  Chinese Parents' Influence on Academic Performance - Useful
  

Labels: academics

China state media seeks to contain nationalist anger - It's a challenge to keep a balance. This has happened before with the response to Japan on an incident and the US.

Labels: China Politics, china's future

I have 20 books now that are in Simplified, Pinyin, and English that are illustrated! There has been a lot of requests for this type of book.

I am also adding more of the DVD's, that have sub-titles in Simplified Chinese, Pinyin, and English. I am very excited about them. They also have sub-titles in Traditional Characters. DVD has English and Mandarin Chinese sound tracks.

Labels: learn chinese, new products

Class Action suit against Pinkberry.

A PinkBerry just opened a few blocks from our house, and my daughter loves it! The branding is wonderful. I believe the first Pinkberry opened up in Koreatown. A graphic designer I worked with (A+ work), drove with his family from Chino Hills to Rowland Heights to go to Pinkberry. The finish they give to each of their dishes is a work of art. Just beautiful! There are many other places in our Chinatown, oops I mean Rowland Heights that are selling Frozen Yogurt, but none are as popular as Pinkberry.

Labels: chinatowns

I sold my first Lady White Snake Animated Bilingual DVD Chinese/English and The Ballad of Mulan Animated DVD. These are great video's! I need to create some bundles (I have about 7 in my head). Soon, soon I promise :-)

Labels: Bilingual DVD's

Oped from the NY Times on China's Youth and what they think. Very insightful in places. I agree with the conclusion, but I have some disagrements with the underlying logic.

The conclusion which I find insightful:

Barring major changes in China’s education system or economy, Westerners are not going to find allies among the vast majority of Chinese on key issues like Tibet, Darfur and the environment for some time. If the debate over Tibet turns this summer’s contests in Beijing into the Human Rights Games, as seems inevitable, Western ticket-holders expecting to find Chinese angry at their government will instead find Chinese angry at them.

The differences in logic I will stay away from mostly, since I don't want to get involved in politics on this blog. One area the author did not mention was the Great Firewall of China (limiting outside points of view) and the huge army of people who monitor blogs and such within China to make sure they express the correct thoughts (further limiting other view points and serving as a feedback mechanism on what is safe to publish. There is a huge amount of blogs in China).

Labels: china's future

Interesting article that is a good read - it's a positive article. China good for the Jews

At the Piano Recital my daughter was at today (she got a superior + and is so thrilled by that), the participants seemed to be either Korean, Chinese, or Jewish. I am not sure what that means. So many of the Chinese students at my daughter's school play piano. Even a book that talks a bit about this (super cute book) Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka.

A bit of trivia, I found out my Grandmother got a music scholarship for playing piano for college. During my recent visit to the Bay Area we visited my Grandmother and my daughter played piano for her. My Mother also plays piano and is pretty good. My wife plays a little (and wants to learn more). My daughter has been playing for 10 years and per her Piano teacher, if she decided, could major in Music because she is good enough.

Labels: China Politics, music

Some historical issues where Chinese felt that China has been taken advantage of in the past:

• First Opium War,
• Second Opium War,
• Taiping Rebellion
• Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) gave up Korea and Taiwan
  
• Imperialism in China (Russian, Japan, England, France split the country up)
• Boxer Rebellion
• Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the Western response
• Having Taiwan occupy the Chinese seat in the UN till 1971
  
• Bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia

With the above history being drilled into you, you might develop an inferiority complex.

Labels: China Politics

Some relevant stories:

• China plays victim for its audience
  
• Chinese Americans feel sting of Olympic protests - Los Angeles ...
  
• Anger is growing in China
  
• Boycotting China
• Why are world leaders boycotting the Beijing opening ceremony?
• Dangers of inflaming Chinese nationalism
• China Angry Over US Tibet Resolution

Labels: China Olympics

DVD's - Learning Chinese & Culture web page/section updated. The reason was when I added two more sections, Animated Chinese Books (I need to add the word DVD to this, or something. Because it's not a book, but a series of DVD's based on a some great books) and Discovery Planet Mandarin/English DVD's. I may need to add a click here for more information based on a call I got today to each sub-page. The Discovery Planet Mandarin/English DVD's look great and there are 52 of them. They are in English and Chinese.

The previous page DVD's - Learning Chinese & Culture had the links at the top, where now I added a picture/thumbnail and a few bullet points on the sub-page. This newer set up better shows the huge selection of DVD' and VCD's (Video Compact Disks). The VCD's are a great deal since I want to just sell them and go to all DVD's, some of them are as low as $4.99.

Labels: Bilingual DVD's, Learning Chinese

I just got from a supplier the first two of a series of animated DVD's based on some excellent bilingual Chinese/English books. The books are A+ in quality and are among the best products I carry. The DVD's include subtitles in both Traditional, Simplified, and Pinyin! Not to mention English. The price is not cheap ($29.95, but that includes performance rights because it's targeted at schools. The book for Lady White Snake is just so well written with excellent pictures that words fail me. This is how a good book on a subject should be written, including a great reference section at the back! The Ballad of Mulan Animated DVD is a great retelling of the classic Mulan story.

				Lady White Snake
				Our Price: $29.95
				What fate awaits a thousand-year old white snake that travels from its sacred mountain to the human world, only to fall in love with a mortal? Such is the unusual beginning of this tragic love story, one of the most popular in all of Chinese opera.
				The Ballad of Mulan Animated DVD
				Our Price: $29.95
				A+ quality. The famous heroine animated DVD with excellent Mandarin Chinese and English with sub-titles. Based on the excellent book that is a best seller in schools and libraries.

Labels: Bilingual DVD's

Maryland Frederick County expands summer Chinese language program. An addition to ChildBook's list of Chinese School Finder for the US and Canada including Chinese Summer School Programs

Labels: Chinese Schools

Drip, drip, drip. Everyday seems to bring some more bad publicity for China concerning the Olympics.

The latest drips today:

• Chinese Special Armed Police Guard Olympic Torch Relay.
• About 1500 people marching in San Francisco to protest Chinese brutality in Tibet
• Breach of Golden Gate Bridge security rattles S.F. officials
• Hillary Clinton Calls for Bush to Boycott Olympic Opening Games

So who is protesting against China?

• Tibet associated
  
• Falun Gong
• Burma
• Darfur
• Reporters without borders

An article I read (that of course I can't find) mentioned they were even arranging their colors, so there was no confusion on which group should be which color.

What I am not sure about, is what effect will this have upon China? The dream of some people was having China host the Olympics would have a positive effect on how China acted. My worry is how the Chinese people (who blog a lot) will react, and what longer term ramifications this will have. China's government is trying everything to be positive, but with the amount of protests (which only requires a small group), they may feel their effort is not being appreciated. There is a HUGE amount of national pride (nationalism) in China that has been fanned by the ruling communist party for their own purposes (staying in power). An article that touches on this from the WSJ. Torch Protests Ignite Chinese Indignation

Labels: China Olympics

I am up in the San Franscisco area visiting suppliers (and my Grandmother is on the way...). SF has a huge Chinatown, there are also lots of newer Chinatowns in the area. There is a big Chinese mall over in Fremont, Chinese Restaurants on Castro Street in Mountain View (and a great used bookstore, BookBuyers‎, that is not Chinese related). Angel Island that was the Ellis Island of the West is also a good visit. In San Jose there is also a Chinese garden.

Non Chinese related is two great bookstores. One in Menlo Park, Kepler's Books & Magazines‎ -and the other in Palo Alto, Book Inc. Books Inc‎ has the Idiot's Guide for Doing Business in China. I gave it a quick look. I am not sure of the significance when there is enough demand for an idiot's book, does that meant this is to trendly, a bubble, or just the interest in China is that huge? Another book that I will definitely be getting is Emotional Design, who also wrote a favorite book of mine, The Design of Everyday Things.

Labels: chinatowns

My daughter's last Cello had an accident... On a American Airlines flight to NY City, her Cello got crushed and developed a couple of cracks. We had no idea about claiming from the airline (you have to do it at the airport). Upsetting experience. We had it fixed, but the person fixing it did a poor job. We took it to foster's violin shop the City of Orange, California who gave us the news it was not worth fixing. They were recommended by my daughter's cello teacher. Wow, they really know Cello's. And their office is in a craftsman era house that is just a gem.Push button switches for lights, leaded glass, wood floors, crown molding, etc.

So we are in the market for a new cello for our daughter. We stopped by Morey's Music in Lakewood California. Family run, and now on their fourth generation. They have Chinese made Cello's, but it's amazing what they have done to make sure they are excellent. We made an appointment with Jonathan (third generation) who is in charge of their Cello shop. They buy the wood, make sure it's been dried, then they supply it to a Cello shop that they trained on how to make a particular style of cello, and then comes back to their shop to be set up. Good cello's are all hand carved and each Cello is a little bit different because of the wood. Set up is a pretty intensive and manual, labor process that makes a lot of difference on the sound. They need to set up the bridge, new strings, often sound the fingerboard, change the position of the soundboard, and sometimes change out the pegs. For Romanian Cello's often, since they are machine made they have thicker wood that needs to be removed to get a great sound (more labor).

Morey's Music sell Cello's up to $50K (no, we are not in that price range - and no, not even if I get a lot more orders for Learning Chinese Language & Culture Products will I be in that price range. My daughter's instructor has a cello that is worth $160,000, but he is a professional musician. Cello's vary in cost from $600 to $3200 in the student range. You can buy a cello in the $200 range, but you need to be careful. It may have a terrible sound. The one we bought originally the neck was a bit warped because of the wood used, which I understand is typical in low end cello's from China.

China has taken over the low end and middle of the market. Per Jonathan, probably 80% of the instruments in the world are made there. The challenge with Cello's is there is a lot of junk being sold. If Cello's are made with wood that has not been cured, the neck will warp and a year and there goes the Cello. You can buy a Cello over the Internet, but the problem is a good Cello is a work of art, and you need to hear it to judge if you will like it. What we are doing is taking the Cello to my daughter's music teacher to get his opinion. My daughter is good enough to tell good from bad, but not up to good from better, best, etc.

It's typical of Cello teachers is refer you to their friend to buy a cello. And if you don't buy from their friend, they will keep on putting your cello down. This happened with my daughter's first cello teacher. We bought direct from an importer and saved a bit of money. So the instructor was pointing out how each string did not have a tightener on the bottom. So one time we met her at a music store that she was giving lessons to other students, and we saw a cello one of her other students had bought from her student. Oops, not all the strings had tighteners. So we found another Cello teacher since her credibility was shot. My daughter's current Cello Teacher is super!

Cute, related book.

				Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka
				Our Price: $4.50
				Nine-year-old Yang and his family have immigrated from China to Seattle and the father is a professional Violin Play. He has been giving Yang Violin lessons for years, and Yang hates the Violin. Yang discovers Baseball! A great story about fitting in and getting used to a new country and culture.

Labels: made in china

A new article on EliteDresses.com about Chinese Wedding Customs that includes:

• Birth Dates & Family Tree,
• Formal Gifts for Bride's Family
• Bridal Bed
• Vising the Bride on Wedding Day
• Wedding Banquet,
• Monetary gift to Bride & Groom

Labels: chinese weddings

WSJ article. Looks very interesting.

Why China Will Win The Web from Forbes. WSJ article I am still looking for. It's a review of a new book that is out.

China's government is pushing hard to develop a high tech industry, and limiting foreign competition. Which is why many of the companies mentioned in the article have done so well. Looking for MP3's that may not be legal, if your Google you don't want to mess with the DMCA. Baidu, that's OK.

Labels: china economy

The Roots of Chinese Nationalism - insightful article from the Wall Street Journal.

Western and Japanese advertisers have angered Chinese consumers by appearing to be disrespectful of them. An example YouTube - Lebron James Nike Ad Banned in China.

And now the Chinese society is actually influencing the decisions of the government due to the widespread ability to communicate in China through Cell Phones and the Internet. So the government is watching public opinion in some areas and changing their decisions. Or taking action if they feel a group is being to inflammatory on certain subjects. It's a challenging tight rope the government is walking, where they want external groups to focus their frustration (scapegoat) showing how China's government is acting correctly , while not letting it go to far that it interferes with trade and external relations. The Olympics is an excellent example of how China's government is trying to balance between internal and external audiences, while putting forward China's best face. This is very challenging because some groups have grievances with China and are organizing protests to highlight these issues. In the US the actions at the Pasadena Rose Parade were just the start of this.

Labels: china's future