Ni Hao Kai-lan teaches Mandarin words and Interacting
Kiddie shows do affect us a lot, as evidenced by the sort of mania generated by Sesame Street a few weeks before, when the show announced its 40th anniversary.
I wish today's kids will also have a show to fondly look back to, and I hope this show teaches not just words, science and mathematics, but good character formation as well.
One of the more interesting shows for kids these days is Ni Hao Kai-lan, a show from Nick Jr. The show features a little girl named Kai-lan, who lives with her grandfather ("Yeye") in a Chinese-American home. Kai-lan has lots of animal friends - Rintoo the tiger, Tolee the Koala and Hoho the monkey. They all study Mandarin words and phrases and ask child viewers to repeat words with them.
Central to the show is developing empathy for friends, as well as respect, loyalty and other good character traits you would want your child to emulate. I remember in Sesame Street when the monsters talk to the kids about feelings, but it is not as stressed as it is with Ni Hao Kai-lan.
Some parents like Ni Hao Kailan better than Dora. In Dora, story lines usually are about following the map. In Ni Hao Kailan, emphasis is on developing kids' emotional quotient and problem-solving ability.
I also like how the characters all look so cute and adorable. The show is highly enjoyable and something that kids can look forward to watching everyday.
With the values being taught on the show, even you will look forward to your kids watching it.
ChildBook has some Ni Hao Kai-lan books and DVDs that you may want to get for your little one.
In the story, Xiao Ming and his mom are walking through the snow when his mom has an ingenious idea - to draw Chinese characters in the snow and teach Xiao Ming some Chinese words.
The book has a cute way of teaching writing and reading characters, so you may want to use this with your child.
Or better yet, if it snows in your area, use the book as guide and you and your child can write, write, write away outdoors. :-)
It is a good time to remember Yang Xianyi, noted translator, English scholar and poet. He passed away at age 94.
Despite the sad news, it is best to look at the man's passions. He brought the Selected Works of Lu Xun and A Dream of Red Mansions to a wider world-wide audience with his English translations.
It is said that Chairman Mao doubted whether Lu Xun can be translated. We should be thankful for the likes of Yang Xianyi, who bravely believed "Everything can be translated."
Humor - Make Reservations on the 2012 Ark at Taobao.com
Some people resort to humor regarding the end of the world hubbub magnified by the movie 2012.
Taobao.com, China's leading online auction site (much like Ebay), now has tickets for the 2012 Ark.
Taobao seller Lee Hawk is selling seats for 1 billion euro. Boarding of the ark will be at Cho Ming landing.
Viewer comments gamely asked questions about residence permits after the flood (mayorship even if 2 tickets are purchased), if group rates have discounts, and if seller accepts cash on delivery.
Supposedly their was a large Chinatown in San Luis Obispo. All that is left now is the name, as indicated in this article. Most agree, Chinatown looks great
Assessing the China Trip - NY Times. Basically the NY Times believes it's to soon to tell how successful the trip was, but right now it's not looking good. I do hope more was said in private, than in public.
Per the article, even if you are a US Citizen, but come from China, the Chinese government still considers you a Chinese Citizen. This poor person has been held for 2 years in jail in China, basically in limbo. Obama Raised Issue of American Held in China - NY Times. The charge is stealing state secrets. Of course the definition of state secrets is pretty, um, elastic, so just buying a database if the Chinese government decides, could be defined as stealing state secrets.
This also happens to business people who the other side has more connections. A friend of a friend, last I heard is still in jail in China with the demand pay X dollars, or else you stay here. And since he is there his business is gone. He's from Taiwan, but if your ethnic Chinese the Chinese are a bit more cavalier with your rights, than a non ethnic Chinese like me. Not sure how my daughter would be treated, since she is mixed.
The state of California is eating it's seed corn. Spending on prisons has grown 200% in the last 10 years to be more than is spent on the UC System for education in California. The amount spent on higher education has gone down, while Prisons have gone up. The result is some Cal States canceled summer school, laying off teachers, and reducing enrollment as more people seek to go to college in California.
It costs as much to have a person in prison, as it does to go to Harvard. More is spent to house 167,000 adults in Prison, than it does to educate 226,000 in the UC System And don't even get me started on why have more UC and Cal States not been built in the So. CA area.
Jeff Bleich, the outgoing chair of the 23-campus 450,000-student California State University system, warns, "California is on the verge of destroying the system [of higher education] that once made this state great." Disinvesting in higher education is an economic mistake says the UC Berkeley law school graduate, "For every dollar the state invests in a CSU student, it receives $4.41 in return."
In the 1980s, 17% of the state budget went to higher education and 3% went to prisons. Today, only 9% goes to universities and 10% goes to prisons.
The problem is being soft on crime is death for a politician. And there is a VERY powerful Prison Guard Union in California that politicians cross at their peril. So short sighted budget deals are made in California that do not address the core issues.
"Don't mistake me for being an expert, because I've been here for three months," Huntsman said. "And I've come to the conclusion that 'China expert' is kind of an oxymoron. And those who consider themselves to be China experts are kind of morons. So you take what you can, you learn what you can, and you begin to pull all the pieces together, and still it kind of remains sometimes a somewhat confused environment."
I did not realize there were three people in the President's Obama's cabinet who spoke Chinese. I knew about Treasury Secretary Geithner, but commerce secretary Gary Locke does also. Gary Locke is also ethnic Chinese and third generation American. And the Energy Secretary, Steven Chu through ethnic Chinese, learned in college.
I agree 100% that Learning Chinese by rote is a mistake. Good article about how Singapore is changing how they Teach Chinese. Learning Chinese by rote a mistake by Asia One.
The Learning Chinese Materials I choose to sell I try very hard to get away from the hole of rote Teaching by having products that are more interactive. That teach in a way that students actually learn to Speak Chinese.
I had a parent who has had their son going to Chinese school, but all he has learned is Chinese Characters, and not how to speak! She was asking between Chinese Made Easy for Kids and My First Chinese Words.
My answer:
Both systems are very good so it's hard to say which one. Better Chinese has more accessories.
If your son is into computer games, I like the Kuaile Hanyu CD Rom (depends on his maturity).
If you have a PC (not Mac, unfortunately), Kidspeak is good
I would also look into Songs for Learning Chinese. Singing is a great, fun way to Learn a foreign language.
Personally, I am not sure what the real US goal of the trip to China was and what is actually being achieved. The official goals of the trip are to get China's help on North Korea, Iran, and Global Warming.
It seems the Chinese Government is very worried about the US deficit, since this impacts their exports and their economy. Not to mention the massive financing of the US debt that China has done. If the US economy somehow got worse, that would hurt China's economy. Blog post that mentioned China is curious on how the US Health Care Reform will impact the deficit.
It seems the mine in Afghanistan I mentioned in this post - China and Afghanistan that is worth $2.5 Billion dollars, it was secured due to a $30 Million bribe to the minister of mines in Afghanistan.
Does the ability and willingness to use bribery give Chinese companies an unfair advantage in corrupt countries over US companies? In US companies, bribery is illegal and employees can go to jail if convicted of bribery. Even if a third party handled the details and it was known by the parent company.
With the decline in education funding, and the continued increase in college costs I can understand Universities Turn to Consultants to Trim Budgets - NY Times. My undergraduate college is a very good school for Engineering (Cal Poly, Pomona). But, due to budget cuts they are asking questions such as do they need a department of philosophy and graduate history. The school due to budget reasons canceled summer school.
The good of hiring a consultant is it gives an outside, supposedly unbiased, expert person, who can lay out hard decisions. And good consulting companies build their knowledge base, so they are constantly improving what they do. And with the current crises in funding, there is definitely a perceived need that is shared by all involved that something needs to change. Having this agreement is key for effectively making changes. After Graduate School was very interested in going into Consulting. A good book is 'The Witch Doctors: Making Sense of the Management Gurus and Dangerous Company: The Consulting Powerhouses and the Businesses They Save and Ruin
I know enough to know how little I know in the area of type faces. I know, heavy users of Childbook who are into type faces are saying that's an understatement :-)
A favorite book of mine is the Mac is not a typewriter, I believe I have the first edition. Second edition is 2003. It covers the basics such as DON'T USE ALL CAPS SINCE THEY ARE HARD TO READ, Don't use double spaces after a period. And don't use courier.
One of my first jobs after college was doing Desktop Publishing for Manuals.
The article did not mention that a half brother (who married a Chinese) of Obama's lives in China and will meet with the President in China. And China is becoming much more active in China, with China Pledges $10 Billion to Africa. But, in Africa there is also anger in many countries with Chinese companies not using local labor, but importing other Chinese to do the labor.
That brings up a lot of issues should teachers be allowed to sell their lessons online. Especially since they may have been developed during time paid for by a school.
My opinion is yes, they should be allowed to sell them because:
1. Many teachers spend a huge amount of time outside of regular school hours preparing for class.
2. It increases the amount of materials available for use by Teachers by giving an incentive to put materials out there. And the prices mentioned in the article are very reasonable. So the end result is a win win. A teacher who wants material has the option to buy materials, and other teachers will take the time to prepare materials.
Nice feel good article about how many in Wisconsin see China as an export market. China is the third largest export market for US goods. "The Chinese Are Coming" was the title of a session in late September in Baltimore at the annual meeting of the National Association for College Admission Counseling per the article. This is due to the increase in undergraduate students from China. In Wisconsin, looking east to Chinese buyers - Washington Post.
I am curious on how much this will really help? The question I have, which may sound strange, but is China the best place to Learn how to Teach Chinese to American Students?
For Learning Chinese, I agree, going to China or Taiwan where Chinese is spoken natively is the best way to Learn Chinese. Full immersion is an excellent method for Learning a Foreign Language. A friend of mine who did this mentioned they learned as much in a month, as in a 6 month class.
But for teaching? I am not so sure. The reason is the difference in culture betweeen Chinese students and American students in Learning. The traditional way of Learning Chinese is writing characters, again and again using lots of repetition. I would instead suggest look at schools that are successful in Teaching Chinese in the US. There are a couple that turn out fluent Chinese speakers, which does not happen with all school. Finding the right Chinese school takes time. The is also a difference in Chinese Curriculum on what works in China, verses what is suited for use in a US class room.
The authors of the different Learning Chinese Curriculum's that I sell have a common frustration that the current material they were using did not work well with American Students, so they developed their own.
An article on CNN about Lang Lang. My daughter started playing at age 4, but when we moved to Silicon Valley the piano lessons/practice got disrupted a bit.
It's a challenge to keep a young child practicing. Of course it's also a challenge to keep a teenager practicing! The right Teacher is very important, as well as support from parents. My wife was so supportive of my daughter's piano practice that when my daughter's teacher mentioned we needed a Grand Piano, since it had a different feel when hitting the keys, we got one (Kawai) and I learned way to much about buying a piano :-)
Learning Chinese is very similar, it helps to have the right curriculum for learning Chinese, the parental support, and a good teacher.
This one has a lot of interesting posts. About the Blog - I am interested in how the rise of China is affecting other countries, and how the Chinese are adapting to their increasing power. So, a blog with some links and commentary about the 21st century and China ... by "Hong Mao". Hurting the Feelings of the Chinese People.
I did not realize that China does not have a law for bankruptcy for individuals. One was put in place in 2007 for non state Enterprises. It is helpful to keep in mind that it took 100 years for the US to get a functioning bankruptcy system. Bankruptcy is mentioned in the US constitution, but vaguely.
With the low trust society in China, credit cards and bankruptcy are challenging issues.
An article I came across that mentioned this - Chinese credit card debt mounts from CNN. The lack of credit cards in China from what I have read has been a real problem for E-Commerce operations there that sell goods.
I have noticed in the Rowland Heights area there has been a lot of overbuilding of strip Malls. And still more have opened and the result is a lot of for lease signs.
The shops/malls that are succeeding are those that offer a good value. There is one Chinese restaurant in Rowland Heights that has super long waits, while others are empty.
I did not know that China has a $3.5 Billion Dollar investment in Afghanistan for developing a copper mine! The Economist mentioned it in an article. The comments on the article brought up some good points.
Babies have a short attention span, but are like a huge sponge. The trick is giving them the right material that keeps them interested and is at their level. I like the idea of reading to them at a young age. Board Books and pop up books are great for exposing them to Chinese.
Many top universities are taping lectures and putting them online for free. MIT has a series on physics for example, that I have heard very good things from.
My opinion is for the right person these are a great resource! For those that can self study and have the discipline to do so. Taking a class forces you to attend it and a great teacher can help in motivating you to do more. Of course when you are in a huge lecture hall of several hundred students, the online experience may be superior. I have not seen taped lectures being used as part of a regular class. Even by teachers as a way to supplement material in their classes. The part that is missing from watching a video is the interaction a student can have with a teacher. The asking of questions and how the teacher can pace/customize their teaching to the class. Different classes and even times of day can require a slightly different teaching style. Early in the morning (are your students awake), to after lunch (bit lethargic), to the class before school ends (how many minutes left?
I wonder if anyone is going to put on the web an entire series of Learning Chinese video's for teaching Chinese as many top colleges are doing for other classes? Since a textbook is needed for a Chinese class, there would also need to be associated content. Be it an eBook or something.
I was speaking with a customer on which product was right for them for their 4 and 6 year old for Learning Chinese. I recommended two series for him to look at. He is interested in teaching at home and he would also be learning Chinese at the same time.
My First Chinese Word is a great series that teachers through stories. The first book and cd set includes 36 books and a CD. I like the idea of teaching Chinese at this age in small segments, to avoid the boredom issue. There is also a huge amount of other support material available including teacher guides in simplified, traditional, and English, Flash Cards, CD ROMS, and more. The quality is A+ and the amount of support material you can buy is great.
Chinese Made Easy for Kids - is the other Learning Chinese program I suggested. A great value for the money and is also very popular.
I did not recommend Practical Chinese because in my opinion, this is better if you have a native speaker teaching.
Online Video Games are at least $2.9 Billion a in China and rose 50% last year.
7 of the top 10 Games in China are done by Chinese companies (other are 1 American and 2 S. Korean).
Interesting quote - The press and publication administration has taken a hard line against outside involvement in the industry, stating flatly last month that foreign investment in Chinese online gaming operations, whether by joint ventures, cooperatives or other means, is forbidden.
1. It's cheaper to buy in HK. 2. No WiFi Access on the Chinese Version. 3. A 3rd party imported (Grey Market) phone costs 20% less and has more features. 4. There is no deal to have a low initial cost as is done in the US where you can get an iPhone for $99 with a 2 year contract. 5. My guess is status of owning a full version verses the one without WiFi. 6. Lots of people already own iPhones in China.
I agree with this article and as my daughter is looking at colleges - I worry about the cost. There is a lot more that could have been written on the issue. Cal Poly, Pomona actually canceled Summer School due to funding (my undergraduate is from there). California's higher-education debacle - LA Times.
Exciting news! China Approves Disney Theme Park in Shanghai per the NY Times. It is expected to open in 5-6 years and will be about the same size as Disneyland in Anaheim. About 100 acres, but Disney will have surrounding land so they can add more parks as has been done in Florida with Disneyworld.
My daughter was #2 in her troop for sales, after she got credit for selling a couple of hundred dollars worth of cookies (my Mother was a former Girl Scout and took it to her work, and we also had a table out at the Monrovia Rock Hound Show).
A challenge with ethnic Chinese in the US and Girl Scouts per a friend of mine (Taiwanese and in my MBA program) who did a lot of outreach to the Chinese community was the emphasis on academics in the Chinese Culture. Per her, girl scouts was a hard sell to Chinese parents. Personally, I see a huge amount of value in the Girl Scouts, especially in the leadership area.
Per the Telegraph, there was a recent proposal to simplify 44 Characters in Chinese even more. The public reaction in China has been 92% against, and 4% for.
IMHO - many of the arguments seem to be very similar to the ones between Simplified Chinese Characters and Traditional Chinese Characters. The issue of the cost of making the changes to all the textbooks seems to be a major one against the change. It's interesting that some places have already made the changes - my guess is as a way of being more trendy.
I am curious on how much impact this position actually has. The issues of low quality and not enough jobs for college graduates are systemic. It's important for China to fix this, but I am not sure with the decentralization and corruption how much is really possible.
