Chinese Curriculum - Which one to choose?

Unfortunately its complicated because I have had some customers love a certain curriculum for Learning Chinese, and another customer hates it.

Some sugestions and questions to ask:

1. Age of those learning Chinese. In my Learning Chinese Curriculum selection guide, I include suggested ages. For beginner levels they usually have the same contents for vocabulary, but the style they are presented does change.

2. Learning Style of the Student. From story based approach to Bo Po Mo to a down to earth style. It's very helpful to look at the sample pages to see which series is best for you.

3. Is there a native Chinese speaker in the house? If yes this widens your options. Some series have great teacher's guides and other expect the teacher to be fluent in Chinese.

4. Simplified or Traditional Chinese? Their are pros and cons for both. The Chinese SAT II is in both simplified and Traditional Characters. You may also want to check what your local school district is teaching and of course any tutor. If the tutor is from China they will usually prefer simplified and if from Taiwan/HK, Traditional.

6. Tutors - If using a tutor that is not structured, can you introduce structure through a Chinese Curriculum. Many parents have called me out of frustration where their kids can sing some songs in Chinese, but they feel their kids are not advancing. It's helpful to discuss which curriculum with your tutor.

7. Chinese Schools - It's so important to find the right one. A complaint I have heard is all my kid is learning is to write Characters. Chinese School Finder for the US and Canada

8. Learning Chinese Resources area. Lots of great articles and resources.

9. Pinyin Vs. Bo Po Mo - Champion Chinese is great for Teaching Bo Po Mo. This is another sticky issue with pros and cons on each side.

Some observations:

1. If your a non native speaker teaching Chinese to your kids the products from Better Chinese have a great amount of support with teachers guides and more. My First Chinese Words. There are related series for older kids such as My First Chinese Reader for ages 7-11 and Discovering Chinese for ages 12+. The advantage of the Better Chinese products is they have a huge amount of support material.

2. Other parents prefer different styles of Learning Chinese. Practical Chinese is a very down to earth method that I highly recommend for teaching by a native speaker/reader. And since the CD is separate, many native speakers save a bit by not buying the CD.

3. Others prefered a more polished series such as Chinese Made Easy and Chinese Made Easy for kids (color illustrations, graphics are very professional). A complaint of some is the textbooks always include the CD. Another complaint by some teachers is they should remove the word kids, since older students don't like to study textbooks with that in the title. Chinese Made Easy for kids focuses more on the verbal area and has more exercises. Chinese Made Easy includes more of the learning characters.

4. Kuaile Hanyu is great for Middle School students and I have had adults buy it. It's designed for Middle School students and very well done. I especially like the CD Roms (great price) and can be bought separately.

5. New Practical Chinese Reader is very popular for adults Learning Chinese. A new textbook by the author of Practical Chinese is Daily Chinese, aimed at adults learning Chinese.

Note! Always take a look at the sample pages before selecting a Chinese Curriculum. All of the above are very popular, but it's important to get the right textbook for your style.

Labels: chinese curriculumn

Chinese Curriculums

For those just starting to teach their kids Chinese say ages 4-6, I recommend My First Chinese Words for parents that don't have a native Chinese speaker at home since they have an English Teacher's Guide. The Quality is A+ and there are so many associated products. You can get a CD Rom, Teacher's Guide, Flash Cards, Songs, more books, etc. And if you continue with the Better Chinese System it goes all the way through High School. Better Chinese has the most complete curriculum and a huge assortment of products to go with it. M

• My First Chinese Words Learning Chinese Curriculum by Better Chinese - Ages 2-7
• My First Chinese Reader Curriculum by Better Chinese Age 7 to 11; Grades 2-6
• Discovering Chinese By Better Chinese Ages 12+; Grades 6-12
• Magical Tour of China by Better Chinese Grades 6-12; Adults

If you have a native Chinese speaker at home, I recommend Chinese Made Easy for Kids since it covers the curriculum of My First Chinese Words as well as My First Chinese Reader. The positive is the price is lower, but then it does not have as much support material. Many schools are also using Chinese Made Easy for Kids and Chinese Made Easy.

For Middle School that is a challenging Age, I recommend Kuaile Hanyu for those Learning Simplified. Their CD Roms (I recommend buy those no matter which curriculum you choose, great price at only $19.95 and very well done. Cheap for Learning Chinese Software).

If you have a Native Chinese Speaker for Traditional Chinese, I recommend Practical Chinese for Ages 3 - adult; Grades K-12.

The hard part on making recommendations is every person is a bit different and it's a good idea to look at the sample pages I have scanned in (click on the small pictures under the large one) to enlarge. I have been surprised where some people love a particular curriculum, where other people dislike it. For some the pictures are perfect, and for others they are too childish. Learning Chinese Curriculum is a very individual decision.

Labels: chinese curriculumn

People seem to either love one or the other, but not both. I have found it's impossible to guess which a person will prefer. Some recent experiences based on customer feedback.

Practical Chinese - Main page.

Chinese Made Easy - Main Page

Labels: chinese curriculumn

At a basic level a Chinese Curriculum should teach Chinese. For adults usually this includes boht speaking, reading, and writing. For kids, there is usually more of an emphasis on speaking and using Pinyin, instead of learning Chinese Characters (either Simplified or Traditional).

At an advanced level, a Chinese Curriculum should also teach more about the culture and history. The headache with history is there may be more than on interpretation of it. For example the history taught in Taiwan of Mainland China from 1949 is a bit different than what is taught in Mainland China. Usually in Traditional Chinese books you will get the Taiwan version, and in Simplified the Chinese version. I know of one author who had not done higher level books in Simplified Chinese because of this issue, but has done them in Traditional Chinese.

When designing a Chinese Curriculum a teacher also needs to consider both the knowledge level of the Teacher (native Chinese speaker, more than 100% fluent, very experienced in teaching) and the students, who may come into class already verbally fluent having grown up in Taiwan and/or China, have parents who speak Chinese at home, to those who have no Chinese speaking adults at home. Different Chinese Curriculum may be needed for different types of students.

I put together at Childbook a buying guide of the different Chinese Curriculum I carry, that include Better Chinese, Practical Chinese, Chinese Made Easy for kids, Chinese Made Easy, Kuaile Hanyu, and Daily Chinese. The buying chart includes information on the teaching style, age, and background on the author.

Labels: chinese curriculumn

Picking the right curriculum for your class/school is an important step, even for the most experienced of teachers. Childbook offers several different Chinese Curriculum including Practical Chinese, Chinese Made Easy for Kids, Better Chinese, and
Kuaile Hanyu (Happy Chinese).

I created a Comparision Table for the Chinese Curriculum that gives a good summary of the strengths of each.

Labels: chinese curriculumn

For serious parents on teaching their kids Chinese, I would start with the Chinese Curriculum. I currently carry Practical Chinese - Effective way to learn Chinese, C hinese Made Easy, Kuaile Hanyu (Happy Chinese), and Better Chinese Curriculum Materials for Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language.

The comparison chart of Chinese Curriculum on the main page helps a lot.

Labels: chinese curriculumn