Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Sharlene's Progress In Learning Mandarin

Sharlene’s ability to read and write Chinese characters has improved a lot this year. Her words recognition is even better than her daddy now :) She wasn't able to converse in Mandarin when she first started pre-school last year but now, after 1.5 years in school, she can understand and speak Mandarin rather well although English is still her preferred spoken language.

On her writing skill, she finally mastered writing her Chinese name at the beginning of this year. She learned how to write the characters in school. One day, she proudly showed me her Chinese writing book that has 3 stars stamped on the page where she writes her Chinese name. It was great effort on her part as her Chinese name isn’t easy to write especially the last name which has 16 strokes altogether. Can you believe it that I never knew how to write her Chinese name? So ashamed of myself...but of course, now I’m an expert after seeing her writes it every other day :D

The school uses a few series of Chinese books (very similar to the English version of Peter and Jane) to teach them Chinese. I find the books are really useful in helping Sharlene to recognize and improve her words recognition. Now, she’s able to read the first 100 words of the series, which contain 8 books. By coaching her at home, I’m also learning and improving my vocabulary at the same time :P

She’s having a reading session with her piao cheh on one of the weekends.


She's reading the book by pointing to the words with a bamboo stick! See, how naughty she was....haih! I have no idea how she got hold of the stick.

13 comments:

MommyAngel said...

I am so proud of her :) I think it's not easy to master the chinese language since she is using english most of the time (I assume) but seems like she hasn't have much problems in that area too and a job weldone to Sharlene!

Mummy Gwen said...

Great job Sharlene! I can't read Chinese too. I'm really impressed of her progress. That's good, Mummy and Daddy can master the language together too..hehe.

Cynful Pleasure said...

clap clap Sharlene.. and the bamboo stick? Yes, when I learn mandarin words last time, we use that too, in order to make sure we are reading the correct 'word'.. Ok, I admit, not easy to learn mandarin when you are English literate at home.. so, Sharlene is doing a very good job there!

2xMum said...

Well done Sharlene!!

I can't read chinese also. Don't think I could coach my boy...

Administrator said...

Good job Sharlene! Once the kid starts to show interest, it is good to quickly capitalise on it and make the best out of it!

slavemom said...

She's making great progress. Keep it up, Sharlene! Hmm... I think my girl uses the same series in kindy. Is it the one with Li Li and Ming Ming?

Fussy mum said...

Yes Ginie, it's the same - Ming Ming & Li Li. And it comes with flash cards too.

MeRy said...

Well done,Sharlene....I can't read and write Chinese...Really worry don't know how to teach my boy nextime.

Agnes CF Lee said...

at least she is willing to learn chinese words. my crystal said she doesn't like chinese. i worry how she can cope with it when she goes to primary 1 chinese school next year.

Health Freak Mommy said...

Good job Sharlene! I'm sure she will fare well in a Chinese primary school next time.

Mumsgather said...

You're not the only mummy who doesn't know how to write their kid's chinese name. lol.

Mummy Moon said...

Good achievement! I like the way she point the word with bamboo stick, so cute!

Sarah's Daddy and Mommy said...

Good and smart girl Sharlene. You deserved a big clap for the great achievement.

I still remember your post about how much Sharlene hesitated to converse using Mandarin. And now she really makes you proud!

Woww...her last name has 16 strokes ya? It is not easy for her to remember that.
Luckily Sarah's one is only 10.

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