Lesson 5: Family Members & Addressing People (A & C)

This is intended for both adults and children. There are many ways to address a family member in English (Dad, Father, etc) and Bahasa Indonesia (Papa, Ayah) , so does Chinese.

Knowing what to address someone properly is important. From here, you will know how the relation between one person to another. This is the unique thing about Chinese, which also makes it a bit complicated. However, personally I would like to keep this tradition in my own family.

Here I will only show you the most common one :)
Father                             爸爸            bà ba
Mother                            妈妈            mā ma
Older Sister                    姐姐            jiě jie 
Younger Sister               妹妹            mèi mei 
Older Brother                 哥哥            gē ge
Younger Brother            弟弟            dì di 
Paternal Grandpa           爷爷             yé ye 
Paternal Granma            奶奶             nǎi nai
Maternal Grandpa          公公             gong gong 
Maternal Grandma         婆婆             pó po 
Uncle (from Dad's side, older than your dad)                 伯伯             bó bo 
Uncle (from Dad's side, younger than your dad)            叔叔            Shū shu
Uncle (from Mom's side)                                                舅舅             jiù jiu
Aunt (from Dad's side）                                                 姑姑             gū gu
Aunt (from Mom's side, older than your mom)              姨妈              yí mā
Aunt (from Mom's side, younger thatn your mom)        阿姨              ā yí
Niece                                侄女                    zhí nǔ 
Nephew                            侄儿 / 外甥        zhí ér / wài shēng

There are still more actually, like your uncle's wife is not just "aunt", but there is a proper way to address her, depending on whose wife she is. However, enough for now. It will be to overwhelming if I were to introduce all at once.

The purpose of knowing the above is that so that you can teach your children a proper way of addressing people. Together with this, introduce to her the greeting that you have already learnt before. So the next time they see their grandpa, they can say: “公公，早上好”  

gōng gong, zǎo shàng hǎo or “爷爷， 早上好” yé ye, zǎo shàng hǎo (Good Morning, Grandpa)。

Or teach them how to say thank you. When your husband's older brother buys a present for your childen, teach them to say “伯伯，谢谢” bó bo, xiè xie (Thanks, Uncle)

Another tips to address friends. If it is a female friend, we like to address them as “阿姨”   ā yí,  we assume she is a sister to us (wife). However, if it a male friend, we teach our kids to address him as “叔叔” shū shu , we assume he is a brother to our husband, if your male friend is older we use “伯伯”, bó bo.

Teaching kids how to address people properly is still something conventional yet part of teaching them good manner, at least for the Eastern. In our family, it is something that is important. When our parents are talking to their friend, even if we do not know them, we will have to address that uncle/aunt. We do not just stand there quietly or walk away without greeting them. Raised in that kind of family, I expect a lot from the kids nowadays too.

What if we meet someone about our age or not in a "Personal" context, working environment, for example. It might not be too appropriate to call your boss (who you assume from their appearance is older than you) as 伯伯. For this purpose, we have the following:

Mr.     先生     xiān sheng     

                   e.g. Mr. Lee       李先生        lí xiān sheng

Mrs./ Madam  (Married woman)        女士       nǚ shì     

                  e.g. Madam Kwan     关女士         guān nǚ shì 

(Note: If we know exactly that woman is married to Mr. Li and she takes after his surname, we can then use 夫人 (fū ren).

Addressing them as: 李先生 & 李夫人       lí xiān sheng & lí fū ren        Mr & Mrs. Li)

Ms.     小姐      xiǎo jiě 

                   e.g. Ms. Chen          陈小姐     chén xiǎo jiě

Try to apply this as much as possible and you will get use to it before you know it. :)

Your kids can call me,

Linda 阿姨   (Aunt Linda)

Tips!

I normally do not memorize the meaning, I will use it in one situation where I know for sure it is correct and always refer back to the use of each word in that situation to get the meaning.

For example: I have many uncles whom I address as 舅舅 jiù jiu. Therefore, when I need the meaning of the word "舅舅", I will always refer back to that person. And start thinking, "who does the person relate to?" Then, I know that he is my mother's brother. Thus I got my answer 舅舅  jiù jiu refers to uncle from mother's side, can be older or younger.

Lesson 4: Activities for Kids (C)

How is your counting activity with your child for the past week? Can they count 1 - 3 already? or maybe more...? Keep up the good work. No matter how slow the progress is, make sure you keep moving! Consistency and commitment is the key.

Again, I suggest verbal counting only to younger kids below 4 years old, while you can point or show them the Chinese character while counting.

By doing this there is chance that your child might be able to read the words in the long run. However, if they can't now, do not get frustrated.  It is okay. Focus on counting fingers. Lead by example! You have to show them how to count using your fingers as assistants. They will copy you for sure. This helps the fine motoric skill for the young :)

Anyway... Always find the chance to practice the counting, anytime and anywhere.

You can even do it in 2 or 3 languages.

yī, one, satu
èr, two, dua
etc...

Moving on..

One of the most important part in learning language is to know as many vocabularies as you can. Same thing applies here. Since we are not rushing for anything. You can mix the Chinese lesson with some art. The most basic art that anyone can do is COLORING. Coloring (with crayons or any other wide tip coloring pencil) may also help children to train the strength of their grip, this will come useful when it is time for them to really hold pencil and write letters/words. If you are asking why and how? Try to hold a pencil now, do you need strength to do it? Yes, you do, we all do. That's why we get tired of writing sometimes. If your hand is weak, you can't even hold the pencil properly, let alone trying to form shapes of alphabets. That's why and That's how Coloring may help your little ones.

So, what I used to do with my preschool (age 3 - 5) is ask them to color 1 or 2 things in every session. KEEP the final result and FILE them. DO NOT chuck it away. One item a day means one new vocab every day. Imagine doing it everyday for a month. Voila!

Here is the thing that you need:
1. Blank Paper (A4 is fine), always use the same size for neat filing.
2. Crayon or coloring pencil of your choice (don't choose the thin/slim type, choose the crayon which is "fat", wider in diameter (easy to hold) and wide tip (finish coloring faster, since most kids get bored fast, or rather have shorter attention span)
3. Printer (you may need or not need this). I used to hand draw the items. Keep it SUPER simple. Not too much detail on the thing:

Here is the sample of the page that you need to create for your kids before let them start the coloring:

Write the Chinese Character, the Pinyin, the English/Indonesia on the paper with the picture

The reasons for keeping are:

1. You can use them like a flash card (just bigger in size)

2. With the Chinese character written on the paper, they will get exposure to the shape of the character, every time you "flash" this paper to them. One day you will be surprise to know that your child is reading the character in addition to recognizing the object.

I usually start introducing the vocabularies that are going to be used often in our daily life. In classes, they will have lots of encounter with books, pencils, bags, tables, chairs, etc. So learn those words first. Remember to stick to NON abstract object, something that you can actually show. "Table" is easy to show, but "kind" is not, "Pencil" is tangible, while "heavy" is not. So stick to common nouns for now.

Here are 5 words that I want you to create for your child:

1. 书         shū                     Book / Buku

2. 笔         bǐ                       Pencil / Pensil

3. 书包     shū bāo              Bag / Tas

4. 椅子     yǐ zi                    Chair / Kursi

5. 桌子     zhuō zi                Table / Meja

Aim for them to master this in a week along with the counting. :)

So this is how you do it:
1. First day:
- Let them color a book and then ask them to say the word "shū"
- When they are finish coloring, show them the final product and ask them to say the word "shū" again

2. Second day
- Before start, show the book picture that they colored yesterday and then say the word in Chinese. If they forget, help them!
- Then let them color pencil and teach them the word in Chinese. Ask them to repeat after you or repeat after the audio in Pleco. :)
- When they are done, show them the pencil and ask them to say it in Chinese. Then, refreshing memory on book + pencil.
They now know 2 new words :)

3. Third day
- Refresh memory of "pencil" and "book"
- Color a bag (remember to keep the drawing simple) and not too big. Something that they can finish in 10 - 15 mins max. You know your child best! If they are the type who get bored easily, aim for something super simple! :)
- Show them the picture and ask them to say the Chinese word for "bag"
- Refresh "book" + "pencil" and "bag"

4 & 5. Fourth & Fifth day
Apply the same things.

So each day, they will have more "flash card" to recognize and read from.

If you would like to add more words, since your kids is a fast learner and not able to wait for my next lesson for children, then, please feel free to find the words in Pleco. :)

Drop a comment or email me if you need printable materials that you can use for the above activities.


Fun Learning,
Linda Tan

Answers for Lesson 3

Here is the answers for some new vocab which you are supposed to translate in Lesson 3. I believe you have found your answers.


1. 头            tóu               head / kepala

2. 目            mù               eyes / mata       (Most characters / phrases that come with this Chinese character has something to do with eyes. See below:
（+）眼睛      yǎn jīng      eyes / mata (when we use it in a sentence, this is my eyes)
Look at the left side of each character, it has the character of 目 mù

3. 口            kǒu              mouth / mulut   (Most characters/phrase that comes with this Chinese character has something to do with mouth)

4. 嘴巴        zuǐ bā        mouth / mulut     (when we use it in a sentence, e.g. this is my mouth)

5. 耳朵        ěr duo         ear / telinga

6. 足 / 脚     zú / jiǎo     feet / kaki   

7. 大            dà                big/ besar

8. 小            xiǎo             small / kecil

9. 多            duō              many / banyak

10. 少          shǎo             little / sedikit

Translating to Mandarin

1. Sun             日  / 太阳           rì / tài yang     

2. Moon          月           yuè

3. Mountain    山                      shān

4. Field           地           dì

5. Rock           石头         shí tou

6. Water          水           shuǐ

7. Fire             火           huǒ

8. Soil            土           tǔ

9. Wood           木          mù

10. I / Me           我         wǒ

11. You             你          nǐ

12. We /Us         我们       wǒ men

13. He/She/It (same pronunciation different characters)            他 /她 /它     tā

14. They / Them            他们      tā men

The above (except subject pronoun) are the basic words that you might need to know to ease your learning of Chinese characters. As I mentioned before, although Chinese characters might look complicated, most of the time it is a combination of a few characters. By introducing the basic/simple character, I hope will allow you to look at Chinese character from different angle.

Although, it will allow you to "guess" the meaning of the word. For example: 火huǒ means fire. So most of the characters that come with that will have something to do with fire/light/hot temperature. E.g. 烧 (shāo) burn, 灯 (dēng) lamp / light, etc.

As of the introduction to subject pronouns will allow us to create sentence (simple ones) in near future :)

Revisit this over and over again, until you have them all on your finger tips :)

Happy Learning,
Linda Tan

Lesson 3: New Vocabs + Greetings (A)

In this post, I would like to start with exercise. I want you to find the meaning for the following basic vocabs. If it is possible, you can try to recognize the Chinese characters too. Although speaking might be your goal in learning the language, however recognizing words (know how to read and the meaning) will come handy one day. It also helps you to understand it better.

Here is the example on how to do this to get the maximal benefit, write it down on a piece of paper, better if you have a book dedicated for this:

E..g 人 rén  human/people

1. 头

2. 目

3. 口

4. 嘴巴

5. 耳朵

6. 足 / 脚

7. 大

8. 小

9. 多

10. 少

This will give you the chance to practice using Pleco too :)  And of course, do not forget to pronounce it out loud when you have found the pinyin and the meaning. And stop for a while and digest the new vocab before you move on.

Next, I want you to translate from English to Chinese (you can choose to write the characters or just stick to the pinyin)

1. Sun

2. Moon

3. Mountain

4. Field

5. Rock

6. Water

7. Fire

8. Soil

9. Wood

10. I / Me

11. You

12. We /Us

13. He/She/It (same pronunciation different characters)

14. They / Them

Try finish the above, read your answer out loud so that it sticks. Revisit them regularly :)

Now, I am going to introduce you to some simple greetings in Chinese.

The most universal greeting that we use is Hello/Hi. In Chinese we say:

“你好” nǐhǎo   Hello

This literally means "you are good." It is something like saying I wish you good / good things.

Just the same as when how we response to "Hello." We say "Hello" too in return.

A: “你好”                  nǐ hǎo 

B: “你好”                  nǐ hǎo 

More specific greeting, depending on the time of the day:

1. Good Morning                            早上好            zǎo shàng hǎo       OR  早安   zǎo ān 

2. Good Noon (12PM - 1PM)         中午好            shàng wǔ hǎo       OR 午安    wǔ ān

3. Good Afternoon                          下午好            xià wǔ hǎo           OR 午安    wǔ ān    

4. Good Evening                             晚上好            wǎn shàng hǎo

5. Good Night                                 晚安                wǎn ān 

Another reminder, video can only be played on a desktop or laptop.

To avoid confusion, you can just try to memorize one version, for now. However, you have to know both, because certain countries, like Singapore and Taiwan like to use zǎo ān  /  wǔ ān / wǎn ān, while Mainland Chinese like to use the first that end with ... hǎo. So at least when someone say it, you know what they means. Most of the time, we reply to someone's greeting with the same version that they use. However, it is not wrong too when someone says: "zǎo ān", you reply with: "zǎo shàng hǎo." It is acceptable.

Apart from  the above, here are a few more phrases that beginner should know

1. Thanks                                        谢谢                   xiè xie

2. You are welcome                        不客气              bú kè qì

3. Sorry                                           对不起              duì bu qǐ

4. No worries / No problem            没关系              méi guān xi

5. Goodbye / See you again             再见                 zài jiàn

If you are on you handheld and can't play the video, you can always practice the correct pronunciation with the help of recorded audio on Pleco! =)

Again no need to rush to finish, revisit lesson 1 when you have time and before you know it, you will have them all on your fingertips :)

xiè xie,

Linda Tan

Lesson 2: Introducing Numbers to Children (C)

For those learners who are parents and are planning to introduce or even learn Mandarin together with your kiddos (some schools have introduced Chinese in classes), then here is a few tips on how to do it. It is based on my experience, however, you can always modify it yourselves. I find that each kid have their own strengths and weaknesses, so adjusting your the teaching method is important.

However, there are things that always work in my class:
1. Story sharing
For example, when you are learning about weather, make it relevant to the day where you introduce certain weather. Rainy season during the rainy day and tell a story on what can happen during the rainy day, thunder, storm, lightning, what to do and not to do, etc.

2. Big movement and Rich facial expression
For example; when you are explaining something is hot, then you have to "pretend" that when you touch hot stuff, then you might get burn, and when you get burnt, how would you feel? Show it on your face. It is not necessarily, real stuff, because it is not rational to hurt ourselves just to teach the kiddos, so use the "pretend play" method.  It is not something that Montessori will encourage to do, but I find it works for me.

There was once I was encouraging my students not to play too much with gadget, as it might affect their vision in the long run. There is even a term for it now called "Smartphone blindness", we do not want that to happen to our kids. So in order to explain it to them how blindness feel like, I asked them to put on a blindfold, and then I ask them to retrieve certain things for me. They can't do it well. Then I asked them to walk to the door, they bumped into each other and found it no fun. So I think it works. Whether or not, they will always remember that blindness might be caused by excessive use of gadget, they sure know how being blind felt like. By doing this, I can teach them about being emphatic towards the visually impared people too, that they might need help due to their condition.

Personally, I see no harm in doing pretend play, but do it with a purpose. I had an aunt that played dead with her one year old daughter, and it caused the daughter to cry so hard. I see no positive outcome for that kind of pretend play, so why do it right?

Anyway, if you are against the pretend play method, show them the appropriate relevant video. There should be plenty out there. Remember, when the video is playing, explain a thing or two and engage them in question and answer, so it is not something passive like watching TV.

3. Use it in real life
When you learn about numbers, do not miss a chance to practice it in every activity that you do thorugh out the day. If you are learning about numbers, count every object that you can ask them to count, the buttons on their shirt, the pencils in their pencil case, the number of toys that have on their bed, etc. REPETITION is the key for children (it is even true for adults).

4. Be Confident!
Children seem to be able to sense our insecurities and doubt. These feelings somehow affect them. You have to be confident when you teach them. I know you are at the learning stage too.. So at least get the basic right for the sake of guiding them. I have seen my sister when she is usure when giving an answer to her primary 3 daughter, although the answer is correct, the daughter doubt that answer.

If we do this often, they will lose trust in us! So, be Confident! However, when you get it wrong, correct it. Do not let your children believing that the wrong fact is the truth, while it is not. It is okay to tell them you are learning too. It might interest them, they might think "My mommy/daddy is learning! I want to do the same thing too." It is said that children like to copy what their parents do, isn't it? There are times that I need to check on certain things when I am unsure, the students seem to forgiving enough about that and that doesn't deter them from asking more questions, because they know they are going to get the right answer from me. But whenever you promise to get back to them about certain thing, make sure you do.

Consider the above 4 points, if it makes sense to you, you can apply it :) I am no parents, those are the tricks that I learnt being an aunt and a tutor.

Let's start!

You have learnt 1 - 100 in Chinese, it might take you a few  hours, a few days or a few week to Master them, however, with kids don't push too hard. I haven't seen any kids that fail to master something when I repeat the lesson often enough. Sometimes I don't have the luxury to do so with my students because I only have a few hours in a week, not to mention I have to try to catch up wih the materials taught at school.

Since the purpose of my blog is for life long learning, take your time. Stop before the children are nagging to stop. A friend told me that, if we stop when we think it is enough, instead the children asking to stop, during the next session they will be more enthusiastic. I think this makes so much sense. So you decide how much is enough for your kids. One thing for sure, younger kids have shorter concentration span, so use your time wisely with them. Make it as fun as possible.

In the first 2-3 months of their learning, you can introduce 1 - 10 first to your kids. Then move to 11 - 20 and so on when you see they have mastered the following (at least the reading and speaking, writing is the least important for young kids).

一   yī             One (1)

二   èr            Two (2)

三   sān         Three (3)

四   sì             Four (4)

五   wǔ          Five (5)

六   liù           Six (6)

七   qī            Seven (7)

八   bā           Eight (8)

九   jiǔ           Nine (9)

十   shí          Ten (10)

Depend on how old your child is you can choose to finish counting (verbally) in a session or you can choose to break them down into 3 sessions or more.

For younger kids (e.g. 3 years - 5 years), I like to ask them use their fingers to count. It is exercising their fine motoric skill too :) Take it SLOW but correct!

If you were to break it down into a few session here is how you should do it.

For example, For 4 year old kid, I would like to break it down into 4 sessions.

Session 1 -  1 - 3, I will count one and show my one finger, then 2 = 2 fingers, then 3 = 3 fingers. You can show them the numbers. I, as a mandarin teacher,  would usually show the numbers in Chinese character.

Session 2 - 4 - 5, I will refresh their memory about 1 - 3, then add number "4". Repeat counting from 1 - 4. Then add another number "5", and count from 1 - 5. Repeat a few times. Apply this on counting objects. Find those things that are similar, for example: count number of pencils, count number of toes, count number of fish in the tank, all the things that is in one category. Once they are okay, you can move on to counting all things in pencil case, including pencil, sharpener, eraser and ruler.

Session 3 - 6 - 8, Refresh their memory about 1 - 5, then add "6", count 1 - 6. Then, add "7", then count 1 - 7, and so on. And do the same practice as the above.

Session 4 - 9 - 10, Refresh their memory about 1 - 8. Then add "9", and count from 1 - 9. Then add "10" and count from 1 - 10.

If you have a hard time to find 10 objects in one category, you can cut/draw shapes on a piece of paper, and ask them to count it. Even best if you can include them in the cutting and pasting process. It might be the beginning of developing their artistic side :)

The 4 sessions above can include:

1. Verbal counting ONLY (recommended for kids under 2), OR

2. Verbal counting + showing them the Chinese character for the numbers on flash cards (recommended for kids from 2 - 3 year old), OR

3. Verbal counting + showing them the character on flash cards + tracing simple numbers in BIG FONT with fingers/crayon or on a tray of sand/salt (recommended for kids 3 - 5), OR

4. Verbal counting + showing them the character on flash cards + writing the numbers with pencil on writing book (kids above 5 - 6).

Again, the initial writing stage must be done right. Follow the order of strokes, bishun, that you can check on bihua.com.

The above is flexible, depending on the performance of the children. Do not force what they do not want to do. If a 5 year old doesn't feel like writing with pencil yet, it is okay, let them trace on a tray of sand/salt first then. If they want to write but only the easy ones, it is okay too. Let them write 一， 二，三 and 十 first then. They can just learn to read the characters and know what they mean.

Here I found 2 pretty flash card sets that you can print on hard cardboard and hang/stick it on the wall of the children's room or their play/study area. Just to expose them to the learnt material as much as you can.

Source: http://www.gusonthego.com/downloads/chinese-numbers-flashcard-set/

You can register your email and they will send it to your inbox. If the page doesn't open properly, you can key in "Chinese number flash card" into the search box on the site.

The strong point on the above flash card is that your children can count the animals on the pictures and relate them to the number both in Chinese and English/Bahasa,

The weak point is that the Chinese character is small and it doesn't come with pinyin.

Here is another form of flash card that you can use

Source: http://kidspressmagazine.com/?s=chinese+number+flash+card

The good thing about this is that the Chinese character is very dominant and it comes with pinyin too.

However, the weak point is that the animated numbers although look interesting, but it might be a bit confusing, for young learner.

An idea that cross my mind is that I might use both of them and ask your kids, to match one set to the other and while they are matching it they can say the number "Six, liù", see below:

Matching activity

Hope you find it useful. Again, I would like to emphasis, do not expect the children under 7 years old to master the above in one sitting or even one day. It is going to take at least 2 - 4 weeks to master them. In between, we are going to introduce them other things. :) Wait for more tips on how to teach Mandarin to your kids.

Subscribe via email, so you don't miss any lesson :)

Fun counting :)

Linda Tan

Answer for Exerises in Lesson 1 (A)

Here is the answers for the 2 exercises on lesson 1 (A)

Exercise 1

The missing numbers are:

Fifteen (15)                 shí wǔ              十五

Sixteen (16)                shí liù               十六

Seventeen (17)            shí qī                十七

Eighteeen (18)            shí bā                十八

Nineteen (19)             shí jiǔ                十九

Exercise 2

Twenty Four (24)         èr shí sì               二十四

Twenty Five (25)         èr shí wǔ             二十五

Twenty Six (26)           èr shí liù              二十六

Twenty Seven (27)      èr shí qī                二十七

Twenty Eght (28)        èr  shí bā               二十八

Twenty Eight (29)       èr shí jiǔ               二十九

Thirty One (31)          三十一          sān shí yī

Thirty Two (32)          三十二         sān shí èr

Thirty Three (33)       三十三          sān shí sān

Thirty Four (34)        三十四           sān shí sì  

Thirty Five (35)         三十五          sān shí wǔ

Thirty Six (36)          三十六           sān shí liù

Thirty Seven (37)      三十七          sān shí qī

Thirty Eight (38)       三十八          sān  shí bā     

Thirty Nine (39)        三十九         sān shí jiǔ

If you notice, the only character that is changed is the first, When we are in 20ish, all start with 二 (èr), when we are in 30ish then we change it to 三 (sān).

I believe you can do the 40 - 99 yourself by now.

We will stop at 100 which is 一百 （yī bǎi）

Hope you get all your answer right. :)

Happy Counting,

Linda Tan

Weekend Reminder

Hi learners,

Have you master hanyu pinyin, the Chinese phonics? You will need it to be able to master all the lessons that I am going to share.

If you haven't, please visit the pinyin post. Take it slow but sure!

OR...

Have you got to know what are the tools that might be useful to assist you in your learning journey?

If you haven't, please read about the assistants that you need in learning Chinese.

Grasp the two basic above before rushing to learn more things.

Don't worry, the post is not going anywhere. You just have to be committed enough to spare sometimes on each post and discipline enough to do it regularly.

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Happy Weekend,
Linda Tan