Guest post by Principal Kevin Lewis of Mandarin World

Mandarin World is a newly opened Chinese language school in Shanghai - Pudong. We are offering group classes, online classes and also one on one tutoring. We can also aide people in getting student visas if they wish to study for a longer period of time in our school.

Our brand new school has five classrooms, two language clinics, a lecture room and an activity room, that also doubles as a TV room. We also have a beautiful lounge for students to chat in, a computer room for students to do self study, as well as a quiet study room. We have an English language DVD and Book swap service for our students and also a growing library of books on learning Chinese, as well as about China in general. Follow the link for some complimentary Chinese Language Learning Resources.

 
The whole idea of Mandarin World is that we don’t only provide students with a chance to study in the classroom, but also plenty of resources to learn outside of the classroom. I hope that students who come to our school will want to stay after their classes to make use of our facilities and to ‘hang out’ with fellow students and staff.

 
I have been told that there are approximately 200 schools in Shanghai offering Chinese language however I believe we have a few strengths that help us stand out from the crowd.  

• Firstly thanks to our contacts with many local universities we can supply student visas.

• Secondly we are foreign run so that we can try to offer foreigner friendly classes for our students.

Also when you are new like us, quality is the main focus - we care about every student - we’d be foolish not to! After hearing about many students’ complaints in relation to unhappy language learning experiences in other schools and colleges, I’ve taken those complaints to heart and we have tried to do our best to provide the best Chinese language service that we believe our students will be happy with.

However more importantly if you are not happy with our school, work with us to make the learning experience work for you.

To learn more about our school visit our website at Mandarin World

Want to know more contact Mandarin World 

Cross Post...though I am not cross

This is a modified repost of a comment I made on  the  Sapore de cina blog post about Remembering Simplified Hanzi and hanzi learning methods.  It is now more of an update on my way of learning hanzi. 

I use SRS for learning I tried Anki and didn’t like it. I now use Skritter and much prefer it. I like the tracking that it offers, the reminders, the interface, ease of use, user created mnemonics, gamification  and other features of Skritter.  I do use the iPad app for too. 

When I first start learning a set of characters or vocabulary I use Quizlet.  This online learning program keeps getting better and better with updates. I subscribe to this site. However, most of the site feels altruistic as much of it is free. It is also easy to set up cards and use them. Very portable too. 

As I am enrolled in a Uni. course we learn about one lesson of New Practical Chinese Reader: Textbook Vol.3 every two weeks. So this keeps me moving and I still try to only learn what I am going to use. Though this does not always work and I occasionally have to go back learn something that I would not use outside of the text or course work.  Still I am finding NPCR 3 more interesting than NPCR 2. 

I also print character sheets for the rare occasions I don’t have a computer or iPad to do study online. I have not hand written sheets recently as I find Skritter is enough.  I hope those stats that I get feedback are accurate and not just massaging my ego. 

I do have a large collection of Chinese course texts, Chinese Grammar books and Hanzi books. I prefer ebooks now. Because of the portability. Easy to look up things too. I am always on the lookout for new eBooks about Chinese language, grammar and learning if anyone has any recommendation I would like to hear them. 

he  comments and explanation of  Remembering Simplified Hanzi on the Sapore de cina blog reminded me of another text book for learning hanzi. There is a book from called  Tuttle Learning Chinese Characters. It has a method of mnemonics that differs to any other text that I have read. I quite like this method but do not use the text often. While I do like the book I don't have much time to work from another book outside of my Uni's set texts.  

These hanzi books will not suit everyone. There are a few negative posts around the Net on both of these books as the methods are not very 'pure' both rely on author made up mnemonics.  These mnemonics differ very much from traditional methods of hanzi learning. Yet both books have some merit and would suit some learners. I think it best to keep an open mind about learning Chinese methodology.  I do not think that one method is necessarily better than others. Horses for courses.  What do you think?

The three books in this post.

Teaching Chinese language through STARTALK

Meanwhile in America...

Teaching Chinese language through STARTALK program at IU School of Education

It would be good to have something like this in Oz. While we don't have summer schools it would be good to see something like this happening after school or on the weekend. 

Are Australians too slow to understand others?

Quite a mixed bag of language related stories this week. All saying much the same thing. It seems that government is good at producing reports about learning languages and the media is good at reporting the same information in a slightly different way. 

"The pledge from Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in his Budget reply speech last month to lift the study of foreign languages dramatically, particularly Asian languages.

He said exposure to foreign languages should begin at preschool. And he committed to having at least 40 per cent of Australian Year 12 students taking a language other than English within a decade if he wins government."

Only 12% of Australian students study a language.  Australia Education is one of the worst in the world at teaching schoolchildren second languages. We are far worse than European or Asian countries.


There is a popular argument that our students must learn to speak and write English first before starting a foreign language. Research has found that second language learning can enhance skills in their first language.


Language teaching requires specialist teachers.  To achieve Mr Abbot's universities need to train a new generation of language teachers. Australia is not isolated from the rest of the world, we need to do more than talk about language learning.


Australians too slow to understand others

Right now Australia has approximately 6700 language teachers in secondary schools. A recent survey was intended to show if there were language teacher shortages. Questions have been asked in parliament about the current supply of language teachers, the past supply of language teachers and Tony Abbott's promise of language teaching in the future. 

Dilemmas of language teacher supply

Under a Coalition Government the following would happen;

"If elected, the Coalition says it would work "urgently'' with the states to make sure at least 40 per cent of Year 12 students take a language within a decade. The proportion doing so now is about 12 per cent; about 6 per cent study one of the four Asian languages."

 Our current Federal Government has recently done the following;

"Last week school education minister Peter Garrett announced funding of $870,000 for the Asia Education Foundation to help put into practice Asian literacy elements of the national curriculum."

Bernard Lane explains why Australia's tertiary institutes are falling behind with their foreign language policies.  Australia's Language Problem Video 

Highlights include;

• 60 or more reports of past years about language learning in Australian education.
• Policies keep chopping and changing
• Australian students do poorly in learning languages
• 12% Year 12 students are currently learning a language other than English
• Only 6% are currently learning an Asian priority language, Chinese Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and Indonesian
• Only 3% of year 12 students are learning Chinese Mandarin
• Of that 90% of those learning Chinese Mandarin are of a Chinese heritage background
• Mandarin hardly exists as a mainstream language in Australian education
• Mixed messages are being received by parents and students
• It is important to learn a language, however in schools language learning is not taken seriously.  This is confusing everyone.
• Language teachers are often running part-time language programs across different schools
• Streaming is a problem
• Students learning Chinese are often discouraged by competing with Chinese heritage speakers
• A profound cultural change is necessary to improve current language teaching

When will serious teaching of Asian languages in Australian schools happen?

I Do Whatever The Voices In My Head Tell Me To Do...

Learning a new skill? Talk to yourself about it

This interested me. Have heard that positive self talk is good for boosting confidence. Recent research shows that self talk may assist in in learning new skills.

"American magazine Time reports that instructional self-talk can enhance our attention, helps us regulate our effort and make decisions about what to do and how to do it..."

"Exercise Psychology finds that "self-talk" works best when you think about the goal for yourself and then make a mental plan for how to get there."

"While self-talking aloud may seem a bit crazy, it can also have benefits."
For my language learning I think I have been doing this for years...


Learning a new skill? Talk to yourself about it

泥娃娃 ní​wá​wa​ Clay Doll

泥娃娃 
ní​wá​wa​
Clay Doll

泥 娃 娃 ， 泥 娃 娃
ní wá wá ， ní wá wá
Doll of Clay, Doll of Clay

一 个 泥 娃 娃
yī gè ní wá wá
A Doll of Clay

也 有 那 眉 毛
yě yǒu nà méi máo
She has eyebrows

也 有 那 眼 睛
yě yǒu nà yǎn jīng
She has eyes

眼 睛 不 会 眨
yǎn jīng bú huì zhǎ
but eyes that cant wink

泥 娃 娃 ， 泥 娃 娃
ní wá wá ， ní wá wá
Doll of Clay, Doll of Clay

一 个 泥 娃 娃
yī gè ní wá wá
A Doll of Clay

也 有 那 鼻 子
yě yǒu nà bí zǐ
She has a nose

也 有 那 嘴 巴
yě yǒu nà zuǐ bā
She has a mouth

嘴 巴 不 说 话
zuǐ bā bú shuō huà
But mouth cannot speak

她 是 个 假 娃 娃
tā shì gè jiǎ wá wá
She's a fake baby

不 是 个 真 娃 娃
bú shì gè zhēn wá wá
Is not a real baby

她 没 有 亲 爱 的 爸 爸
tā méi yǒu qīn ài de bà ba
She doesn't have a dear dad

也 没 有 妈 妈
yě méi yǒu mā ma
There is no mum

泥 娃 娃 ， 泥 娃 娃
ní wá wá ， ní wá wá
Doll of Clay, Doll of Clay

一 个 泥 娃 娃
yī gè ní wá wá
A Doll of Clay

我 做 她 爸 爸
wǒ zuò tā bà ba
I'm her dad

我 做 她 妈 妈
wǒ zuò tā mā ma
i'm her mum

永 远 爱 着 她
yǒng yuǎn ài zhe tā
love her forever

| Repeat from start|

Langauge expertise isn't there in Australia

"AUSTRALIA doesn't have the expertise to fulfil Tony Abbott's grand plan to have 40 per cent of students studying a foreign language in 10 years.
Thousands of teachers may have to return to university to get qualifications necessary to teach a second language, costing the nation millions."

Well this is an alarmist report adding fuel to the languages in school debate.  There are already at least two programs for teachers to gain accreditation and qualifications to teach Chinese.

Langauge expertise isn't there in Australia

It's adieu to the French language at schools as experts advise a shift of focus from European languages

Actually it was adieu (or au revoir) to French in the 1970s in Australia.  During the 1970s Indonesian was the popular language learned in schools. During the 1980s and 1990s it was selamat tinggal to Bahasa Indonesia and konnichiwa to Japanese. Japanese (and other LOTEs) was supported and funded until 2002 when most funding from the federal and state governments was discontinued. Languages have been largely unfunded and unimportant for many schools for a decade.The past decade  has seen a rapid decline in LOTE learning in schools and universities.

So the leader of the opposition has made an election promise.  To return languages to the curriculum. Quotes from the article include;

"Mr Abbott would focus on languages of key regional partners like China, Japan, South Korea and India (see the story at right).

 UNSW school of education Professor Chris Davison said anyone considering a career in business would have a competitive edge by being fluent in Mandarin, the most widely spoken language in the world."

Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (Modern Grammars)

Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (Modern Grammars)

As my Uni. exam approaches I am using this grammar book to study many of the new sentence patterns and structures. It is one of the many reference books that I use. I really find this book useful as a supplement to my set text book and Uni. resources.  

Why Languages Can Make Us Smarter, Safer, and Better Looking - Global Learning - Education Week

Some important issues are discussed in the Why Languages Can Make Us Smarter, Safer, and Better Looking  from Global Learning blog.

There are two basic arguments for second language learning;


One; learning a language is good for national security and economic competitiveness (this argument is a good one for politicians and business leaders)

"this can make our nation stronger"

Two; learning a language  is good for cognitive and cultural benefits (good for those in the arts and education business and parents)

"this can make my kid smarter"

Both arguments have received media attention in the USA. There seems to be much recent research about learning the language in the early years of school (the earlier the better). It is believed that starting language learning in middle school and high school is too late and not so beneficial. 

Read more details here;  Why Languages Can Make Us Smarter, Safer, and Better Looking 

"making children learn foreign languages in school holds them back..."

"I think making children learn foreign languages in school holds them back...".

I was quite shocked to read this comment. It was one of the comments used to justify why languages should not be taught in Irish schools. There are more to be read in the full article. Which is very supportive of language teaching and learning in Irish schools.

Chatterbox - The Irish Times - Tue, Dec 20, 2011

Mandarin Chinese and marine biology among the 'atypical' classes on tap at B-R - Taunton, MA - The Taunton Gazette

Found another very positive article about students who study Mandarin in an American high school in Raynham, Massachusetts, America. I like students who are willing and interested in learning languages. We need more of these type of students in Australia.

Mandarin Chinese and marine biology among the 'atypical' classes on tap at B-R - Taunton, MA - The Taunton Gazette

HISD to open Chinese immersion elementary school in 2012 | abc13.com

Houston, Texas to open 

Chinese immersion school in 2012

HISD to open Chinese immersion elementary school in 2012 | abc13.com

Flexible education helps students go the distance

This is really great news article about students who have come top in their language classes. What is surprising is that the students are distance education students. They must have really great teachers and have very good motivation to learn language. I am really impressed with these students.

Flexible education helps students go the distance

Get aboard Mandarin bandwagon | Noosa News | Local News in Noosa | Noosa News

Some local news. Getting close to my part of the world.

Get aboard Mandarin bandwagon | Noosa News | Local News in Noosa | Noosa News

Too monolingual for our own good | Fully (sic)

An article about Australian Language Learning

Too monolingual for our own good | Fully (sic)

The Secrets of Successful Language Learning

The Secrets of Successful Language Learning

Free ebook follow the link --> Smashwords - The Secrets of Successful Language Learning - A book by David Bolton

What is the best way to prepare for my Chinese course in listening & speaking? - Study More Chinese

Answers can be found here.

What is the best way to prepare for my Chinese course in listening and speaking? - Study More Chinese

The lost decade: learning Asian languages

An interesting and detailed article about the past 10 years of Asian Language Learning in Australia.  The article The lost decade: learning Asian languages goes into great detail about many of the problems of teaching and learning languages over the past decade.  While I was aware of the many of the reasons and problems of learning an Asian language, there was still much that I didn't know.  One of the best discussions on this topic I have read.

Asian language should be mandatory for Australian schoolchildren

Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop has said that she will push to have this plan made coalition policy before the next federal election. Another bold plan proposed that is bound to cause trouble for state education departments, teachers, parents and students. I look forward to seeing what transpires. Asian language should be mandatory for Australian schoolchildren

Other articles of interest. Language study shuts up

NSW Education Department statistics;

• 43% drop in students studying languages in the last 15 years
• There has been a drop of 50,000 students studying Japanese since 1996
• Less than 9% of this years Year 12 students in NSW will sit a language exam
• NSW students are only required to study 100 hours of a language in years 7 or 8

While the Victorian Government has plans to make a second language compulsory for all students from prep to year 10 by 2015. Our kids to learn new lingo

If the number of students does not increase Australian student will fall behind international education standards. Generations of Australians will not have skills to develop business, political and economic relationships with Asia. Without government intervention language learning will further decline.

Alarming and disturbing news indeed. I wonder if we have reached rock bottom yet.

Something to balance all the negative reports I have been blogging recently A feel good story can be found here. Teacher's leadership in languages applauded However, reading this carefully there is sound advice and warnings about current langauge learning in schools.

Meanwhile in Sweden. 'Every school must teach Chinese' Go Sweden Go!

We should be teaching languages in Australia, yet we are not teaching languages

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) this week released some plans for language learning The Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages. In this document there are some very broad plans for the future of language learning in schools across Australia. The good news is that Chinese Mandarin and Italian are the first languages to be rolled out nationally under the new Australian curriculum

Within days the NSW Education Department is resisting any change. At present NSW schools are not required to teach any language other than English. Alarm bells have gone off in the NSW Education system and they are crying teacher shortages and over crowded curriculum as a reason not to teach LOTE. More information about current policy and comparisons to VIC education policy can be read here Primary school languages plan hits resistance with a letter to the editor response here Learning a language opens young minds .

This week there was also a response to the revolutionary idea to send youth to Asian countries to learn language and culture, that I posted about recently Radical Ideas . The response No quick fix in any language highlights many of the currrent problems with langauge learning in Austrailia, however it does not propose any solutions. This article like so many discussions in the current debate of LOTE in Austrailia shows facts and figures about the decline of language teaching and learning across all schools and universities. The common repetative theme discussed and debated in many articles and forums can be summed up as;

“We should be teaching languages in Australia, yet we are not teaching languages”