Should more Australian pupils be learning Mandarin?

Should more UK Australian pupils be learning Mandarin?

I was really inspired to see this news item about dedicated students learning Chinese in England. There wasn't anything really new or outstanding about a small group of  enthusiastic students learning Mandarin.  I am sure there may be a similar project in Oz, though I have never heard of one. 

It is a pity that the majority Australian parents and students do see language learning as important.  Still it is good to know that some people (like the students and teachers in the video) do see Chinese as important to the future.

What do you think?

Should more UK pupils be learning Mandarin?

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.

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?

How to talk about "movies" in Chinese 电影 diànyǐng

How to talk about "movies" in Chinese - photo and dicussion of 电影 diànyǐng

Found this great post about how to talk about films in Chinese. Why is great?  Because it is about my level of Chinese.  I think it is the first time I have read something outside of my study / course materials and have understood the meaning of everything and can answer all the questions. I was able to do this with easy and quickly. So I must be making some progress in my studies.

电影院 diàn yǐng yuàn

Study more Chinese is a great site for;

• Learning Chinese at all levels
• Connecting with other learners
• Chinese Resources
• Seeking help and information about Chinese 
• Chinese Grammar
• Links to resources
• Discussions
• Blogging within the Study More Chinese site

Study More Chinese

中文阅读 - 朗朗中文 Yes! Chinese - Learning Chinese

中文阅读 - 朗朗中文 Yes! Chinese - Learning Chinese

Found a website of Graded Chinese Readers. This site offers the following levels;

• Pre-K
• Elementary
• High School
• Grown Up
• Classic Reading
• Flash Cards

The site has very attractive flash animations, interactive Hanzi writing, examples of compound hanzi, and more. Clicking the sound files will read the passages to you. You can also opt to hear single words, single sentences or the whole text.

中文阅读 - 朗朗中文 Yes! Chinese - Learning Chinese

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|

汉语语法入门 An Introduction to Chinese Grammar

Grammar 中文笔记 - 语法:

汉语语法入门 An Introduction to Chinese Grammar

Found this grammar guide in Chinese Notes. It is an excellent resource.

目录 Contents

1. 导言 Introduction
2. 词类 Parts of Speech
   1. 名词 Nouns
   2. 形容词 Adjectives
   3. 动词 Verbs
   4. 助动词 Auxiliary Verbs
   5. 代词 Pronouns
   6. 数词 Numerals
   7. 量词 Measure Words
   8. 副词 Adverbs
   9. 介词 Prepositions
   10. 连词 Conjunctions
   11. 助词 Particles
   12. 叹词 Interjections
   13. 象声词 Onomatopes
3. 词组 Phrases
   1. 主谓词组 Subject-Predicate Phrases
   2. 动宾词组 Verb-Object Phrases
   3. 联合词组 Coordinative Phrases
   4. 偏正词组 Endocentric Phrases
   5. 数量词组 Numeral-Measure Word Phrases
   6. 补充词组 Complementary Phrases
   7. 方位词组 Phrases of Locality
   8. 同位词组 Appositive Phrases
   9. 固定词组 Set Phrases
   10. 介词结构 Prepositional Phrases
   • 常见介词结构 Common Prepositional Patterns
   11. “的”字结构 的 Phrases
4. 句子成分 Sentence Elements
   1. 主语 The Subject
   2. 谓语 The Predicate
   3. 宾语 The Object
   4. 状语 Adverbial Adjuncts
   5. 补语 Complements
   6. 定语 The Attributive
5. 单句 Simple Sentences
   1. 动词谓语句 Sentences with a Verbal Predicate
   2. 形容词谓语句 Sentences with an Adjectival Predicate
   3. 名词谓语句 Sentences with a Nominal Predicate
   4. 主谓谓语句 Sentences with a Subject-Predicate Phrase as the Predicate
   5. 无主句 Subjectless Sentences
   6. 独语句 One Word Sentences
   7. 简略句 Elliptical Sentences
6. 句子用途 Sentence Use
   1. 陈述句 Declarative Sentences
   2. 疑问句 Interrogative Sentences
   3. 祈使句 Imperative Sentences
   4. 感叹句 Exclamatory Sentences
7. 动作的状态 Aspects of an Action
   1. 动作的进行 The Progressive Aspect of an Action
   2. 动作的持续 The Continuous Aspect of an Action
   3. 动作的完成 The Perfect Aspect of an Action
   4. 将来的动作 Future Actions
   5. 过去的动作 Past Actions
8. 用特殊动词谓语的句子 Sentences using Special Verbal Predicates
   1. “是”字句 是 Sentences
   2. “有”字句 有 Sentences
   3. “被”字句 被 Sentences
   4. “把”字句 把 Sentences
   5. 存现句 Existential Sentences
   6. 兼语句 Pivotal Sentences
   7. 连动句 Sentences with Verb Constructions in Series
9. 复句 Complex Sentences
   1. 并列复句 Coordinate Complex Sentences
   2. 偏正复句 Subordinate Complex Sentences
10. 表示比较 Expressing Comparison
    1. 用“比”表示比较 Using 比 to Express Comparison
    2. 用“跟”表示比较 Using 跟 to Express Comparison
    3. 用“象”表示比较 Using 象 to Express Comparison
11. 词汇 Vocabulary
12. 参考文献 References

School pupils could be taught a second language from primary one in Scotland

Meanwhile in Scotland

The Scottish Government will now explore opportunities for all young people to start learning a second language from primary one.



BBC News - Call to teach second language in Scots schools

Four-year-olds to start learning two foreign languages


School pupils could be taught a second language from primary

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.  

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

Call for quick action to increase Mandarin teachers - General - New Straits Times

Meanwhile in Malaysia

Call for quick action to increase Mandarin teachers - General - New Straits Times

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

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!

Reading this gives me some hope

Following on from my last post about the state of language learning in Australia, I was please to find this article Languages a growth area at UQ .  At least at UQ there is a significant growth in students learning languages. I am hoping that this will be the trend in the future and that this will also be the case in Australian high schools.  I wonder when and if this is going to happen?

After reading this I am depressed

After reading this I am depressed --> Record low as students reject HSC languages . Nearly every story or article I read about language learning from an Australian newspaper, tells me that language learning is in decline. This is depressing news indeed for language teachers. The message is that language learning and teaching is not valued. At the same time I keep reading that places Africa, England and America are starting up and actively promoting Chinese language learning in schools. I find it disturbing that Australian schools are so slow to encourage  and promote learning Chinese in schools, colleges and universities. Below is a comment that I think typifies and sums up Australian attitudes to language learning


"Chinese is way too difficult for Australians, our lovable bogan population may breed well but their children struggle at school as it is."

Similar comments to be found in response to  Mandarin in, koala out in bid for Chinese dollar

In Sync with feeds and emails

For some reason my formal Mandarin learning at UNE and some of my supplementary resources are somewhat synchronised. I subscribe to some feeds and emails that deliver daily Chinese words and phrases. For the past week or more these words and phrases align with the vocabulary of my texts. I find the feeds and emails help me to pick up a quick phrase or be able to practice a new word.

Here are some links to some of the subscriptions and feeds that I am currently getting;

MDBG Vocabulary Feeds All the HSK levels

About.com Daily Mandarin Lesson

Chinese Word of the Day

Chinese-Course.com has a daily sentence email 

You can subscribe to my blog Chinese Mandarin Learner

 

I also subscribe to other blogs and websites of language learners. While these learners are often at a very different level to mine, they are still very useful. Sometimes it is enough to know that others are on the same learning journey as myself. The other blogs inspire me to learn more.

Mandarin Tone Change Rules

This is the best explanation of Mandarin Tone Change Rules. I have struggled with this all year and now I finally found a clear and concise summary of tone changes.

On another page on the same site is a clear explanation of Mandarin Tones. It begins

"Tones are probably the biggest difficulty for anyone learning to speak Mandarin. As a learner, you have to go through a long process from total unawareness of tones to eventually mastering them (which will probably take years)."

I am relieved to hear that it takes such a long time to learn the tones as I thought I wasn't mastering this as well as I could. As I am learning Chinese via distance / online education, have no opportunity to speak with native speakers and am often time poor, I feel a bit better about not mastering the tones at this stage of my learning. Much appreciated East Asian Student.

Memrise Flash Cards

I am trying a new flash card website called Memrise It is a free online flash card program / system. The first time I used it I didn't like it much...but returning to it I have found it useful. To make your own card set is not as easy as it could be, but I persevered and ended up getting useful set for NPCR lesson 16. There are many wordlists already created for HSK and multiple Chinese text books. I prefered to use my own as I much prefer my pinyin with tone marks instead of numbers.

The learning methodology behind Memrise is that it uses memory techniques to optimise learning. It uses spaced repetition system. As well as this it has an interesting interface with a garden metaphor. So you plant seeds in a green house, plants in a garden and water plants. It is expressing the the growth of you memories. The idea is to experience the flash cards in a dynamic environment. The Memrise Blog explains all this in some detail.

Something I haven't explored in detail yet is the Mem Stream a page where you can make mnemonics and have them rated by other language learners. There is also a Leaderboard which has your ranking out of all the users for the day, week, month and alltime. At present I am 4102^nd....I was 6532^nd yesterday.

So I am going to persist with Memrise for a while to see if it helps me learn my vocabulary. I will of course also contine to use Quizlet ( I really like the tests that can be generated) and Hanlexon to make hanzi practice sheets and lists.  

Another Free Chinese Mandarin Learning Resource

Another Free Chinese Mandarin Learning Resource

I found another resource 好好学习天天向上 hǎoháo xuéxí tiāntiān xiàngshàng or the English title Day Day Up! - Chinese Free Online Chinese Mandarin Text book. I think it is a rather long winded title in Chinese and English. However, it is indeed free.

The methodology is that vocabulary and sentences are presented in small pieces or chunking the information. There is lots of repetition. The vocabulary is very practical. Most of the sentences are well explained with grammar notes. The site claims to have PDF downloads of each lesson but I could find none. There are MP3s in each of the lessons. It is not the easiest site find what you are looking for. 

The topics are;

Elementary

• Origins and Nationalities
• Relationships and Modifiers
• Coming and Going
• Time

Elementary II

• Study
• Wants and Desires
• Likes and Dislikes
• Work

There is even some humour scattered throughout the text. “It presents authentic and practical language that is immediately useful – no more dialogues about Beijing opera”. I have to thank my friend / fellow Chinese Mandarin Learner, Christine, for finding that gem.  At the end of some sections you will find “The horrors of pronunciation.” and “You cheeky monkey!”, to name a few of the sections.

Alas it looks like this site was intended to also cover pre-intermediate to intermediate II levels, but these pages are blank. It is a pity as it makes a very good quick reference resource.

The site has a similar feeling to the 中文Red中文Green and 中文Blue pages that I reviewed earlier. Overall, I find 好好学习天天向上 a useful site that I find myself visiting occasional.  Day Day Up Chinese!