I have such mixed feelings on this.

Basically a Chinese researcher came to the US to work of NYU, got a $4 Million grant for research, and then a Chinese company paid him $400,000 for his research, as well a grad school. He is now in jail.

Chinese IP Theft Hits US University - The American Interest Via Media

Spying for China Is One Way to Pay for NYU Grad School - The Atlantic Wire

Labels: Chinese Americans, spying

A good article that has a lot of truth in it, but is very general since it's only Boston University Students

Key Points:

• Chinese Colleges once you get in, your set
• US Colleges are harder than US High Schools
• Chinese students at Boston University differ on which system is betterA

A friend of mine in graduate school went to Boston University, so beyond that is all I know about it. I don't know what the school is good at, or it's reputation. Some high school programs are harder than colleges, so it varies. My daughter's IB was a great preparation for college, but I have seen a lot of students, where College is a huge shock since for them it's much harder than high school. After doing the SAT II, Chinese SAT II, SAT, AP Classes, etc. top students


Chinese Students Adjust to American Education - BU Today

Labels: Chinese SAT II, college admissions

Writing Chinese Characters helps in Learning

There are at least three different styles of learning:

• Auditory
• Visual
• Kinesthetic

The problem is in most schools, only the auditory with a little bit of visual is used. Think of the traditional lecture, where the Teacher lectures the class. The latest is where Power Point is used for teaching, where the kids can be vessels that are theoretically filled with knowledge. By writing Chinese Characters, the third type of learning is used, Kinesthetic.

Just writing Chinese Characters is only part of a well rounded program for Learning Chinese.

Reference:
Calligraphy aids language learning - ChinaDaily USA

Labels: chinese characters, Learning Chinese

I am not surprised, the Chinese hacking group that got exposed in the NY Times, is now very active again.

No Truce in US-China Cyberwar - Via Meadia

Labels: hacking

 

Pinyin vs. Bo Po Mo - Which works best?

Pinyin is the romanization of Chinese, and is used in Practical Chinese and Chinese Made Easy. Champion Chinese uses a system for the phonics called Bo Po Mo, and is the traditional way of teaching Chinese. There are arguments on which one is better. Pinyin is more popular. The argument for Bo Po Mo is that you get the pronunciation correct, where Pinyin has different sounds for English letters, which makes it more confusing to learn the proper pronunciation. There are other romanization systems than Pinyin that in my opinion make more sense (wade giles for example), but Pinyin has been pushed by the Chinese government, and has become the most popular.

Popular Pinyin based Textbooks for Kids:

Practical Chinese
A very hands on, down to earth series that works. 10 Levels available in Traditional Chinese, and 6 in Simplified. Books are smaller. My opinion is if your teaching Traditional Chinese Characters, this is a great series to go with. The author is a Chinese Teacher born in Taiwan, who got frustrated teaching her kids Chinese in the US, the existing teaching material did not work with them, so she wrote her own.
 
A more polished Chinese Textbook, very popular, written by two Chinese Teachers, one of who worked in Canada. A headache with Chinese textbooks, is some of them are written for use by native language learners, where this is targeted at secondary language learners. For ages 5-11, grades K-8. It comes with a CD.

For older students, Chinese Made Easy is the next series, and has more of a focus on writing:

Bo Po Mo Based Textbook for Kids

 Chinese Champions
Teaches use the Bo Po Mo system, and unfortunately only 1 level is available at this time. Bo Po Mo is used mainly in Chinese weekend schools. The author lives in the US, and was frustrated with the Chinese materials available in the US.

Labels: bo po mo, Learning Chinese Textbook, pinyin

First Decide Simplified or Traditional Chinese Characters

A decision that has to be made is for teaching Simplified or Traditional Chinese Characters, and that often depends on where your Chinese teacher is from. If your teacher is from Taiwan, they usually prefer to teach Traditional Chinese Characters, if they are from China, Simplified. If you learn one, you can read the other. I compare it to the ability to drive a stick shift, vs. an Automatic. There are arguments on both sides which is better, but my opinion they are both equally hard.

More information:
Traditional or Simplified - Which To Learn

 Which Chinese Dialect?

 My opinion is Mandarin Chinese. I get customers who call me up and say they want to Learn Chinese? And my question is which Chinese, but I am polite and explain the difference and why they should choose Mandarin. Some callers have no idea about the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin. I have also gotten some callers, who are very focused on learning Cantonese, so I refer them to a traditional Chinese bookstore located in a larger older Chinatown that should be able to help them.

References:
Chinese is Mandarin?
Cantonese: a Dialect in Peril?
Cantonese - Why Childbook does not carry it

And Who is Learning Chinese?

The best textbook depends on who is learning Chinese. For a student who speaks Chinese at home and parents are from Taiwan, I have different recommendations than for a home schooling student learning Chinese without a native speaker. If there a tutor available. If they want to learn Traditional vs. Simplified Chinese I also have different recommendations. It depends. And it depends on the age.

List of Chinese Textbooks
Kids' Learning Chinese Textbooks & Curriculum

References:
Textbooks for ABC's - Chinese Speakers, but born overseas
Recommendations for Learning Chinese Textbooks for Kids
Chinese Made Easy for Kids Vs. Chinese Made Easy

Labels: Learning Chinese Textbook, simplified chinese, traditional Chinese

Per the article funding for the International Baccalaureate in CA may be cut. The article was very positive about how it prepares students for college, which I agree with. And the fact that its harder than an AP prep curriculum. The part that was not mentioned was how colleges seem to give it the same weight as taking AP classes, even though you might have a lower GPA making you less competitive to get into the college of your choice.

Testing California's Commitment to Education - Forbes

Labels: Best Schools, college admissions