My corporate site for page on FaceBook for ChildBook has not done much.

I am hearing a lot how it makes sense to have a personal facebook page for professional reasons, but I worry about privacy. I try to keep my business and family a bit separate, which is why I hesitate on a personal facebook page. And then this article When Friends Aren’t Really Friends from the NY Times has me thinking.

For fun I did do a linkedin profile to connect with people I used to work with just to see how it works that I have kept separate from Childbook.

My poor FaceBook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/business/dashboard/#/pages/Learning-Chinese-Products-for-Children-from-ChildBookcom/42151381891

Labels: Facebook

Obama's Call to the Chinese President, Decoded Washington Post

Interesting phone call - I am not sure the real issues were addressed. Basically China needs to export to the US in order to keep it's economy going and needs the US to clean up it's financial system. The US wants continued Chinese investment, buying of treasury debt, and help to clean up this mess.

Hu:

In the Chinese version, there is this line: "Hu said the core interest of either country should be respected by each other and taken into consideration." In other words: no insulting comments about our currency exchange rate, please.

Obama:
"global trade imbalances" -- a point the White House noted he "stressed" -- that means he is really saying that China's currency is too weak and the government needs to do something about it.

In other words, stop manipulating it. Or at least manipulate it the way Washington wants.

Labels: china's future

Chinese Leader Raps U.S. for Global Slump - Wall Street Journal.

Very worrisome. Basically the US finances have lost face and trust with the Chinese Government. The Chinese government is feeling betrayed on their investments.

Key Points from the article:

• Beijing is re-examining its U.S. investments, say people familiar with the government's thinking.
• Chinese government investments got burned with Morgan Stanley, the collapsed Reserve Primary Fund and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
• Chinese central bank last year stopped lending its Treasury holdings for fear the borrowers will go bankrupt.
• China the largest foreign investor in bonds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- has been sharply trimming its holdings of that debt.
• Shares fell 60% in the $5.6 billion stake in Morgan Stanley purchased by China's sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp. (CIC, 13 months ago.
• CIC has sustained large paper losses on the $3 billion it invested in Blackstone Group LP in June 2007, as well as the Morgan Stanley stake.
• CIC's nearly $5.4 billion investment in the Reserve Primary Fund, the money-market fund that "broke the buck" in September as a result of the Lehman collapse, has asked the US to redeem it. That has not been done yet, causing worry about US credibilty.
• The Chinese government has received briefings from the former secretary of treasury on the financial crisis. This shows the depth of communication - At one briefing for Chinese officials to explain the change, said people present, they questioned and debated the meaning of nearly every line of the new Treasury plan.

Labels: future, US Chinese Image

China Offers State Jobs in the Boonies - Washington Post. Chinese WPA for college graduates...

Labels: china's future

Chinese New Year Activities

Week Prior
- Resolve old debts.
- Serious Spring Cleaning
- Paper image of Kitchen Got who reports on family is replaced with new one.
- Lucky paper hung with declarations of good wishes.

New Year's Eve
- Family dinner - lots of symbolism in the banquet foods.
- Red Envelopes are given to children and to the older
- Fire crackers to welcome the new year and scare away the demon Nian.

1st Day
- Day of resting, visiting ancestors, and temple visit.

2nd Day
- Day of leisure
- Married women visit their parents.

3rd Day
Floors swept to bring in the new year and out with the old

4th Day
Midnight Dinner

5th Day
- Safe day to empty the trash

15th Day
- Lantern Festival

References:

Coloring Pages on Chinese New Year:

Chinese New Year Coloring Pages/Pictures					Chinese New Year Coloring Pictures - Zodiac, Calendar, Animals, and Horoscope
			12 Chinese New Year Coloring Pages/Pictures for the customs From Cleaning the House to Red Envelopes, Dragon Dances, and More! Great way to Learn more about Chinese New Year! Free for downloading and printing					Chinese New Year Zodiac Coloring Pictures
Chinese New Year Greetings Coloring Pictures					Chinese New Year Wall & Door Scroll Coloring Pictures
			Chinese New Year Greetings Coloring Pictures					Chinese New Year Wall & Door Scroll Coloring Pictu

				Good Luck Life: The Essential Guide To Chinese American Celebrations And Culture
				Our Price: $14.95 Sale Price: $12.95 You Save $2.00!
				Excellent book! The most complete book I have seen on Chinese Culture! Highly recommended. Covers Chinese Celebrations & Culture A-Z!

Labels: chinese new year

Learning to celebrate Chinese New Year from the SF Chronicle.

What a great post!

This part is so precious...

And then last week in the car Paris said, "Mommy, I wish that I was born in China. I really want to be Chinese."

I was entirely unprepared for this comment, so rather than offer up words of wisdom, I simply asked, "Why?"

"I want to celebrate the Chinese New Year, like the Chinese do. Mommy, we have to get haircuts and clean the house before the new year celebration starts. And I want a red envelope. And did you know that it's the Year of the Ox? And we need new clothes. And we need to have a special dinner with Chinese food..."

"Sweetheart, you don't have to be Chinese to celebrate Chinese New Year. We can celebrate the holiday."

Labels: chinese new year

Millions of Chinese set to lose jobs as New Year celebrations end - UK Telegraph.

I hope not... Article is a good read.

Labels: china's future

Picking the right curriculum for your class/school is an important step, even for the most experienced of teachers. Childbook offers several different Chinese Curriculum including Practical Chinese, Chinese Made Easy for Kids, Better Chinese, and
Kuaile Hanyu (Happy Chinese).

I created a Comparision Table for the Chinese Curriculum that gives a good summary of the strengths of each.

Labels: chinese curriculumn

China says 90 percent of families take toxic milk deal

Jan 24, 2009 BEIJING (Reuters) - Over 90 percent of Chinese families with children stricken by toxic milk have taken a state-backed compensation deal, a dairy industry ..

Of course what is not mentioned is about the ones who are seriously sick. And there was a "bit" of pressure to accept the offer. Was it an offer, they could not refuse? YouTube - Godfather Offer

Labels: china food safety

Toddler Chinese, or teaching your rapidly growing in intellect toddler, and moving around, sampling the world and learning at an amazing rate is a great way to give them an advantage. This NY Magazine article Parents are Teaching Their Infants Chinese to Compete in the global Economy is just documenting the many parents who are teaching their children Mandarin at a very young age, yes babies and toddlers are learning Chinese Mandarin.

Products which have gotten very good reviews for teaching Chinese to toddler and babies are (their are even previews on the page):

				Baby Learns Chinese, DVD, Level 1,2,3 & Flashcards Bundle
				List Price: $86.56 Our Price: $86.56 Sale Price: $68.99 You Save $17.57!
				Would you like your Baby to talk Chinese words instead of Googoo-gaga? Play this Mandarin DVD made especially for babies and Toddlers Chinese language immersion on DVD for babies Fun and very visible images for babies Clear pronunciation Narrated entirely in Mandarin Read on to see what our customers say about Baby Learns Chinese DVD Bundle

				Little Pim: Playtime, 3-Pack Bundle, Learning Chinese for Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers
				Our Price: $74.85 Sale Price: $49.95 You Save $24.90!
				Recommended for babies, toddlers and preschoolers Teaches vocabulary to express basic needs, like "I'm hungry," "Let's play" or "Time to wake up." Entertaining Chinese language immersion method for children Features hundreds of Chinese Words and Phrases Narrated entirely in Mandarin (with English sub-titles) Set includes 3pcs DVD

Labels: baby learning mandarin

Teaching Babies a foreign language is a great opportunity that should not be misssed. Babies brains are expanding so fast that they can add a lot of information, such as a 2nd language very quickly.

Even if your not a native speaker, it's still possible to expose your child to a second language and you may be surprised on what they learn!

Two DVD's that I recommend for starting for Chinese for Babies are (both have samples you can watch on their page):

				Baby Learns Chinese, DVD, Level 1,2,3 & Flashcards Bundle
				List Price: $86.56 Our Price: $86.56 Sale Price: $68.99 You Save $17.57!
				Would you like your Baby to talk Chinese words instead of Googoo-gaga? Play this Mandarin DVD made especially for babies and Toddlers Chinese language immersion on DVD for babies Fun and very visible images for babies Clear pronunciation Narrated entirely in Mandarin Read on to see what our customers say about Baby Learns Chinese DVD Bundle

				Little Pim: Playtime, 3-Pack Bundle, Learning Chinese for Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers
				Our Price: $74.85 Sale Price: $49.95 You Save $24.90!
				Recommended for babies, toddlers and preschoolers Teaches vocabulary to express basic needs, like "I'm hungry," "Let's play" or "Time to wake up." Entertaining Chinese language immersion method for children Features hundreds of Chinese Words and Phrases Narrated entirely in Mandarin (with English sub-titles) Set includes 3pcs DVD

For the more advanced, I have a section with products by age 0-3 Baby Learning Chinese Books & DVD's

Labels: baby learning mandarin