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Quiz on China
I only got 16 out of 20. Fun quiz!
How much do you know about China? Take our quiz. - Christian Science Monitor
My weak area is Chinese Geography... 2 out of my 4 wrong answers.
The other one was one I got wrong was which country does China import the most from, and the percentage of US Debt held by China (I was within 5%). Labels: china
Nice Grandparent - Paying for Grandchild to Learn Chinese
Minor change yesterday on an order where the customer accidently put their address, instead of their daughters for My First Chinese Words Set (36 Books + Audio CD), Simplified Chinese .
His daughter is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and is teaching her child Chinese. And the Grandfather is willing to help pay for the materials.
I commented back that I like the My First Chinese Words Learning Chinese Curriculum
a lot. Great quality and well done with lots of support material. From CD's to exercise books to teachers guides. The only negative I found was its a bit pricier than other material.
What I like aobut My First Chinese Words is it:
* Teaches basic Chinese sentences a child can immediately use.
* Lessons focus on how to communicate in Chinese, not just memorize individual words.
* Excellent supplementary materials, teaching support system
* Award-winning curriculum
But, my comment about cost bothered me. $49.95 for 36 tiny books and a CD. You can buy another textbook for $19.95. But how much is your time worth? If your serious about teaching Chinese paying a bit more for material that includes teaching guides in English (and just not a list of answers in Chinese) is huge. Plus all the support material. With this in mind the premium that my My First Chinese Words demands can be justified.
What I like about My First Chinese Words is its reading based with a bunch of short books. This is great for younger ages because they have such a short attention span. And later they can progress to My First Chinese Reader Curriculum by Better Chinese and Magical Tour of China Intermediate to Advanced by Better Chinese (all the way through High School) using the same material.Labels: my first chinese words
Chinese Made Easy vs. Chinese Made Easy for Kids
I got a call yesterday seeking to understand which is better, Chinese Made Easy (2 reviews, average 5 stars) or Chinese Made Easy for kids (12 reviews, average 5 starts).
Most of the 1st chapter of each book has been scanned, just click on the small image to see more of the book. This way a customer can see which is best for them.
My take is Chinese Made Easy for kids focuses more on the verbal, where Chinese Made Easy includes learning Chinese Characters.
They are both good series by the same author. I have seen some teachers use both Chinese Made Easy and Chinese Made Easy for kids in their class. The goal is to make Chinese interesting to learn and just not writing a bunch of characters as some teachers have traditionally done. Learning Chinese, especially when dealing with kids who do not speak Chinese at home, includes learning to speak Chinese!
Both series are available in both Traditional and Simplified Chinese Characters. Simplified Chinese Characters is outselling Traditional Chinese Characters.
Here are pages that list all of the materials in each series:
Chinese Made Easy for Kids
Chinese Made EasyLabels: chinese made easy
Chinese firms struggling to enter German market
My 2cents is a large part of the problem is cultural.
When I was marketing semiconductors, the German customers looked at the specifications, quality, and the technology. The American customers were all about cost. Many of the Chinese companies I have seen are all about cost. Where you can get 80% of the quality of a top line item, for 50% of the cost.
I am surprised that language is an issue. A super smart friend of mine from China worked in Germany for a while for Siemens.
Chinese firms struggling to enter German market - thelocal.de Labels: made in china
A world tour of bookstore cafes
Yes, I am a sucker for bookstores. Sometimes I feel like Dilbert in the comic strip where he is sucked into an Electronics store :-)
This strikes me as such a neat way to learn about a new city. The author believes that visiting an independent bookstore is a great way to learn about a city your visiting.
A world tour of bookstore cafes - LA Times
Visiting an online bookstore is just not the same as a physical bookstore. Labels: picture books
Spoiled Kids - Tips
Bad title, but good article full of tips. The definition of a spoiled brat - selfish, entitled, rude, disrespectful, irresponsible, out of control, and lazy is great.
How to Raise a Spoiled Brat - SF Chronicle
The key is giving kids responsibility, and that is not easy. Labels: parenting
Brea Borders Saved - For Now!
Borders Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection - WSJ.com
I like visting our local Borders and I hope its not one of the 200 that are going to be closed. I view the reason for the bankruptcy as a combination of bad management, bad business model, and changes in technology.
Borders missed web based book sales, and Amazon's trick of no sales tax through excellent lawyers has not helped them. Very late to the game with e-Books. And lots of management turn over. And traditional book sellers are still working on a 1930's model that over prints books ,with 40% of books pulped. The exception being for the rare best sellers that are blown out by Costco, Amazon, WalMart, etc... And this is not even getting into what Print On Demand will do in the future (and Amazon is already heavy into this).
Borders Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection - WSJ.comLabels: e-books
Bilingual Tips
What my wife and I did was I spoke English, and my wife just spoke Mandarin Chinese to my daughter basically since birth. The result is my daughter has excellent English (she correct me now - which can be annoying), and great spoken Mandarin Chinese. Labels: Tips from Our ChildBook Parents and Teachers
Student Loan Horror Stories
China affect on Food Prices
Forget Mandarin. Latin is the key to success?
China now #2 Economy
China just surpassed Japan as the #2 world economy for 2010. 5.47 Trillion vs. 5.88 Trillion.
I am sure :-) The fact the Chinese number ends with -88 is a councidence. 8 has the same sound as weathy in Mandarin Chinese, -which is why ChildBook's Tel. # has lots of 8's in it. 626.810.2088 - area code used to be 818.
China Replaced Japan in 2010 as No. 2 Economy - NY Times Labels: china's future
Happy Valentine's Day To Each Of You!
Winning Review For Childbook.com Products
Winning Review: 
|  | | | | | Sing 'N Learn Chinese CD & Book | Our Price: $17.95   |
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22 songs in Chinese and English
- Simple Chinese vocabulary in a fun way
- Book - English, Simplified, Traditional, and Pinyin
- With instruction guide
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1/31/2011 5.0Musically Better than "Teach Me Chinese" By Mom from Toronto, Canada About Me Mom to a preschooler - Education
- Entertainment
- Everyone
Labels: reviews
Multi-Culturalism - Where Now?
I view multi-culturalism as understanding more than one culture. It does not mean for any one group that moved to a new country to stay within only their culture, but to be part of the new country as well as their own within reason.
Its a balance and truthfully, its hard.
Some personal minor examples. I am glad that my daughter enjoys both the Chinese Culture (Red Envelopes on Chinese New Years for example) and her Birthday. As well as being fluent in both Mandarin and English. This means when she goes over to a fellow students house with a Chinese and/or Taiwanese speaking parent she makes a very positive impression. I am glad my daughter knows whom the Monkey King is, as well as European fairy Tales such as Cinderella. And that she can talk to her Taiwanese Grand Parents, who don't speak English, and to my parents who are English only.
References:
Labels: multicultural
College Graduation Rates
Last night I was updating the FAFSA and in it was the graduation rates for colleges. The College Navigator by the US Department of Education has all sorts of useful information on colleges.
I was surprised that Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly both have graduation rates just above 50%. And the majority of students take longer than 4 years to get a degree. At Cal Poly, Pomona only 15% of students finish in 4 years, 16% at Cal State Fullerton.. At Scripps, in contrast, 87% graduate with 9% transferring, and 84% are within 4 years.
Yes, I am a Cal Poly Alumni and I did the 5 year plan (Engineering should be called a 5 year program there). Labels: college admissions
25% of Harper Collin Books Sold in January were e-Books
Build a wall - The Year of the Rabbit starts badly
College Acceptance Stress
It can be very stressful for your child as they are waiting to find out did they get accepted. And every college does their acceptance differently and with different timing. UCI seems to do it in waves with the most wanted first (Not 100% sure on this, may be by date or something else). So some people may get acceptances, while other colleges are still pending.
It would be nice if the college acceptance process was clearer. Labels: college admissions
Learning Chinese & Seasonality
Cantonese: a Dialect in Peril?
A program I was listening to on my local NPR Station,
Cantonese: a Dialect in Peril? - PRI's The World. From the BBC, PRI, and WGBH
My thought is Cantonese is becoming a household language, where Mandarin is becoming the language used for business. As a reseller I see the market interest is in Mandarin Chinese. I used to stock some Cantonese items, but they took a LONG time to finally sell them. Labels: Cantonese
History of Asians in the San Gabriel Valley
Mandarin Immersion Parent's Council
Bunnies Multiply in China Ahead of Lunar New Year
Rabbits are being given as gifts in China for the Lunar New Year that is the year of the rabbit. The problem is rabbits do chew.
Bunnies Multiply in China Ahead of Lunar New Year - Wall Street Journal
We almost got a pet rabbit one time before my daughter was born. My dog at the time, a super smart Akita, decided the rabbit was a friend. So he carried it around the house in his mouth as a big toy. The rabbit hardly moved. My wife decided to return the rabbit :-)Labels: chinese new year
Great School Districts & Housing Prices
San Marino is a city with a great school district located in Southern California. San Marino is now more than 50% Asian. All the surrounding cities have lower housing prices, but San Marino is actually higher. Its just North of Monterey Park. San Marino also has the Huntingon Library that has a beautiful Chinese Garden.
Housing crisis hasn't touched San Marino - LA Times Labels: chinatown
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