Better Chinese - questions

[The Governess]

My dd7 is finishing up Better Chinese: My first Chinese words. She works with a tutor once a week so she can practice speaking and writing characters. Then on our own I drill her on the vocabulary, have her complete a few worksheets, and she reads the little books to finish up the lesson. We have been working on this program for about 2.5 years and she can read about 150 characters and is coming along on her writing and speaking. I'm happy with the program but she is ready for something more substantial.

 

I am planning on continuing with Better Chinese: My first Chinese reader. This is the next level of the program, and looks much more workbook focused than the level we are using currently. The lessons also appear to be much more involved. I am going to be ordering it next month but was wondering if anyone here is using the program. If so, how do you schedule it? I'm trying to figure out how best to split time between what she does independently vs. what she does with the tutor, and how long each lesson takes to complete. Has anyone here used this? I would love to hear your thoughts on how the program works and what you think its strengths/weaknesses are. I'm also curious as to how helpful the teacher's manual is (the manual for the first level was difficult to use).

 

Thank you!

[HSDCY]

We've used My First Chinese Reader series vol. II to IV and have since moved on to Magical Tour of China. When we were using My First Chinese Reader, I did not use their teacher's guide so I don't know what they have included in there. The only two books we used for each volume are the student's textbook and workbooks. Because I am fluent in Chinese, I don't feel I need anything extra.

 

If you want her to have more exposure to Chinese, I would suggest either their CD ROM or subscription to their online lessons.

 

As for how to schedule your lessons, I've always follow my child's lead. You will need to use the material for a few week to find the perfect balance. For example, there is a huge jump in content and difficulty from my First Chinese Reader to Magical Tour of China, so I spent the first few weeks figuring out how long ds needs to master one lesson. It turns out that he needs at least 4 weeks for each lesson, sometime longer but 4 weeks is the minimum time I give him for each lesson now. So you see, it's hard to schedule it before you see and use the material.

 

As for how much time to allocate to tutor and self-study, I'd say it doesn't really matter. You want her to spend at least 20 minutes a day studying her new words/vocab, reading her textbook, and working on her workbook. If you do decide to get the CD ROM, make sure she uses it everyday for a short time preferably away from her self study time. For example, have Chinese lesson on her own for 20min in the morning, and then spend sometime in the afternoon doing something on the CD ROM. The workbooks in this level have some writing to do and it can take up some time as the lessons get longer and harder so adjust the time as she goes along.

 

I hope this helps.

[Embassy]

I have been using My First Chinese Reader for almost a year and recently wrote a review here. I think it would be difficult to estimate how long each lesson would take. I have two children using it and they are going through the lessons at a different pace. My older son is taking about 4 weeks for a lesson and my younger one is taking about 6 weeks for a lesson. You may go through the lessons quicker because your child already knows many characters.

 

I've found the teacher's guide essential (I don't speak Mandarin), but I haven't found the workbooks to be necessary. I much prefer the online subscription with the online homework assignments related to the lesson.

 

Here is an example of how I go through the material. Each line represents a day's work (20 minutes or so).

 

Lesson 3 Listen and repeat story, memorize characters

Lesson 3 Listen and repeat story, memorize characters

Lesson 3 Role-play, homework

Lesson 3 Listen and repeat story, memorize characters

Lesson 3 Magical Chinese, Fun Story, Song/Rhyme, homework

Lesson 3 Role-play, memorize characters

Lesson 3 Listen and repeat story, write characters

Lesson 3 Memorize characters, homework

Lesson 3 Listen and repeat story, read and imitate sentences after story

Lesson 3 Role-play, homework

Lesson 3 Write characters, make sentences after story

Lesson 3 Review characters, read sentences

Lesson 3 Write characters, make sentences after story

Lesson 3 Workbook B pg 5-6 Character practice and Workbook A 5

Lesson 3 Read sentences, Write characters

Lesson 3 Read sentences, write characters

Lesson 3 Read Chapter 3 sentences, write characters

 

By the time my child has reached the end of this list it is likely he will be ready for the next lesson. For my younger son I spread it out a bit more since he needs more time. He spends about 10-15 minutes 3-4x a week on My First Chinese Reader.

 

Lesson 2 Listen and repeat story, memorize characters

Lesson 2 Listen and repeat story, memorize characters

Lesson 2 Role-play, homework

Lesson 2 Listen and repeat story, memorize characters

Lesson 2 Listen and repeat story, memorize characters

Lesson 2 Magical Chinese, Fun Story, Song/Rhyme, homework

Lesson 2 Role-play, memorize characters

Lesson 2 Listen and repeat story, write characters

Lesson 2 Memorize characters, homework

Lesson 2 Write characters, homework

Lesson 2 Listen and repeat story, read and imitate sentences after story

Lesson 2 Role-play, homework

Lesson 2 Write characters, make sentences after story

Lesson 2 Read sentences, write characters

Lesson 2 Review characters, read sentences

Lesson 2 Write characters, make sentences after story

Lesson 2 Workbook B pg 3 Character practice and Workbook A 2-4 Radicals

Lesson 2 Read sentences, Write characters

Lesson 2 Role-play, write characters

Lesson 2 Read sentences, write characters

Lesson 2 Read Chapter 2 sentences, write characters

[HejKatt]

We've used My First Chinese Reader series vol. II to IV and have since moved on to Magical Tour of China.

I hope this helps.

 

Hi HSDCY,

 

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but if you could share your thoughts on Magical Tour of China, I'd appreciate it! The product samples look promising, but hearing someone else's experience is even better. :001_smile:

[EthiopianFood]

We've used My First Chinese Reader series vol. II to IV and have since moved on to Magical Tour of China.

 

How old is your student?

[HSDCY]

My son just turned 12, he's used Better Chinese material in the past 3.5 years. We finished My First Chinese Reader series and decided to move to Magical Tour of China instead of Discovering Chinese. If my understanding is correct, Discovering Chinese is the mature version of My First Chinese Reader, designed for older beginners. In ds's case, since he's moved through My First Chinese Reader, there is no need to do Discovering Chinese.

 

I like Magical Tour of China a lot because of its culture component. Although each lesson starts with conversations centered around a certain theme, the rest of the lesson is spent learning Chinese idioms and Chinese culture. It compares the different thinking and customs of the East and West, reminding students why some Chinese behaviors may seem strange at times. For example, it tells why Chinese people dislike certain colors or items (the reason why you should never give clocks as gifts to Chinese), why they behave a certain way when their children are praised, why Chinese don't usually open gifts in front of the givers, etc. My son finds these things very interesting but also thinks the "indirect ways" of the Chinese people unnecessary.

 

I have to say, going through Magical Tour of China is not for the faint of heart. It requires patience and perseverance from both the teacher and the student. The vocab is much more abstract than the previous series therefore harder to remember. My son recently described his Chinese learning experience as " taking 3 steps forward then 2 steps back". It's frustrating at times for both of us because it's soooooo hard to retain without the environment for immersion. We are plowing away at a slow and steady pace, and hopefully by the time he leaves home, he will build up enough Chinese skills to read, write, and speak at a somewhat proficient level, and learn to appreciate the Chinese root in him.

Edited November 24, 2011 by HSDCY

[EthiopianFood]

My son just turned 12, he's used Better Chinese material in the past 3.5 years. We finished My First Chinese Reader series and decided to move to Magical Tour of China instead of Discovering Chinese. If my understanding is correct, Discovering Chinese is the mature version of My First Chinese Reader, designed for older beginners. In ds's case, since he's moved through My First Chinese Reader, there is no need to do Discovering Chinese.

 

I like Magical Tour of China a lot because of its culture component. Although each lesson starts with conversations centered around a certain theme, the rest of the lesson is spent learning Chinese idioms and Chinese culture. It compares the different thinking and customs of the East and West, reminding students why some Chinese behaviors may seem strange at times. For example, it tells why Chinese people dislike certain colors or items (the reason why you should never give clocks as gifts to Chinese), why they behave a certain way when their children are praised, why Chinese don't usually open gifts in front of the givers, etc. My son finds these things very interesting but also thinks the "indirect ways" of the Chinese people unnecessary.

 

I have to say, going through Magical Tour of China is not for the faint of heart. It requires patience and perseverance from both the teacher and the student. The vocab is much more abstract than the previous series therefore harder to remember. My son recently described his Chinese learning experience as " taking 3 steps forward then 2 steps back". It's frustrating at times for both of us because it's soooooo hard to retain without the environment for immersion. We are plowing away at a slow and steady pace, and hopefully by the time he leaves home, he will build up enough Chinese skills to read, write, and speak at a somewhat proficient level, and learn to appreciate the Chinese root in him.

 

This is good to know (and yes, that is the progression that the company says to take). If we start at the beginning, going at the suggested pace, dd would be ready for Magical Tour of China halfway through 3rd grade. :001_huh: I was thinking maaaaaaaaybe it might be possible to go through it veeeery slowly. Yeah, I'll be making another plan. :lol: I'm not really sure what the company was thinking younger kids should do if they actually start from the beginning....

[The Governess]

Thanks for the replies! I ordered the first volume today since it was on sale. It is helpful to see the schedules that others are using. I was hoping to get through a volume every six months, but it sounds like that may not be realistic. And I'm also wondering what we should use when we are finished. We'll see where she is at and what fits best at that point, I guess. She is very excited to start using the "big kid" cirriculum. :)

[HejKatt]

I like Magical Tour of China a lot because of its culture component.

...

I have to say, going through Magical Tour of China is not for the faint of heart. It requires patience and perseverance from both the teacher and the student. The vocab is much more abstract than the previous series therefore harder to remember.

Thank you for the detailed review, HSDCY! In a sense, I have found that Chinese itself is not for the faint of heart (sans an immersion environment). The initial learning curve just requires so much memory and some days it is a battle to get my ds to review his words, so I was hoping the comic-book presentation of Magical Tour of China would motivate him. I appreciate your feedback!