The 听写 (Chinese spelling) journey

K2 term started for DS beginning of the year and we didn’t think much about it, until spelling (English and Chinese) came along.  For English, it is alright since DS has the foundation in phonics, learning that few words are easy.  And it seemed he has paid attention in class, he is able to learn it rather fast *grin*

Chinese 听写, on the other hand, is a bit tough, especially when the list of words are not easy, day-to-day words. 

Friends said, don’t worry, he should have learnt those words in school. It is his responsibility to study them himself. I agree that he should pay attention in class and it is his responsibility to learn them, not mommy nagging him to learn them. But I wonder if he has the skill to learn them efficiently and effectively.

For those who have been following my blog, you will know that I have always emphasized that Chinese characters are pictorial in nature.  Understanding this helps a child in his learning of Chinese words. Thus I set forth in training him to look at Chinese words in this manner.  Here’s our journey:

   1. 听写 is on Friday. We started preparation on Wednesday.  I wrote down all the words to be tested on a white board and he decides which words to learn on Wednesday and which on Thursday. By splitting the list up into small bits, it reduces the stress in learning.
          

    2. Each of the days, I’ll ask him to identify the words he already knows how to write and he shows me by writing them on the whiteboard.  He gets a good praise from me for learning them in class =)  Then I’ll focus on words that he doesn’t know how to write.

   3. We talk about the parts the words are made up of.  We could do one of the followings: 

 a.       Like writing a math equation, he will write this:

 b.      We discuss further what the parts are, including imagining what the parts look like: water radical (三点水), a man who lift up his leg, and a mother. Giving him an object to associate with helps him remember better.

 c.       Matching the parts to form the words.

  d.      Finding the parts from other known words.

   e.      Imagine and associate the word with an object/ image.

  
   f.      Think of a look alike word that he has learnt before
           He has learnt 高, now he needs to learn 亮. Imagine it to be like wearing an outfit. Now he needs to change his pants, but still wears the same shirt. I will write the the word 高, then erase the bottom portion of the word. Guide him that instead of writing the original bottom part of 高, now change it and write the bottom part of 亮.

   4. After that is practice time.  The physical movement of the hand helps children remembers the strokes and sequence. We have abandoned the writing lines system after a while. It doesn’t work for him; the mundaneness of it kills his joy of writing. Instead, he practices by writing on the white board.  I will correct his strokes and sequence as I observe him writing.  When he feels confident enough to be tested, he will ask me to give him 听写.

   5. For word(s) that he still doesn’t get it, I will go through the parts and strokes again and test him again after a break or later in the day.

He doesn’t get full marks all the time, but I know he has tried his best. He will tell me, “I think for a long time, but I still can’t remember.”  

“It’s ok, mommy still loves you.” ^.^

Engaging preschoolers in Chinese language on the homefront

I have the privilege of knowing a very creative and dedicated homeschooling mom who has done amazing stuff with her little girl to enrich her learning experience.  


Though English is their main communication language, Alicia is also mindful that her gal needs to learn Chinese as well.  I shared some tips on engaging preschoolers in the Chinese language with this concerned mom in her blog here. 

Word riddles in teaching Chinese

As I always say, Chinese words are pictorial words. It helps children remember the words more easily if they can visualise the words. Also, various methods are used to combine parts to form more complex words. It makes learning more effective if we can break the words apart for the the children.

Have you heard of 字谜? Basically it's word riddles. You are suppose to guess the word using the words in the riddle (literally). For example, 十个太阳，十个月亮 = 朝. 太阳 is 日. When  break 朝 up into parts, it contains 十, 日, 十 and 月.

For older kids, you can play the word riddles game with them. For younger kids, you can use the clues in the word riddles as your resource and break down the words to something that is easy for them to visualise.  My son has learnt how to break the words apart to help him learn his 听写 words.    

Here are some word riddles I have consolidated from different sources. These are words that I think are more common to our children. It is also fun for us adults too. The list is not exhaustive. Do feel free to share with me if you know of other word riddles, or have invented some word riddles that are not in the list below =)

Riddles	Answer	Remarks
一箭穿心	必	cut in between in the heart (心)
草木之中有个人	茶	人 between 草字头 and 木
千里相逢	重	千 and 里 overlap
山上还有山	出	1 山 above another 山
把米分给别人	粉	combine 米 and 分
一口吃掉牛尾巴	告	cut off the "tail" of 牛 and add a 口
兄有债	歌	兄=哥， 有债 means 欠钱. So 哥+欠=歌
句子多多	够	句+多
太阳挂在树顶上	果	太阳=日，树=木。日 hanging on 木 = 果
左边是女，右边是男，并排站立，人人称赞。	好	男=子。女+子
古时候的月亮	胡	古+月
七人头上长了草	花	草 refers to 草字头， 人 refers to 单人旁。单人旁+七+草字头 = 花
大口吃小口	回	smaller 口 inside (eaten by) a bigger 口
一家十一口	吉	十 + 一 + 口
说它小，下边大，说它大，上边小。	尖	look at "下边大，上边小". 大 on top, 小 at the bottom
前後一把刀	剪	前 on top + 刀 at the bottom
上下难分	卡	上 and 下 combine
一斗米	料	米 + 斗
林字多一半	梦	林 on top + half of 多 (ie, 夕) at the bottom
一根木棍,吊个方箱,一把梯子,搭在中央	面	a box hanging from a rod. A ladder inside the box (this riddle is very visual)
一月一日非今天	明	日+月
一只黑狗，不叫不吼	默	狗=犬。黑+犬
一人一张口,口下长只手	拿	人+一+口+手 (combine vertically down)
兩个月亮一起走	朋	月+月
一人在内	肉	another人 inside 内
一牛生兩尾	失	bottom of 牛 has 2 "lines"
又进村来	树	又 in between the parts of 村
十张口，一颗心	思	十 inside 口 + 心
多出各一半	岁	half of 多 + half of 出
坐定左右无人	土	坐 take away 2 people (人) from the left and right
一加一	王	加=plus symbol
有两个动物,一个在水里,一个在山上	鲜	fish in the water, goat on the mountain. 鱼 + 羊
生日到(倒)了	星	生 + 日 in the opposite way
大雨落在横山上	雪	横山 means you rotate the 山 to landscape. 雨 on top of the horizontal 山
田里跑到田外	叶	十 is inside the 田 word. Move the 十 from within to outside the 口
我没有他有,天没有地有	也	what is common between 他 and 地 is 也 (都有也)
月亮切一半	用	1 cut (line) in between 月
朋友半边不见了	月	half of 朋 disappear
此人有口也有角	嘴	此 + 口 + 角
两人在土坡上	坐	2 persons sitting on a hill (土)

偏旁部首

We often hear "偏旁部首". Is there a difference between “偏旁” and “部首”, or are they the same?

Some words are formed with left and right parts, top and bottom parts, inside and outside parts. These parts are called 偏旁. For example, “好” is comprised of “女” and “子” these 2 left and right parts (偏旁), and the 部首 is “女”.

When loooking up a word using the Chinese dictionary, the first thing one needs to do is to look for the 部首 (if you are not checking via hanyu pinyin). In my 时代高级汉语词典, I can find around 200 部首. 部首 can be the 偏旁 too, but 偏旁 may not necessary be the 部首.

During ancient times, words with similar parts are classified together, and usually they share the same association. For example, “狗”, “猫”, “猪” and “狼” share the same left part - “犭” (反犬旁), and these are words associated with animals. “犭” became the 部首.  部首 are often the first few strokes of a word, but there are exception. Like “学” and “孝”, their 部首 is “子”.

And some of the 部首 can be found at different parts of a word. For example, "心部" can be found on the left in "情" and "怕". It can be found at the bottom in "志" and "息". It can also be found at the bottom in another form in "添" and "慕".

In general, words with the same 部首 share similar association. But some words have lost their original meanings, so they may not seem to have any association with the 部首.

Knowing the 部首 and their associations is one way that can help children remember Chinese words and their meanings. Especially when they are faced with words that look similar, for example - 浪，狼，恨，痕. The 部首 are 三点水, 反犬旁, 竖心旁 and 病字头, and they are associated with water, animals, feeling and illness respectively. This gives them a clue to what the words mean.

I have gathered some common 部首 here for your information:

部首	部首名称	例字	关联
亻	单人旁	你，他， 仁	和人类的行為有关
彳	双人旁	行，征，往	和行走有关
扌	提手旁	捉，打，扶	和手有关
忄	竖心旁	情，怜，怯	和心，情感有关
刂	立刀旁	刑，划，刻	和刀或切割有关
纟	绞丝旁	纠，纱，线	和丝线，纺织，布匹有关
犭	反犬旁	狗，猛，狂	和动物、动物的性质有关
衤	衣字旁	被，裙，衫	和衣物有关
礻	示字旁	礼，祈，祖	多与祭祀、礼仪有关
⻊	足字旁	跑，跳，跛	和脚有关
宀	宝盖头	家，宅，室	像屋顶的形状, 表示和室家/屋有关
⺮	竹字头	篮，竿，笔	和竹有关
艹	草字头	花，芒，芽	和植物有关
疒	病字头	疾，疼，痕	本义是床的意思；和病痛有关
辶	走之底	过，进，运	和行走有关
冫	兩点水	冰，冷，冲	多和冰冻、寒冷有关
氵	三点水	洗，汉，河	和水有关
灬	四点火	煮，烈，热	和火有关
讠	言字旁	说，讲，请	和言语有关
土	提土旁	场，地，城	和土地有关
饣	食字旁	饭，饮，饥	和饮食有关
木	木字旁	树，椅，板	和木有关
钅	金字旁	铁，钢，针	和铁有关
子	子字旁	孔，孙，孩	和儿女有关
虫	虫字底	蚕，萤	和昆虫类有关
	虫字旁	蚊，蜂
女	女字底	婆，妻	和女性有关
	女字旁	妈，妹
贝	贝字底	贪，货	和钱货有关
	贝字旁	赚，财

Learning 笔画笔顺

If a child can hold a writing instrument in a steady, comfortable three-finger grasp, then he is probably ready for writing. Writing Chinese characters is more challenging than writing English letters because there are so many strokes and there’s also stroke sequence to remember.  You can find more info in my article on 笔画笔顺.

Each child is different; not all children will reach the stage of readiness at the same time. Generally, children can start writing around ages 4 – 5. But don’t expect to see very nice handwriting from them. Practice makes perfect.

Pre-writing stage:

Before they learn to write words, they can learn to “write” the strokes (笔画) first. 横, 竖, 撇, 捺, 点, 钩… … The aim is for them to recognise the different types of strokes and get used to the movement of the strokes. The writing doesn’t have to be done with paper and pencil since they do not have a good control of the pencil yet.

You can let your child practise in the form of drawing/ painting.  For example, 撇 or 捺 can be drawn as part of a slide in the playground, 横折 can be part of a staircase etc.  It can even be simply just a stroke by itself. My 3 yo doesn’t mind just drawing 横, 横, 横… … lol  

My kids sometimes practise “writing” in the shower too ^.^  We have a glass panel instead of a shower curtain, and they like to “write” on it using their soapy fingers.

Ready-to-write stage:

Some suggestions for your consideration:

1. Use colourful writing instruments

All young children like pretty colours. Writing doesn’t need to be confined to using a pencil and white paper only. It can be done using colour pencils, crayons, markers etc on all kinds of materials. The area you allowed them to write on depends on the size of the writing instrument. Colourful writing instruments make writing interesting.

2. 缤纷笔顺教学

I came across this interesting way of teaching stroke sequence (笔顺) using colours of a rainbow on the internet. This teaching method is being used by some kindergartens in Malaysia. A gentleman in China has also created a 240-word 七色彩虹识字表 to help children remember the stroke sequence. The concept is basically to use the sequence of the rainbow colours to help children remember the sequence of the strokes.

Steps:
a. Ask the child to draw a rainbow on top of the writing paper (for reference purpose), using the correct colours and sequence: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple. He can use dark blue as indigo.

b. You can either:
  i. Print some Chinese words with inside of the character uncoloured. You can use MS WordArt to do that.

ii. Use a 描红 book, ie. a word tracing exercise book. There are dotted lines for him to follow.
iii. Simply use the colour pencils to write the words freehand.

c. Colour or write the word following the sequence of the rainbow. That means, the first stroke is red, second is yellow and so on. If the word has more than 7 colours, start with red again and continue.

d. Praise him for the beautiful writing J

3. Use boxes to perfect the writing

Chinese words are sometimes called 方块字; they fit nicely in a box. You can buy those exercise book with boxes for writing Chinese words from any bookstore, or you can simply print them yourself (can use different coloured papers ^.^). To compliment the writing, they can draw something about the word they are practising so that it’s not just a writing (习字) exercise. If your child is not fond of drawing, they can find photo or pictures related to the word and paste in the exercise book.

I've created a writing grid here. Feel free to download it for your own use.

The basics about writing Chinese characters

The last skill to master in 听说读写 is writing. Logically, it only makes sense to a child to want to practise writing a certain word if he knows how to read the word and understands its meaning, isn't it? Otherwise it’s just another art piece to him. Writing will in turn enhance a child’s reading ability because the action helps him to internalise the learning of the word.

There are some guidelines to follow when it comes to writing Chinese characters. They are the 笔画 and 笔顺.

The strokes (笔画) help to distinguish a Chinese word from a drawing. For example, 口is a Chinese character written with 3 strokes. If written without the strokes, it becomes a square.

笔顺 provides guidelines that enable the written strokes to flow from one to the next smoothly, thus increase the efficiency or speed of writing. It also helps the writer to place the “parts” nicely together. For example, 土is written 横、竖、横. It flows better when written in the right order, as if the word can be written in one single stroke.

Types of 笔画:

Guidelines on 笔顺:

S/n	Guidelines	Example
1	先横后竖	十
2	先撇后捺	人
3	从上到下	三
4	从左到右	树
5	从外到内	风
6	先里头后封口	院
7	先中间后两边	水
8	先撇后折	九
9	先上后内再包围	匡
10	先主体后写点	义

Words that are often written with wrong 笔顺:

“非”：
According to the guidelines, when a word has 横and 竖, one should write 横 first followed by 竖 (ie. 先横后竖), like “丰”and “井”.  But for “非”, it has long vertical strokes and short horizontal strokes, one should write 竖 first followed by 横 (ie. 先竖后横). So “非”should be written 竖、横、横、横，竖、横、横、横.

“火”、“ 忄”：
According to the guidelines, words such as “小”,“水”and “办”are written middle first followed by left and right structure (先中间后两边). But for “火”and “忄”(竖心旁), one should write the left and right structures first followed by the middle structure (先两边后中间).

“九”、“刀”、“方”：
According to the guidelines, words that have 撇and折 structures, should be written 撇 first followed by 折 (先撇后折). Like “九”, it’s written 撇、横折弯钩. But for “刀”and “方”, they are written 折 first followed by 撇 (先折后撇). So “方”should be written 点、横、横折钩、撇.

“区”：
Words like “区”,“匹”,“巨”and “医”has an open side on the right (unlike 口which is completely closed). The correct way of writing these words should be 横 first followed by whatever that is inside, and finished it off with 竖折 (先上后内再包围).

“义”：
Normally, when a word has a dot (点) as part of its structure, such as “太”,“夕”and “瓦”, the main part should be written first and end off with the dot (先主体后写点).  There’s always exception to every norm. For “义”and “斗”, the dot is written first followed by the rest of the structure.