Tuttle More Chinese for Kids Flash Cards Simplified Character. Includes 64 Flash Cards, Wall Chart & Learning Guide

169 Pages·2014·4.99 MB·English

by  Tuttle Publishing

Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.
www.tuttlepublishing.com
Copyright © 2008 by Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the
publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-4629-1535-4 (ebook)
Tuttle Chinese for Kids Flash Cards Simplified Character Edition
ISBN 978-0-8048-3936-5
Traditional Character Edition
ISBN 978-0-8048-3935-8
Tuttle MORE Chinese for Kids Flash Cards Simplified Character Edition
ISBN 978-0-8048-3939-6
Traditional Character Edition
ISBN 978-0-8048-3938-9
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First edition
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Printed in Hong Kong TUTTLE PUBLISHING® is a registered trademark of Tuttle Publishing, a division
of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.
Contents
How to Use the Tuttle Chinese for Kids Flash Cards
Introduction
How & Why These Words Work
Tips for Teaching and Learning Using These Cards
Some Basics about the Language
Mandarin Chinese, and Other Chinese Dialects
Tones
Forming Your First Sentences in Chinese
Some Basics about the Written Language
How to Write in Chinese
Traditional Characters & Simplified Characters: What’s the
Difference?
Bonus Words
Chinese Songs
Radical Index (Simplified Characters)
Radical Index (Traditional Characters)
Audio CD Track List
How to Download the Bonus Material of this Book.

1. You must have an internet connection.
2. Click the link below or copy paste the URL to your web browser.
http://www.tuttlepublishing.com/more-chinese-for-kids-flash-cards-simplified-downloadable-cd-
content
For support email us at [email protected].
How to Use the
Tuttle Chinese for Kids Flash Cards
Introduction
Welcome to the world of learning Chinese. We hope that the language presented
in this set of flash cards will help you begin speaking and reading Chinese with
your child.
Whether you are a native Chinese speaker or just beginning to learn Chinese,
you can teach the language to your child in a natural, simple way—by
integrating the language into your daily speech. All parents teach their child a
first language simply by talking with them on a day-to-day basis and
commenting on all the activities that are going on. For instance, when choosing
clothes for your child to wear, you say, “Which shirt should we wear today? The
yellow one or the green one?” Or when going outside, you say, “Oh look, it’s a
sunny day today.” In the same way, you can teach your child a new language.
The best way to learn a foreign language is by jumping in and speaking it as
much as possible, and these flash cards will help you begin to do that.
This set of flash cards is useful even for children as young as 18 months.
Studies on foreign language acquisition show that there is a window of
opportunity from birth to about age 7 that is the ideal time for a child to learn a
foreign language. Younger learners absorb the sound, intonation, and structure of
a second language intuitively, just as they do their native language, and they can
reproduce the second language without a foreign accent. The younger a child is,
the better his or her ability to absorb and mimic a foreign language, so start early,
and have fun!
How & Why These Words Work
The Tuttle Chinese for Kids
approach is a language learning program, rather than just a package of words on
flash cards. The 128 words, divided into two sets—including MORE Chinese
for Kids—have been carefully chosen based on these criteria:
• The words are some of the most commonly used words and phrases in daily
speech, and are easy to incorporate into your family’s daily routine: for
example, 洗手 xǐ shǒu “wash hands” and 吃饭 / 吃飯 chī fàn “eat dinner.”
If you can begin to say these simple words and commands as part of your
daily conversation, children will easily pick them up.
• The words are grouped into color-coded categories based on 16 themes that
are familiar to children: colors, numbers, parts of the body, food,
transportation, and so on.
• The words represent a range of sounds in Mandarin Chinese.
• In contrast to sets of flash cards that teach only objects, Tuttle Chinese for
Kids presents a range of grammatical functions (adjectives, nouns, verbs,
pronouns, etc.) so you can begin to combine the words to create your own
simple sentences. The words and sample sentences here represent a core
vocabulary that will allow you to create a surprising number of sentences.
• See page 12 for a special bonus section of the most basic greetings, courtesies
such as “please” and “thank you,” and essential pronouns like “you” and
“me.” These extra words will help you and your child to use your newly-
learned Chinese in even more everyday situations.
• Some songs and activity ideas are included, to make the language learning
process playful and fun.
• While the focus of Tuttle Chinese for Kids Flash Cards is mainly on
spoken Chinese, to encourage children to recognize Chinese characters the
set includes many characters that have a visual likeness to the things they
represent, such as 山 shān “mountain”, and 水 shuǐ “water.”
Tips for Teaching and Learning Using
Tuttle Chinese for Kids Flash Cards
Use the cards in any order. The order in which you pick up the cards is not
important, but the frequency with which you practice is important. Pick cards
based on what interests you and your child or your classroom from day to day. It
may be a different group every day, or it may be the same group for several days
in a row.
Focus on personal interaction. Don’t just play an audio CD, or put your child
in front of a DVD, and expect your child to absorb the language. Instead, initiate
conversations with your child using the words, phrases, and sentences provided
here. As you learn and teach new words, incorporate them into your daily
conversation. For example, ask your child to bring you an apple, but say “apple”
in Chinese. When you’re taking letters out of the mailbox, count them in
Chinese. When your child gives you something, say “thank you” in Chinese.
Start small. You don’t need to start speaking full sentences; you can start with a
greeting, a short command, or just a word.
Be consistent. For example, every time you ask your child to wash hands, say
the words “洗手” so he or she begins to associate the sound of the words with
the activity.
Make it fun. Do guessing games, word scrambles, matching games with
characters and pictures, treasure hunts, and whatever else gets your kids excited
about learning. For example, to teach colors, throw colored pieces of paper on
the floor, call out a color in Chinese and ask children to race to pick out the
correct piece of paper. Younger children will love to play hide-and-seek and will
pick up quickly on counting out the “1…2…3…, Here I come!” in Chinese. Add
an element of challenge, fun, and adventure to everything you do.
Sing a song. There’s nothing like putting words to music when you want to
remember the words! The audio includes some of the most popular songs
sung by Chinese children. As much as possible, we’ve chosen songs that contain
some of the words included in the flash cards. Play the songs at home or in your
car (and sing along) and you’ll find your child singing them in no time. Soon
he’ll start to make a connection between the words in the song and the words
he’s learning with the flash cards.
Follow your child’s lead. Focus on the activities that interest your child. Don’t
feel obligated to use these cards like a traditional set of flash cards, drilling your
child on each word. But if your child happens to love being quizzed and takes
pride in being able to answer in Chinese to the question “What’s this?” then by
all means, ask her!
Use the language naturally. Don’t feel compelled to translate everything; if you
are using the language in context, children will pick up on what you are saying.
Speak as frequently as possible. To help you remember the words you are
learning and to speak them throughout the day, put signs next to familiar objects,
indicating the Chinese character and pronunciation. Or make a personal “photo
album” by cutting out pictures of familiar objects, putting them in a binder or
photo album, and labeling them with Chinese characters, pinyin, and English.
Treat it like a book that you read with your child.
Don’t worry about your own pronunciation. The most important thing is that
you speak the language without inhibition and that you engage with your child;
if children are also hearing the words on an audio , or spoken by other native
speakers, they will hear the correct sounds and pronounce them accurately.
Children benefit from being able to distinguish between sounds in a foreign
language and reproduce them naturally, like a native speaker does. Even if your
pronunciation isn’t perfect, your child will get it.
Use the language in front of Chinese speakers. What is the point of learning a
language if not to communicate with speakers of that language? Don’t be afraid
to try saying a few words with Chinese speakers. Chances are you’ll improve
your own skills together, and learn something about Chinese customs and
culture, too.
Some Basics about the Language
Mandarin Chinese, and Other Chinese Dialects This set of flash cards
contains pinyin romanization, which is a system that uses the Western alphabet
to indicate how to pronounce Chinese characters. For people who are used to the
Western alphabet, it can help make learning how to pronounce Chinese
characters a bit easier.
The pinyin in these flash cards corresponds to Mandarin Chinese, which is
the dialect of Chinese spoken in northern China and the official language of the
People’s Republic of China and Taiwan. The speakers whose voices you will
hear on the audio are all native Mandarin Chinese speakers. There are many