Some more useful Chinese-language-learning sites

Thanks to the group at Learn@home in Taiwan (on Facebook) for these links.  I checked them out and this is my quick review.

 http://eivg.org/eig/interactive02.php?type=4 National Taiwan University's site for developing language schools in "Taiwan's new citizens". There are a few games up so far.  Click on 華語.



http://eword.ntpc.edu.tw/ - 新北市政府教育局 - characters teaching website, where you can create a printable worksheet for practicing writing characters

http://media.huayuworld.org/home_en.htm# - Global Chinese Language and Culture Center - choose 'Chinese' and appropriate level.  Lots of stuff here, including "Learn Chinese in 500 words or less" course, and lots of English info on Taiwan and Chinese culture in general.  Much of this is for older children or adults.

http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/lang/basic/ch_cards/index.htm - Flash cards with Chinese characters. It has background music that reminds me of a hotel lobby.  Be warned!

http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/biweekly/ - Journal of Chinese Culture for Children. Has materials for preschoolers and up.  Click on "English" to get to a pretty easy-to-navigate section.

http://www.5qchannel.com/ - Taiwanese company whose products have been chosen for Chinese learning materials in schools in Singapore.  Has a few free animated stories, but you need to pay to get full access.

You can also check out some of my previous listings

Chinese poetry for children.

Animated children's stories.

Pronunciation for children and adults.

Useful Search Tool: Family Doctors Island-Wide

If you are looking for a family doctor (or information about family medicine in Taiwan) and have someone who can read Chinese in your life, then this is a really useful link and website.

It's for the Taiwan Association of Family Medicine.

Chinese Poetry for Children - Websites and Books

I've been collecting information about poetry for children in Chinese, and need a place to keep the links, so, here it is to share.  Thanks to my friends for giving me the information!

林武憲:
http://longinus.myweb.hinet.net/p4-index.htm


林良爺爺
 http://www.mdnkids.com/poem/p1.shtml
 http://www.mdnkids.com/ebook/index/content.asp?book_no=0960

[2012 July 21] Kids' Talent Show at Taipei Expo Park

Taipei Expo Park, now located at Xing Sheng Park, seems to run ongoing events for children.  July 21st, there will be a talent show.  Every child signed up before June 22 will get a free ticket into My Story Island (an interactive story-telling venue, lots of fun!).  There are about TWD100,000 in prizes on offer, too.

For children aged 5 to 10 (born between July 21, 2002 and July 21, 2007) who have a passion for singing or dancing, Taipei Expo Park invites them to sign up for the talent competition—application ends on June 22. Interested youngsters will need to submit a proof of visit to Pavilion of Dreams, their photos, and a performance clip for registration.

More information in English here.

To download the entry form, visit the Chinese site.

Animated Chinese Stories for Children

This morning, I recommended some sites on my blog to adult learners as an addition to the traditional textbooks.  I am pretty sure I missed this site, which is used by both of my children's teachers to help their students stay interested in reading and learning Chinese characters.  The characters on each page light up as the reader tells the story.  The books are quite popular and the kind that educators would choose for their children.

http://children.cca.gov.tw/garden/

Please help share the clearance sale on my baby product site - leggings, diapers, and diaper bags

The past few weeks, I have been busy preparing to clear out all the stock at my www.littlewonders.com.tw website.  I now have all leggings on sale at TWD150/pr, and some organic and Mommystouch onesize diapers and bags going very cheaply, too.

Here are a few images of what is available:

Items can be shipped anywhere in Taiwan for TWD90/pkg, which includes handling of payment of delivery.  These products are all top-quality, brand new.  I am just trying to move on to new pastures so I need to move the stock on, first!  Thanks for sharing this sale with people you know.

Little Wonders Taiwan's Bilingual Natural Parenting Site Clearance Sale

www.littlewonders.com.tw

100% organic cotton diapers from Imse Vimse, half price!



My website, www.littlewonders.com.tw, is about to change.  First, I need to clear out some old stock, some things that have been sitting a while, and some things I will no longer act as distributor for.  Items are now priced from low as TWD100, and include a range of items.

So, please help me out and share the information with people you know in Taiwan with babies and young children!  I'm sure your friends will thank you.

Junior High School Test Samples

I was reading an online forum and somebody kindly posted links to two sites that provide samples of tests children will have in different subjects in Junior and Senior High.    These are useful for preparing your child for Junior High School, and for helping them with test prep once they are there.  (If you are teaching English, it is also useful to see how children here are tested.)

1. These ones are from a local junior high school.  There is about seven years' worth of tests.  The names of the subjects are in Chinese. You have to click on the subject and save the test in your computer.

2. The National Academy of Academic Reseach has a site the provides subject matter and tests for both Junior and Senior High School.  You can refine your search to be as specific as you would like.  Choose the subject, then area of Taiwan, school, and grade, or as many variables as you wish.  You will need to be able to read some Chinese to navigate the site, but of course if your child is in public school using this, they will have no trouble navigating it themselves.  Not all schools have contributed to the site, so you might not find your child's school, but at least it will give you an idea of what they need to know.

2030 Future Dream Space (Chinese Site)

Today, my daughter brought home a sticker pack advertising a government website : 2030未來夢想家".  (Wei Lai Mung Shiang Jia - Future Dream Space)

2030 Future Dreams

Here, children can complete information about themselves and their dreams of what they would like to have/be in 2030.   They can upload photos and videos and store them here until 2030.

When children first enter, they have to type in their school, class, name, and other personal information, so I think it's a parental decision whether or not you let children take part in the project.  There is a video and characters have accompanying ㄅㄆㄇㄈ, so elementary students should be able to navigate their way around the site.

If you want to participate, you have to do so before November 15, 2011.

ㄅㄆㄇㄈ Teaching Website for Kids (And Grownups, Too!)

This is a fun site for kids to use to learn the phonetics of Chinese, Taiwan-style.  It is in cartoon/game format, but also shows details like how to hold the mouth and tongue to make the sounds.  You can either rely on a little Chinese knowledge to get started, or just click randomly to figure out what things do.  Have fun!

Reviewing for End-of-Terms? Some Review Ideas for Taiwan Public School

I am helping my first-grader review for his end-of-terms.  The teacher said, just let him review.  I looked at his texts, and thought, OK, so how do you just look at math and review?  I did a search on the web and found a few places to get review material and practice tests, in Chinese, for the public school material taught over the different grades.  If you have something else to share, please do. It will help all of us trying to assist our kids with the added struggle of our language incompetence.

Your School's Own Website:  Ask your child's hometeacher to show you how to access their class' page on the web.  Teachers will post useful links like material to review, or recommended texts, on the web.  If it takes too much time to find it yourself, ask them to give you the direct link to the most useful page.  Don't be afraid, there is always a parent who will be pushier than you.

Publisher's Materials: Check the back of your child's book for the website of the publisher.  I just found out that the publisher of my child's texts has a lot of online materials for students.  That includes games and printables.

Independent Materials:  I just started looking but I want to publish this post to help others in my position, so please refer back to this page over coming days.

Math:
The Math Test Project - This page is the grade one practice sheets.  Each number at the top of the page refers to the grade you want to access.  Scroll down near the bottom to get sheets that cover the second semester's material.  基礎篇 = basic 實力篇 = a little harder 挑戰篇 = challenging. Choose the level you want.  It prints out a PDF very easily, in color.  (There are many topics covered, and the topic list is on the left, for example for grade one, 四、時間和日期 = number four, time and date.  If you are not sure what they are, either ask your child or just make them do all of them.)

Facebook 活動 -TWD6,000的產品抽獎機會 promo - TWD6,000 worth of gear for grabs

I try not to advertise my own business site on this blog, but I wanted to give readers a chance to enter this very easy contest.  If you use facebook and like quality products, then consider this promotion, running until Jan 30, 2011.
從今天到1月30日,每十為朋友"like"我們的facebook網頁,您有一個機會參加我們的抽獎活動-我們1月31日會抽,抽獎是一個禮品,市價TWD2,000! (有三個要送囉)...您請的人需要著名,是誰請他們來這才算一位,一定要記得! 跟快來參加!

From now until January 30, for every 10 people you sign up on our facebook fan page you will get one chance to enter our prize draw, to take place Jan 31. Prizes worth TWD2,000 retail, three sets to be won! People you invite need to write that you sent them in their comments. So, get inviting!
 
I started this business over six years ago, to provide a place for parents to get some more environmentally-friendly and good-quality products.  It's been a great platform for learning about e-commerce, and a way to learn more about parenting in Taiwan.  The bilingual website is http://www.littlewonders.com.tw/.  You can get access to a few parenting articles and other links from the site, as well as take a look at the products we sell.

2010 Nov 21 - Snakes of Taiwan Presentation

German ophidiophile Hans Breuer will teach your kids in Chinese about the snakes of Taiwan through a slide show, reinforced by a number of show-and-tell props such as shed snake skins, snake eggs, and four real live (non-venomous and very docile) snakes.


FREE!

More info:

English: http://www.snakesoftaiwan.com/schooltalks.html

Chinese: http://www.snakesoftaiwan.com/schooltalks_ch.html

Time : Sunday, November 21 · 3:30pm - 5:30pm

Location: Dream Community Theater, No. 90-3, MínZú 2nd St, Xizhi, Taipei County

English (well some) children's site about nature in Taiwan - activities and games

Still on my search for the elusive animal I spotted, I came across this site.  The Digital Museum of Children is not a site full of children, but rather, a Taiwan-based nature site for children. There are some games and activities in English, and some in Chinese, so you will have to click around to find your language of choice.  I like how it covers plants and animals we can see in Taiwan.

Website: Center for Cultural Affairs - Excellent Chinese-language Resource

This site is beautifully done, and full of material to enrich a child's experience with Mandarin, Taiwanese, and with Taiwan itself.  It is all in Chinese, so if you cannot read, it is not that easty to navigate.  So, below I have set up links to a few areas that once you get into them, you can really enjoy them.  You can just choose randomly by looking at the images, or rely on your children to work through it for you.

Kyle's teacher recommended this story section to us.  The stories are designed to stimulate children into thinking about their own story endings, and how the stories can be applied to their own lives.  They are animated, and have characters and pronunciation symbols, to help children recognise more Chinese characters.  My children love watching these stories and talking about the material.

Another section has stories with more of a cultural focus.

And this section introduces a number of different topics related to art and culture.  I just finished the story of Van Gogh.  I can use it to practise my Chinese and learn something, too.  Oh, that's right, it's for the kids!  Sometimes, I forget and just enjoy these things myself.

Ministry of Education search engine - Early Childhood Centers

I found this link to the Ministry of Education's Early Childhood website . It has a search engine where you can find all the registered private, semi-private, and public early childhood centers in Taiwan.  It is in Chinese, but is fairly easy to navigate.

You can also look for your own school's website on the URLIFE site.  I have joined their online school sites, and there is a mass of information there for people with schoolaged children.  It's going to take me a while to dig through it before I can post some English information, so I encourage you to test your Chinese and go DIY!