Top 10 reasons for learning Chinese language:
http://www.childbook.com/Why-Learn-Chinese-s/90.htm#top10learn
1.Economic growth
2.Manufacturing/Technology work
3.Exporting
4.Global Econony
5.Government work
6.Chinese culture
7.Learning another viewpoint
8.Starting early at school for later subjects
9.Importance of language
10.Family and community
Ten reasons for not learning Chinese:
1. Refusal to learn
2.Effect on English usage
3.Easier to speak English
4.Waste of time and too hard!
5.It's not fun like other subjects
6.Learning is too hard
7.No native speaker
8.Conscience of forcing child to learn
9.Don't have time
10.Have no idea where to buy Chinese materials
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Research Process - Discussions with Bill (Jizhou) (27 Dec 2011)
19th Dec - from Bill
I've just read an article on Internet about learning Chinese, hope it can be helpful to you.
Here is the link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/culture/2011-06/16/c_13933993.htm
NO LONGER ACCESSIBLE
From this article, I think the most serious problem foreign learners face are:
1. The tones and characters are too difficult to learn, it's hard not to give up
- AC.Just concentrating on tones, they require sustained practice.
2. They can not find enough native speakers to talk with.
- AC.Meetup events, exposure on internet to spoken mandarin.
And for teachers:
1. not enough materials
- AC.cost of materials, paid for by students.
2. not enough budget to hire Chinese teachers
- AC.Set organisations - private or state-funded.
Another link for leaning Chinese
http://www.words-chinese.com/
Links found by Bill:
1.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4617646.stm
Problems with Learning:
- Tones
- Script
Anne Martin believes that part of the problem is the exam system - which isn't designed for native speakers and is hard for them to gain good grades. So hard for non-native learners to pass. Causes for schools to be reluctant to timetable Chinese is non-native learners cannot get good grades.
"People who want to be ahead in whatever industry need to think about China and learning Chinese."
2.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/china/learningenglish/specials/1120_aab_28_schools/page5.shtml
Finn's report: (mp3 Audio file)
How many British people learn Chinese?
- More and more studying Chinese, statistics held by CILT National Center for Languages
High school - doubled from 2000 (4028 learning) to 2004 (7580 learning)
Not many compared to European languages.
see http://www.cilt.org.uk/home.aspx
- 1000 study at University
- About 1000 taking evening classes
- Some learning at Primary school
"It will play at important role"
"Fantastic to learn such a vital skill" - especially in Business or Politics
"Need to keep practising"
3.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8776515/The-rise-and-rise-of-Mandarin-but-how-
many-will-end-up-speaking-it.html
"China is now a major world economy"
20 Sep 2011
from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8776515/The-rise-and-rise-of-Mandarin-but-how-many-will-end-up-speaking-it.html
"Indeed, only 1,500 students took Chinese or Mandarin at undergraduate or postgraduate level last year, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, making it the least popular major language apart from Japanese." see http://www.hesa.ac.uk/
Chinese is one of the most sought after languages by British businesses.
However it is hard for Chinese to become a world language.
Difficulty of rote-learning thousands of words.
One third of mandarin students are from Japan and South Korea, then US, then Europe, then developing countries.
"foreign countries lack resources to teach Chinese, both in books and teachers"
"The environment is important"
"Chinese students studying overseas to take on more teaching jobs at schools""many foreign students eventually arrive at the shameful conclusion that the Chinese are mastering English far more quickly than vice versa"
Bill - The reason for learning Chinese for UK learners is what I'm interested in.
And how many of them give up because it's too difficult? - Stats?
"interest in Chinese culture is a strong and sustainable desire to learn"
"For a better job is a strong desire, but if not so interested in Chinese culture"
If Mandarin means better jobs in the future then this will be the motivation.
In China, friends like to learn Japanese and Korean because they like animations and comics of Japan and Korea at first. "culture-based learning"
The key to any course is the objective for learning - is it for Work, Holiday, Study or Cultural interest?
More detail on business work potential in China - student motivations?
For English , it's hard to say someone learn that because thay like English culture or American culture. It is a have to do thing.
"culture-based study should be encouraged."
The 3 problems:
1. too difficult to learn - made easier, or more graded?
2. not enough materials - funding of materials, online materials?
3. not enough native speakers to talk with - more connections with native speakers.
I've just read an article on Internet about learning Chinese, hope it can be helpful to you.
Here is the link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/culture/2011-06/16/c_13933993.htm
NO LONGER ACCESSIBLE
From this article, I think the most serious problem foreign learners face are:
1. The tones and characters are too difficult to learn, it's hard not to give up
- AC.Just concentrating on tones, they require sustained practice.
2. They can not find enough native speakers to talk with.
- AC.Meetup events, exposure on internet to spoken mandarin.
And for teachers:
1. not enough materials
- AC.cost of materials, paid for by students.
2. not enough budget to hire Chinese teachers
- AC.Set organisations - private or state-funded.
Another link for leaning Chinese
http://www.words-chinese.com/
Links found by Bill:
1.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4617646.stm
Problems with Learning:
- Tones
- Script
Anne Martin believes that part of the problem is the exam system - which isn't designed for native speakers and is hard for them to gain good grades. So hard for non-native learners to pass. Causes for schools to be reluctant to timetable Chinese is non-native learners cannot get good grades.
"People who want to be ahead in whatever industry need to think about China and learning Chinese."
2.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/china/learningenglish/specials/1120_aab_28_schools/page5.shtml
Finn's report: (mp3 Audio file)
How many British people learn Chinese?
- More and more studying Chinese, statistics held by CILT National Center for Languages
High school - doubled from 2000 (4028 learning) to 2004 (7580 learning)
Not many compared to European languages.
see http://www.cilt.org.uk/home.aspx
- 1000 study at University
- About 1000 taking evening classes
- Some learning at Primary school
"It will play at important role"
"Fantastic to learn such a vital skill" - especially in Business or Politics
"Need to keep practising"
3.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8776515/The-rise-and-rise-of-Mandarin-but-how-
many-will-end-up-speaking-it.html
"China is now a major world economy"
20 Sep 2011
from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8776515/The-rise-and-rise-of-Mandarin-but-how-many-will-end-up-speaking-it.html
"Indeed, only 1,500 students took Chinese or Mandarin at undergraduate or postgraduate level last year, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, making it the least popular major language apart from Japanese." see http://www.hesa.ac.uk/
Chinese is one of the most sought after languages by British businesses.
However it is hard for Chinese to become a world language.
Difficulty of rote-learning thousands of words.
One third of mandarin students are from Japan and South Korea, then US, then Europe, then developing countries.
"foreign countries lack resources to teach Chinese, both in books and teachers"
"The environment is important"
"Chinese students studying overseas to take on more teaching jobs at schools""many foreign students eventually arrive at the shameful conclusion that the Chinese are mastering English far more quickly than vice versa"
Bill - The reason for learning Chinese for UK learners is what I'm interested in.
And how many of them give up because it's too difficult? - Stats?
"interest in Chinese culture is a strong and sustainable desire to learn"
"For a better job is a strong desire, but if not so interested in Chinese culture"
If Mandarin means better jobs in the future then this will be the motivation.
In China, friends like to learn Japanese and Korean because they like animations and comics of Japan and Korea at first. "culture-based learning"
The key to any course is the objective for learning - is it for Work, Holiday, Study or Cultural interest?
More detail on business work potential in China - student motivations?
For English , it's hard to say someone learn that because thay like English culture or American culture. It is a have to do thing.
"culture-based study should be encouraged."
The 3 problems:
1. too difficult to learn - made easier, or more graded?
2. not enough materials - funding of materials, online materials?
3. not enough native speakers to talk with - more connections with native speakers.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Research Process - Visit to Central St Martins Library, KX (20 Dec 2011)
This afternoon I visited Central St Martins College Library at King's Cross.
Apparently I could not just turn up, and actually needed to book two days in advance for a visit through this email address: library.visits@csm.arts.ac.uk.
Related searches on Sconul:
Apparently I could not just turn up, and actually needed to book two days in advance for a visit through this email address: library.visits@csm.arts.ac.uk.
Related searches on Sconul:
School of Oriental and African Studies
| Web site: | http://www.soas.ac.uk/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Library Web site: | http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/ | |
| Library Catalogue: | http://lib.soas.ac.uk/ |
Library contact:
| Name: | Yvette Dickerson | |
|---|---|---|
| Post Held: | Reader Services Manager | |
| Email address: | yd1@soas.ac.uk | |
| Telephone number: | +44 020 7898 4796 | |
| Post Code: | WC1H 0XG |
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Research Process - Interview with I Ju, Mandarin Teacher from Taiwan (18 Dec 2011)
Eileen at Ravensbourne sent me I Ju's contact details and I pre-sent a questionnaire with questions for I Ju to meet the following weekend. I sent 30 pre-written questions to be considered in preparation for the interview.
Questions and Answers:
Questions and Answers:
Research Interview
with I Ju – a Mandarin teacher from Taiwan -
Raynes Park, London, Sunday 18 December 2011
Questions prepared by Andrew Craddock, MA Interactive Digital Media student,
Ravensbourne College, London, 10 December 2011
Introduction:
This research is about developing Interactive Learning Tools for Mandarin and finding more creative and memorable ways to learn characters, words, and sentences.
You do not have to answer all questions, however if you can answer as many as possible this would be appreciated.
TEACHING METHODS
Q1: Do you teach people to write, or speak, or both?
[ ] Write Simplified Chinese and/or Traditional system
[ ] Speak Taiwanese, or Mandarin Chinese, or both
[Y] Both writing and teaching for all above –
IJ. Depends on their needs. All of above.
Q2: Who are your students? Are they from:
[Y] UK
[Y] Hong Kong
[N] Taiwan
[N] Mainland China
[Y] Malaysia
[Y] Other
IJ. Korea, Singapore, Brazil, Australia, South Africa.
50% are in work, 50% in high school.
Q3: What age group(s) do your teach?
[A] High school 12-18 yrs, Parents and children aged 4-6, Work employees 25-40, Students in Adult education aged 40-60.
With Adult education most have a partner from China/Taiwan, the aim is for their partners to improve because they are in the host country therefore they use English.
Q4: What books/software do you teach with?
[A] Many different books – depends on the group.
Adults – ‘Chinese express’ – a UK publisher
High School/GCSE students - ‘Kuaile Hanyu’ – from Beijing university
Kids – ‘Chinese made easy’
Q5: Do you have a teaching qualification/or have native language skill?
[A] HSK teaching certificate, Taiwan Dip TSCOL, Dip DTLLS, IELTS, MA, taking PHD.
Have native language skill, but regional teaching skill not needed in teaching role.
LEARNING METHODS
Q6: Do you know how many words or characters your students learn every week?
[A] 2 hours of teaching for a student each week. Depends on level and needs.
Adults usually learn about 20 characters a week, sometimes for more intensive sessions 30-40 characters a week.
For the HSK test, students are learning about 100 characters a week. For business mandarin around the same or higher if they have been learning for 1 to 2 years.
Q7: When students are learning to speak Chinese what do they find hardest to understand?
[A] For speaking, pronounciation of the tones is especially difficult for English speakers.
The 1st tone should be high and long. Ie. Yi should be pronounced high and long, not at the same pitch as normal English or it will not be understood.
Sometimes students confuse the 2nd and 3rd tone, making the 3rd sound like the 2nd. Kids pronounciation can be better, and they are less likely to be confused between tones or pitch!
Q8: When students are learning to write Chinese what do they find hardest to remember?
[A] Stroke order, up-down, left-right, inside-outside, good form and balance is important. Keep beauty and order. Remember that ‘the character is the culture’ – if it is not correct it is like painting not writing. Starting from the correct place to proceed on the journey through the character form.
Q9: Do your students know how to use the Input method editor (IME) on a Windows or Mac PC?
[A] Work students know the IME, but not high school students –who are more interested in familiarity and writing games on paper.
Q10: I understand that Bopomofo system is taught in schools in Taiwan. Do you think there are advantages to children learning Bopomofo first, then learning the characters later?
[A] Bopomofo is the general term. Zhuyin is the more specific term. Age 6-7 have both writing and speaking ability. They can express speaking more quickly as they can read more quickly (though zhuyin writings). In Taiwan they learn the English alphabet from 10, then use Zhuyin. AC. I asked if Zhuyin might be useful for non-Taiwanese and she did not think it had any usefulness for countries outside of Taiwan.
Q11: Can you list out some of the ways that students can memorise characters?
[A] Stories, articles, sounds like, painting, root thinking.
Q12: Do students have ways to remember word combinations and sentences? Or is it best for them to try to remember the components and then put them together?
[A] I placed emphasis on word combinations. By looking at the 1st character as the key, the family of words can be recited. Word family is known as ‘zi gen’ which means word root.
Q13: Essentially I think that language is about establishing relations between sounds, ideas, meaning, writing and symbols and then communicating these so that the listener or reader can understand the communicator. How do your students know that a certain character matches a certain sound that matches a certain word? Do you have different ways to teach these associations?
[A] Pinyin, then pinyin with hanzi, then only hanzi.
COMPARING TRADITIONAL AND INTERACTIVE LEARNING
Q14: For your teaching do you use traditional methods (ie,Book, board, rote learning) or interactive methods (touchscreen, tablet, computer, internet), or both?
[ ] Traditional teaching
[ ] Interactive teaching
[Y] Both
There are computers at the teaching setting:
– High School/College – Powerpoint/Video.
- Work – Powerpoint/Video
- no touchscreen interfaces used in teaching.
Q15: In some ways do you prefer for students to continue to learn from books? Why?
[A] More academically recognised, due to age they cannot, might not or prefer not to use computer.
The interview talked about style of imagery used in books, mentioned that some images appear to be borrowed, conventional, can be cliché and need to be made more real or more classic. AC.What is the intended perception of learning from books – the mythology, ancient, romantic or actual history and fantasized utopia or modern reality?
Q16: As children we interact with toys and games to learn about concepts.
Do you think someone can remember more from traditional learning or interactive learning?
[A] I use games and activities, and roleplay to support learning from books. I give them real money so that they can be the seller and buyer.
Q17: Do you use any interactive games in your sessions for teaching areas such as vocabulary?
[A] Yes, we look at colour – however it depends, we use flashcards, and pens and try to be creative.
In high school I teach peking opera and show them masks.
We look at favourite colours so that we can personalise learning, and make it special to each learner.
Q18: At the Westfield Stratford there is an interactive kiosk by Rosetta Stone, for teaching people to speak Mandarin. Do you think that Rosetta Stone products complements or competes with what you do?
[A] They complement. It is a product for distance learning.
Q19: Have you explored teaching through visual or written storytelling, modern or ancient poetry?
[A] We have looked at stories, using zodiac animals, spring festival, dragon festival, looked at a bit of poetry, looked at autumn festival and mooncakes, exploring each festival and it’s associated food connections.
Q20: Visual imagery can be very useful way to communicate character and word associations. Do you use visual methods such as flashcards, or pictures, or videos for teaching?
[A] Yes.
Q21: Have you heard of websites and phone applications such as Google Translate, Nciku, Skritter and Pleco? If you have not heard of any of these just say.
[A] Yes to all except Pleco. Opinions?…don’t need online dictionaries. Use Cihai dictionary which means ‘word ocean’.
PRONOUNCIATION
Q22: When talking about students pronounciation. Do your students record their voice, to playback and compare with a native speech?
[A] Record on mobile device. Can send mp3s from mobile from sender. Practise of pronounciation is best. I encourage students to speak for about 3 mins with a provided topic or open topic of their own choosing.
Q23: What are the first things that you teach a student? Ie.Tones, pronounciation, character strokes, etc.
[A] Technique: (1) Tones (2) Pronounciation (3) Words (4) Sentences (5) A Few characters.
Q24: As well as the speech by respected and qualified teachers, in your opinion who are the most highly regarded speakers of the language? For example are they broadcasters, news presenters, government officers, actors, singers, etc?
Can you name any good current role models who represent the language well?
[A] News presenters. AC.We talked about people of different professions who have particular reasons for speaking in a particular way and also regional dialects though these apparently are not required in teaching of mandarin.
Q25: Why are your students learning Chinese? Can you list some of their reasons for learning?
[A] There are two main groups:
1) Business Group – In future they would like to work in China.
2) Personal Group with two sub-branches
a) Interested in culture/something new.
b) Background interest – they may be half-chinese, from China, looking to re-integrate, move back (this is about 50% of her students.)
c) Influence of partner – one example would be to return to retire.
Q26: Do your students have the opportunity to practice with native speakers, in addition to your teaching?
[A] Most don’t have the opportunity to practice with a native Chinese speaker, even if parent is Chinese! Their environment is mostly English. AC.We talked about exposure through living in a certain area though it was thought that this is irrelevant, it is though work and social connections that practice is enabled not geographical location in London/SE England. It is certainly more relevant that through related social meetups and China-related vocational work their practise is more possible.
Q27: Are you aware of spoken and written skill level differences between learners of Mandarin, between Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan, especially at high school level?
[A] No answer. AC. See also Question 10 answers for feedback on Taiwanese learning skill at certain ages. The question was too broad for comparison to accurately answer for other regions, based on experience, and also it was seen that any differences are not necessarily noticeable.
GENERAL
Q28: Do you think that people will need to learn Mandarin for business in the future, or is English sufficient in some ways?
[A] This question had been asked before. English can be spoken to some extent in major cities.
The answer is that it depends on where they want to work.
Example:
Someone who works in Shanghai for a global company. Say they have been learning Mandarin for 2 years, though they can get by conversationally, they will not find it easy to involve business objectives. They will find that they cannot read business contracts or read specific technical words without specific work-related study.
Q29: Do you try to immerse your students as much as possible in the culture (such as music and art) in your lessons, or keep as much as possible to the core language learning?
[A] About 20% culture, 80% language.
Q30: Are there any questions that you have, or anything that you would like to add?
[A] You should look further at ‘Teaching’ as well as ‘Learning’.
There are two kinds of teacher and differences in teaching between Taiwan and Mainland China.
If people want to work in Taipei, English can be sufficient.
Example 1:
Materials
TW – Can teach with additional materials.
CN – The teachers mostly focus on the book. Think that additional materials are not needed.
Example 2:
Information
TW – Teachers can find more information available, and other viewpoints can be found.
CN – There is less info for teachers, and usually one viewpoint.
Example 3:
Lesson style in English
TW – When the teacher learnt English in Taiwan, then lessons were in English only. This was the base language for lessons.
UK – When teaching Mandarin in the UK, the lesson structure is entirely in English.
Example 4:
Lesson style in Mandarin
Used to teaching Mandarin Chinese as a base language in Taiwan for students from South Korea, Japan, and other nearby regions.
AC.Close of Interview.
THANK YOU
谢谢
Xièxiè
Raynes Park, London, Sunday 18 December 2011
Questions prepared by Andrew Craddock, MA Interactive Digital Media student,
Ravensbourne College, London, 10 December 2011
Introduction:
This research is about developing Interactive Learning Tools for Mandarin and finding more creative and memorable ways to learn characters, words, and sentences.
You do not have to answer all questions, however if you can answer as many as possible this would be appreciated.
TEACHING METHODS
Q1: Do you teach people to write, or speak, or both?
[ ] Write Simplified Chinese and/or Traditional system
[ ] Speak Taiwanese, or Mandarin Chinese, or both
[Y] Both writing and teaching for all above –
IJ. Depends on their needs. All of above.
Q2: Who are your students? Are they from:
[Y] UK
[Y] Hong Kong
[N] Taiwan
[N] Mainland China
[Y] Malaysia
[Y] Other
IJ. Korea, Singapore, Brazil, Australia, South Africa.
50% are in work, 50% in high school.
Q3: What age group(s) do your teach?
[A] High school 12-18 yrs, Parents and children aged 4-6, Work employees 25-40, Students in Adult education aged 40-60.
With Adult education most have a partner from China/Taiwan, the aim is for their partners to improve because they are in the host country therefore they use English.
Q4: What books/software do you teach with?
[A] Many different books – depends on the group.
Adults – ‘Chinese express’ – a UK publisher
High School/GCSE students - ‘Kuaile Hanyu’ – from Beijing university
Kids – ‘Chinese made easy’
Q5: Do you have a teaching qualification/or have native language skill?
[A] HSK teaching certificate, Taiwan Dip TSCOL, Dip DTLLS, IELTS, MA, taking PHD.
Have native language skill, but regional teaching skill not needed in teaching role.
LEARNING METHODS
Q6: Do you know how many words or characters your students learn every week?
[A] 2 hours of teaching for a student each week. Depends on level and needs.
Adults usually learn about 20 characters a week, sometimes for more intensive sessions 30-40 characters a week.
For the HSK test, students are learning about 100 characters a week. For business mandarin around the same or higher if they have been learning for 1 to 2 years.
Q7: When students are learning to speak Chinese what do they find hardest to understand?
[A] For speaking, pronounciation of the tones is especially difficult for English speakers.
The 1st tone should be high and long. Ie. Yi should be pronounced high and long, not at the same pitch as normal English or it will not be understood.
Sometimes students confuse the 2nd and 3rd tone, making the 3rd sound like the 2nd. Kids pronounciation can be better, and they are less likely to be confused between tones or pitch!
Q8: When students are learning to write Chinese what do they find hardest to remember?
[A] Stroke order, up-down, left-right, inside-outside, good form and balance is important. Keep beauty and order. Remember that ‘the character is the culture’ – if it is not correct it is like painting not writing. Starting from the correct place to proceed on the journey through the character form.
Q9: Do your students know how to use the Input method editor (IME) on a Windows or Mac PC?
[A] Work students know the IME, but not high school students –who are more interested in familiarity and writing games on paper.
Q10: I understand that Bopomofo system is taught in schools in Taiwan. Do you think there are advantages to children learning Bopomofo first, then learning the characters later?
[A] Bopomofo is the general term. Zhuyin is the more specific term. Age 6-7 have both writing and speaking ability. They can express speaking more quickly as they can read more quickly (though zhuyin writings). In Taiwan they learn the English alphabet from 10, then use Zhuyin. AC. I asked if Zhuyin might be useful for non-Taiwanese and she did not think it had any usefulness for countries outside of Taiwan.
Q11: Can you list out some of the ways that students can memorise characters?
[A] Stories, articles, sounds like, painting, root thinking.
Q12: Do students have ways to remember word combinations and sentences? Or is it best for them to try to remember the components and then put them together?
[A] I placed emphasis on word combinations. By looking at the 1st character as the key, the family of words can be recited. Word family is known as ‘zi gen’ which means word root.
Q13: Essentially I think that language is about establishing relations between sounds, ideas, meaning, writing and symbols and then communicating these so that the listener or reader can understand the communicator. How do your students know that a certain character matches a certain sound that matches a certain word? Do you have different ways to teach these associations?
[A] Pinyin, then pinyin with hanzi, then only hanzi.
COMPARING TRADITIONAL AND INTERACTIVE LEARNING
Q14: For your teaching do you use traditional methods (ie,Book, board, rote learning) or interactive methods (touchscreen, tablet, computer, internet), or both?
[ ] Traditional teaching
[ ] Interactive teaching
[Y] Both
There are computers at the teaching setting:
– High School/College – Powerpoint/Video.
- Work – Powerpoint/Video
- no touchscreen interfaces used in teaching.
Q15: In some ways do you prefer for students to continue to learn from books? Why?
[A] More academically recognised, due to age they cannot, might not or prefer not to use computer.
The interview talked about style of imagery used in books, mentioned that some images appear to be borrowed, conventional, can be cliché and need to be made more real or more classic. AC.What is the intended perception of learning from books – the mythology, ancient, romantic or actual history and fantasized utopia or modern reality?
Q16: As children we interact with toys and games to learn about concepts.
Do you think someone can remember more from traditional learning or interactive learning?
[A] I use games and activities, and roleplay to support learning from books. I give them real money so that they can be the seller and buyer.
Q17: Do you use any interactive games in your sessions for teaching areas such as vocabulary?
[A] Yes, we look at colour – however it depends, we use flashcards, and pens and try to be creative.
In high school I teach peking opera and show them masks.
We look at favourite colours so that we can personalise learning, and make it special to each learner.
Q18: At the Westfield Stratford there is an interactive kiosk by Rosetta Stone, for teaching people to speak Mandarin. Do you think that Rosetta Stone products complements or competes with what you do?
[A] They complement. It is a product for distance learning.
Q19: Have you explored teaching through visual or written storytelling, modern or ancient poetry?
[A] We have looked at stories, using zodiac animals, spring festival, dragon festival, looked at a bit of poetry, looked at autumn festival and mooncakes, exploring each festival and it’s associated food connections.
Q20: Visual imagery can be very useful way to communicate character and word associations. Do you use visual methods such as flashcards, or pictures, or videos for teaching?
[A] Yes.
Q21: Have you heard of websites and phone applications such as Google Translate, Nciku, Skritter and Pleco? If you have not heard of any of these just say.
[A] Yes to all except Pleco. Opinions?…don’t need online dictionaries. Use Cihai dictionary which means ‘word ocean’.
PRONOUNCIATION
Q22: When talking about students pronounciation. Do your students record their voice, to playback and compare with a native speech?
[A] Record on mobile device. Can send mp3s from mobile from sender. Practise of pronounciation is best. I encourage students to speak for about 3 mins with a provided topic or open topic of their own choosing.
Q23: What are the first things that you teach a student? Ie.Tones, pronounciation, character strokes, etc.
[A] Technique: (1) Tones (2) Pronounciation (3) Words (4) Sentences (5) A Few characters.
Q24: As well as the speech by respected and qualified teachers, in your opinion who are the most highly regarded speakers of the language? For example are they broadcasters, news presenters, government officers, actors, singers, etc?
Can you name any good current role models who represent the language well?
[A] News presenters. AC.We talked about people of different professions who have particular reasons for speaking in a particular way and also regional dialects though these apparently are not required in teaching of mandarin.
Q25: Why are your students learning Chinese? Can you list some of their reasons for learning?
[A] There are two main groups:
1) Business Group – In future they would like to work in China.
2) Personal Group with two sub-branches
a) Interested in culture/something new.
b) Background interest – they may be half-chinese, from China, looking to re-integrate, move back (this is about 50% of her students.)
c) Influence of partner – one example would be to return to retire.
Q26: Do your students have the opportunity to practice with native speakers, in addition to your teaching?
[A] Most don’t have the opportunity to practice with a native Chinese speaker, even if parent is Chinese! Their environment is mostly English. AC.We talked about exposure through living in a certain area though it was thought that this is irrelevant, it is though work and social connections that practice is enabled not geographical location in London/SE England. It is certainly more relevant that through related social meetups and China-related vocational work their practise is more possible.
Q27: Are you aware of spoken and written skill level differences between learners of Mandarin, between Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan, especially at high school level?
[A] No answer. AC. See also Question 10 answers for feedback on Taiwanese learning skill at certain ages. The question was too broad for comparison to accurately answer for other regions, based on experience, and also it was seen that any differences are not necessarily noticeable.
GENERAL
Q28: Do you think that people will need to learn Mandarin for business in the future, or is English sufficient in some ways?
[A] This question had been asked before. English can be spoken to some extent in major cities.
The answer is that it depends on where they want to work.
Example:
Someone who works in Shanghai for a global company. Say they have been learning Mandarin for 2 years, though they can get by conversationally, they will not find it easy to involve business objectives. They will find that they cannot read business contracts or read specific technical words without specific work-related study.
Q29: Do you try to immerse your students as much as possible in the culture (such as music and art) in your lessons, or keep as much as possible to the core language learning?
[A] About 20% culture, 80% language.
Q30: Are there any questions that you have, or anything that you would like to add?
[A] You should look further at ‘Teaching’ as well as ‘Learning’.
There are two kinds of teacher and differences in teaching between Taiwan and Mainland China.
If people want to work in Taipei, English can be sufficient.
Example 1:
Materials
TW – Can teach with additional materials.
CN – The teachers mostly focus on the book. Think that additional materials are not needed.
Example 2:
Information
TW – Teachers can find more information available, and other viewpoints can be found.
CN – There is less info for teachers, and usually one viewpoint.
Example 3:
Lesson style in English
TW – When the teacher learnt English in Taiwan, then lessons were in English only. This was the base language for lessons.
UK – When teaching Mandarin in the UK, the lesson structure is entirely in English.
Example 4:
Lesson style in Mandarin
Used to teaching Mandarin Chinese as a base language in Taiwan for students from South Korea, Japan, and other nearby regions.
AC.Close of Interview.
THANK YOU
谢谢
Xièxiè
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Research Process - Anaglyph 3D exploration (17 Dec 2011)
From this site http://www.stereoeye.jp/software/index_e.html
I experimented with 3D stereoscopic analyghs with English letterforms and Chinese characters set in 3D perspective.
I experimented with 3D stereoscopic analyghs with English letterforms and Chinese characters set in 3D perspective.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Research Process - Learning English in Chinese (14 Dec 2011)
Notes from http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzI3NjI1MjA0.html
教育频道 > 教育列表 > 语言学习Education channel> list of Education>Language Learning
视频: DVD考试单词全记牢1
Video: DVD all remember the simplicity of a test word
Vocabulary being learnt:
1. am
2. able
separated by looking at a = yige, then ble, metaphor of pushing a stone.
3. about
separated by looking at abo, then ut
given example of a person pointing at a boat = about
4. above
ab = abo
ove = love
metaphor of a person standing on a chair with love symbols in their eyes.
5.abroad
showing a person walking past a temple
ab = person
road
6.accept
ac = 'ac'milan footballer
ce = toilet like cesuo
pt =putao, eating grapes
footballer eating grapes in front of a toilet!
7.ache
showing person hit by a car!
8.active
act
iv = like 4
e = duck
people watching 4 ducks then clapping
9.actor
act
or
10.actress
act
re =
ss = liange meiyu
11.admit
chengren
ad
mit
person pouring ad in a classroom
12.advise
a
dv
i
se
13.afternoon
after -
noon - zhongwu
14.again
a
gai
n - like men, door
person adding wood to a door again
15.ahead
last stopeed at 06.00 secs, out of 185.44.
教育频道 > 教育列表 > 语言学习Education channel> list of Education>Language Learning
视频: DVD考试单词全记牢1
Video: DVD all remember the simplicity of a test word
Vocabulary being learnt:
1. am
2. able
separated by looking at a = yige, then ble, metaphor of pushing a stone.
3. about
separated by looking at abo, then ut
given example of a person pointing at a boat = about
4. above
ab = abo
ove = love
metaphor of a person standing on a chair with love symbols in their eyes.
5.abroad
showing a person walking past a temple
ab = person
road
6.accept
ac = 'ac'milan footballer
ce = toilet like cesuo
pt =putao, eating grapes
footballer eating grapes in front of a toilet!
7.ache
showing person hit by a car!
8.active
act
iv = like 4
e = duck
people watching 4 ducks then clapping
9.actor
act
or
10.actress
act
re =
ss = liange meiyu
11.admit
chengren
ad
mit
person pouring ad in a classroom
12.advise
a
dv
i
se
13.afternoon
after -
noon - zhongwu
14.again
a
gai
n - like men, door
person adding wood to a door again
15.ahead
last stopeed at 06.00 secs, out of 185.44.
Friday, 9 December 2011
Research Process - Rosetta Stone (09 Dec 2011)
ROSETTA STONE INTERFACE - Drawn from seeing the Interactive at Stratford Westfield.
Explanation of each screen:
1.BASIC VOCABULARY
The learner is given a pinyin and character sentence. For the answer they can select the pinyin and the matching image. If they do not get the correct match they can select another picture until they find the correct answer.
2.MATCHING CHARACTER
The learner can click on the pinyin and hear the sound, and then see the matching character. They can then click next to go onto the next item.
3.ALPHABET/PHONETIC INDEX
The learner can see the matching characters for a single sound such as bao. This shows them that one sound can have several matching characters, and to take care when expressing the meaning. This is a reference screen and can provide a way of identifying characters.
4.SPEECH WITH SENTENCE
A sentence is spoken with intentional blanks in the sentence. The learner is given several alternatives, usually two displayed vertically and they can choose one to fill in the blanks. They will be given feedback if the chosen blank is grammatically incorrect.
5.SPEAKING AND RECORDING
The learner can listen to a sentence, repeat with their own speech and then see if they have pronounced items correctly.
6.GRAMMAR REVISION
Once they have finished recording they will be presented with a screen to show them which sounds were correctly or incorrectly prounounced. This pronouciation accuracy can be calibrated from easy to difficult within the settings.
Explanation of each screen:
1.BASIC VOCABULARY
The learner is given a pinyin and character sentence. For the answer they can select the pinyin and the matching image. If they do not get the correct match they can select another picture until they find the correct answer.
2.MATCHING CHARACTER
The learner can click on the pinyin and hear the sound, and then see the matching character. They can then click next to go onto the next item.
3.ALPHABET/PHONETIC INDEX
The learner can see the matching characters for a single sound such as bao. This shows them that one sound can have several matching characters, and to take care when expressing the meaning. This is a reference screen and can provide a way of identifying characters.
4.SPEECH WITH SENTENCE
A sentence is spoken with intentional blanks in the sentence. The learner is given several alternatives, usually two displayed vertically and they can choose one to fill in the blanks. They will be given feedback if the chosen blank is grammatically incorrect.
5.SPEAKING AND RECORDING
The learner can listen to a sentence, repeat with their own speech and then see if they have pronounced items correctly.
6.GRAMMAR REVISION
Once they have finished recording they will be presented with a screen to show them which sounds were correctly or incorrectly prounounced. This pronouciation accuracy can be calibrated from easy to difficult within the settings.
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