New 2010 Animated Chinese Festival Stories

恭喜发财！ Gong Xi Fa Cai!  Happy Year of the Tiger!

I know, it’s already a week after Feb 14th (the 1st day of Chinese New Year).  Am I still celebrating?  Yes!  I am actually in Beijing at the moment, and I can tell you the people here have not stopped celebrating yet!  They are still plenty of fireworks EVERYWHERE every night, for hours.  As I sit here typing, the fireworks have been going at it for at least 3 hours!

Yes, we should celebrate and we should treasure the ones we love and where we are.  In 2009, the world economy was ...

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Better Chinese 2010 NAIS Conference

Better Chinese is happy to announce that we will be going to the 2010 NAIS conference this week on February 25th and the 26th! This year, NAIS will take place at the Moscone Convention Center West in San Francisco: 747 Howard Street.  Come visit us at Booth 828! We will have our K-12 curricular materials to share with teachers and administrators.  We are also very excited to share with you that Better Chinese is the only publisher of K-12 Chinese curriculum that has been reviewed and adopted by 7 U.S. States, with innovative lesson planning and online learning platforms. ...

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要教多少语法才合适 Is Learning Grammar Crucial to Learning Chinese?

虽然我不是语言学专家，但据我的观察，除了像在德语说得比较公认“标准”的地区外（德语语法比较严谨），语言本质上是“约定俗成”。也就是说，凡是全部或大部分人都接受并且应用的语言就是正确的，尤其是我所知道的中文。

相对于语法，颜老师、储老师讲的“语感”按照我的理解就是人们的习惯，它有一定的规律，但却不一定能精确地归纳为定律（语法）。大华风采一向偏重于介绍句型，与一般的教材比起来，我们在语法方面似乎少一些。我们说这是因为我们知道人们尤其是儿童学习语言的自然规律：重在表达、沟通，而不靠掌握语法。讲的更白一点，我们的教学理念是：我能说我想说的话，你能听懂就好了。

然而如果教材的对象是大学生，是善于逻辑理性思考的新成年人。一般大家认为他们学习外语时比较能够吸收并掌握语法，而且他们由于懂得问为什么，因此必须尽量满足他们对语法的需求。一般而言，这个观念没有错，尤其对那些能够深入探究、思考的学生。这样的学生恐怕是少数，多数的大学生更要“学以致用”，不一定要能掌握很多语法，而是要听得懂、看得懂、说得出、写得来。对这样的学生（恐怕是多数），重点在于流利(fluency) 的程度，而不是造诣(depth of acquisition)有多深。

总的来说，我赞成颜老师、储老师的意见，即：把重点放在培养锻炼语感上，对语法的介绍要有，但不必讲求分量（适度就好，别太多）。我认为我们不要教学生说“他们的家有多少人”这样的“洋泾浜”（外国人说的汉语），因为凡是母语是汉语的人都不会说“他们的家有几个人”。当然，也许我们唱歌的时候会唱“我的家在海的那一边…，我的心在海的这一边，在你这边…”之类的抒情语。

汉语千变万化，基本上跟着场合、情况、对象、感觉走，一般倾向简练，言能达意就好（人家听得懂，听的习惯），不太墨守成规（即所谓的“语法”造句）。

罗罗嗦嗦，我达意了吗？

CK

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語言的味道… 濮老师

One of great friends in Palo Alto, Stephanie Puk, teachers at the International School of the Peninsula (ISTP).  She has a blog that talks about her fascinating experience in the US.

One entry, I thought was really funny is titled… 語言的味道, or the taste of language.

I thought this entry is particularly interesting as there are so many different ways to describe smells in Chinese… some are not that easy to translate.  Almost reminds me of my Italian friend telling me that there are so many different ways to express “anger” in Italian

Read on!  http://pucunshu.blog.sohu.com/144484707.html

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K-12 State-Adopted Chinese Language Curriculum for Chinese Teachers and Schools in Tennessee

I have been hearing wonderful news recently about Chinese language programs jump-starting in Tennessee. Did you know that K-12 Better Chinese materials and online programs are state-adopted in Tennessee?

What does it mean to be state-adopted? Last year, Better Chinese participated in a review process that examined whether our curriculum aptly correlates with Tennessee state standards for foreign language learning. Better Chinese sent our materials to the state’s various school district members and also to a specifically-selected panel of Tennessee teachers and administrators for review. Better Chinese representatives also traveled to Tennessee for Q&A sessions hosted by the ...

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