Storyline

MAGIC CHINESE
TEXTBOOK (First Draft)
updated with Lin Yingzhu laoshi & Kwan's new three lessons
We need Su-jane laoshi's WORD document (not PDF) on Reivew ONE.
FOUNDATION ONE:
LEARNING "B P M F SONG" FROM PETER
Students Reading:
(Show Peter's picture with Pinyin saying: W? shì Peter.)
Hey, I'm Peter. I moved up here from Taipei, Taiwan with my parents when I
was 8 years old. Mom and dad insist I use Chinese at home. Thanks to them,
my Chinese is still fluent. My friend, Melissa, wants to learn Chinese from
me. After giving it some thought, I believe I can teach her my learning
secret. It makes the learning of pronunciation go faster and easier. Trust
me! Once you've learned my two songs, you'll be able to say anything in
Chinese as long as it is spelled out in this phonic system. You may not be
able to read Chinese characters or write them yet, but you can speak it. Please listen to the songs first then follow me to sing. First, we'll sing
the song with ABC tunes. I call it the "b p m f song". After you remember
this one, then we'll sing the song of "Compound vowels" in the melody of
Little Spider song. After you remember both songs by heart, we'll work on
how to write down these sounds in Hanyu pinyin symbols. (Wei-Yun's note: It is important to let students sing first then look at
the symbols. Singing the song without looking at the English letters lets
students learn the sound without the influence of their English ability.) b p m f
song b p m f d
t n l g k h j
q x z c s
zh ch sh r yi wu
yü a o
e ? ai ei
ao ou an en ang
eng er Women hui chang B P
M F!
(We can sing B P M
F!) The second song you're going to learn is all the compound vowels in Chinese
language. These are the combination of individual vowels you've learned in
the first song after simplifying the spelling. The two lines grouped
together are identical in sound. The top one is used when the sound is in
the ending position. The bottom one is the same sound used as is. Now let's
see if we can sing and write at the same time.
Compounded vowels
song
ia ie iao iu ian in
iang ing
ya ye yao you yan yin yang
ying ua uo ui uai uan un
uang ong
wa wo wei wai wan wen wang
weng ue uan un iong
yue yuan yun yong Women hui chang compounded
vowels.
(We can sing compounded
vowels.) One thing we haven't learned from these songs is the tonal system in
Chinese language. The tones disappeared when we sing because of the music
melody. However, when you speak Chinese language, you do need to say the
sound in the correct tone otherwise people may misunderstand you.
Tones Chinese language has five different tones. There are written as tonal
symbols on top of the pinyin, such as: - ,?,?, ma?, and?. They tell you
how the sound should be twisted. For example, the sound for mother is m?m?,
you say the first ma with a high and straight pitch for - symbol and the
second ma with a softer lower voice. This symbol,?, indicates the sound
should go up. Of course, the ?symbol tells you the sound should go down
first then up. Well, ? is going down for sure. If you have trouble hearing
the tones, try listening with your eyes closed. (Wei-yun's note: Have students using their right arm to show different
tones. Straight out to the right as first tone, raise up 45 degree for 2nd
tone, bend the elbow to raise hand for third tone, drop down to 45 degree
angle for 4th tone, and hold a fist for light tone. I prefer to use body
gesture to show tones because it is more direct information associating the
twisting of sound then thinking about the numbers. ) Extra tips for pinyin system.
1. When j, q, x, z, c, s, zh, ch, sh, and r are used in the initial sound
add a silent i behind each one. It still sounds just like the original
one in the song.
2. When yi and wu are used in the beginning position, only the first
letter is written with an ending sound. When yü is used as an initial
sound, yu is written down. If it is not in the beginning position,
then only u is used. Notice that the dots disappeared on top of the
sound. But do not worry, not too many words with this sound. Practice
the examples in the following Table.
|Pinyin |As initial sound|As ending sound |As partial |
| | | |ending sound |
|Yi |y? ? duck|n? ? you|ji?o ? to |
| | | |teach |
| | | | |
| |y?u ? to |b? ? pen|jiào ? to |
| |have | |call |
|Wu |wá ? doll|Bù ? no,|h?o ? |
| | |not |fire |
| | | | |
| |w? ? I, |zh? ? pig|h?a ? |
| |me | |flower |
|Yü |yùe ? |x? ? to |x?e ? |
| |moon |permit |snow |
| | | | |
| |yuán ? |qù ? to |xúe ? to |
| |round, |go |learn |
| |circle | | |
(Wei-yun's note: We can keep this in the teacher's resources instead in
student's book.)
TEACHER'S RESOURCES
1. Using CD and songs to practice basic pronunciation. A. Sing b p m f song Let students sing along with CD section by section but don't let them
look at the pinyin symbols. After the song has been memorized then
practice the writing of symbols.
Little tricks to help students with problem:
To remember bpmf dtnl - Boy pours more flour down to new lamp
To remember gkh jqx - Girl kisses her jumping Chihuahua Xiong
Show student how you can make a
Q from Ch
To remember zcs - Zack cuts silk
Remind student to say c as the ts
sound in cuts
To remember zh ch sh r - Review how to say z, c, s, first, then teach
student to curl the tongue and say z, c, s again. The h added in each
one is to remind them to curl their tongue. The r sound is just the
sound of air pushing through a curing tongue.
To remember the difference between e and ? - The e looks like an arm
goes around someone's neck. Ask students to make a chocking sound. The
little dot under the e represents a little lam. Ask the student to
make the animal sound for ?. Remind students the little lam may run
away and disappear later in pinyin, but still using the lam sound for
those words.
b. Sing Compounded vowel song
Make sure students master the first song before you teach this one.
You can teach this song with the pinyin symbols at the same time. Make
sure students understand the two lines sound the same but the top one
is as ending sound, while the bottom on is used as the initial sound.
Lead students to repeat the song in different ways to reinforce
memory.
2. Practice tones with gestures using right arm.
It is important to ask students to use right arm to practice because
tones will be written down this way. Vietnamese students tend to write 2nd
and 4th tones the opposite way because of Vietnamese language. It is easier
for students to understand if you refer 1st tone as high flat tone, 2nd
tone as up tone, 3rd tone as check mark tone and 4th tone as down tone.
Make a fist to indicate the dot for the light tone.
3. Use TPR to practice pronunciation and learn verbs:
Start with 4 verbs as a group. Show students the pinyin and action.
It is even better if you ask students to suggest the action. Be dramatic
and fun! Practice the tones at the same time. Say verbs in slow motion with
action. After mastery of one group then add on another group.
There are many ways you can do the practice in games. You can say
student's name and see if that person act correctly. Or do the reverse way,
have the students do the action and you act. Purposely make mistake to have
a laugh! Hangman will be good to practice spelling with pinyin and tones.
Extension activity: Teach students the sound of ? with all the verbs.
Even add the way to ask question by using verb ? verb.
Verbs b (?) p (?) m (?) f (?) d (?) t (?) n (?) l
(?) g (?)