Reviews (5)

NOT for people trying to learn Chinese
I am trying to learn Chinese, and in seeing my toddler learn English by repeatedly looking at picturebooks, I thought a picture dictionary in Chinese would be a good way to learn every day objects in Chinese. Unfortunately, this book has the English word and the Chinese IN CHINESE CHARACTERS. NO pinyin, no bopomofo pronounciation. For the non-Chinese reader, you'll have to look up every single word. So, though this book may be good for Chinese students learning English, it is of limited usefulness to students learning Chinese. Frankly, I think this is an extremely stupid mistake by the publishers of this book. The editors should be flogged!

Great for Teaching EFL
I used this book extensively while teaching college level EFL in the Peoples Republic of China. It was very helpful in identifying words like "blender"; the pictures taught a lot about how a house actually looked in the USA. Students poured over the book before and after class. Ah -- but I wish it contained the pinyin so I could have used it to learn Chinese!

Good for ESL students, Bad for Chinese students
This is a bad thing for anyone learning Chinese because IT DOESNT HAVE PINYIN. BE WARNED.

However, ESL students will love this thing because of the pictures and the English.

However, IT IS WORTHLESS for AMERICANS LEARNING CHINESE.

A rich visual dictionary
It really surprised me! Great ! If I only could have the CD Rom, it would be Hiper! Because as there is no pronouncing with the ideograms, it sometimes lack the native sound. But, still is a formidable tool for chinese-english study. I would buy not only the Cd as would buy a CHINESE/English version!! Really helpfull!!

Best for Chinese-speaking Students
It's an excellent dictionary for Chinese-speaking student. It's better than the book "The New Oxford Picture Dictionary". It's best for beginner. There are a lot of examples,illustrations,& pictures in this dictionary. Unfortunately, it's out of stock at Amazon.com at this moment(June'99). ... Read more

Book Description

In ancient, war-torn China, hundreds and hundreds of men were called upon to defend their homeland. Unknown to all, there stood one female among the soldiers. Disguised as her brother, in order to take her father's place in the army, heroine Mu Lan bravely defends her country with superior martial arts. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Historically accurate - wonderful book!
Every culture has their myths, legends and stories which are handed down through the ages with reverence and respect. In this era of commercializing and rewriting every classic that comes along, it is refreshing to find books such as this--that honor the original telling. Not only is the story historically accurate, but the beautiful pictures are as well, and this book is a must for any lover of Chinese history and/or for parents wishing to explain their "roots" to their children. I loved it!

Great illustrations
My favorite of all the Mulan books available because of the illustrations.

Excellent book! A genuine treasure for all ages
Each piece of artwork should be framed..thestory (authentic, for a change), is compelling, honest and a "must" for all ages. The Chinese writing accompanying the English is intriguing.I bought several books and sent them all over the globe. I suggest others do the same.

Decent interpretation with Chinese as well as English.
This is a simple and clear presentation of the story. I'm not familiar with the original poem, so can't say if it is completely accurate to the original. The illustrations seem very Chinese in style, and I really like them. I plan to get more books in this series.

The English is at a level that my 3rd grader can read it by herself, and it has the story, side by side, in simplified Chinese characters (some easy to read typewriter font, not the original calligraphy). The Chinese story is simple enough that kids who are learning Chinese should be able to make headway with it. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (4)

chinamom
My four year daughter is adopted from China. She really likes this book. She immediately started copying the characters. It is a simple book that provides a way for her to learn about her birth culture. It is worth adding to your collection.

Sadly disappointing
The only Chinese words in this book are the 10 numbers. The "Pronunciation Guide" does not use the standard romanization (pinyin) nor does it even hint that Chinese is a multi-toned language. The text is simplistic but uninteresting--had there been a bit of Dr Seuss or Boynton rhyming it might have been more fun.

The pictures are nice.

I'm learning Mandarin and hoping to teach my daughter as she grows up. This book won't help.

counting your way to china
This book is an excellent tool to teaching to count in chinese. My daughters ages 3 and 6 found this book fun. It makes learning more fun and also show beautiful pictures of china.

Interesting and educational
This is a simple, interesting and educational book. I enjoy it because it presents a wide variety of interesting information about China (geography, musical instruments, writing, animals, etc.) while organized around teaching the Chinese numbers. Even as an adult with some knowledge of China, I was able to learn a little from the book, as I'm sure children will learn even more. I love learning about a variety of aspects of a culture! ... Read more

Book Description

A beautiful young nun with skin as smooth as silk and a face as lovely as a spring flower silently cooked and cleaned all day at Gan Ye Buddhist Temple. Every evening she joined the other nuns in chanting sutras.

Who would believe that this delicate young nun was destined to become Emperor of China - the only female emperor in more than 5,000 years of Chinese history.

Wu Ze Tian held power for almost half a century during the Tang Dynasty (618- 907 AD), a period of prospertiy and cultural achievement in China. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A great little start to learning Chinese
Not only does this book have the photos and the English translation but it has the Chinese pronunciation in "pygn-english". It's easy as pie to read and follow. Though there are not to many phrases, it's a good book for the learning of nouns. ... Read more

Book Description

Inspired by the centuries-old paper-cut technique, five proverbs are strikingly illustrated with intricate details and fitting styles.Each carries a message that is universal and timeless, especially for the children of today.Readers are not only brought into a world of intriguing Chinese folktales, but ate immersed in the traditional wisdom embedded in each story.

Written bilingually, the text clearly conveys the essence of five important values."The Lazy Frmer" wishes to achieve something without any effort."The Musician and the Water Buffalo" stresses the need to speak to someone in a manner he or she can understand."The Crane and the Clam" tells how a third party can benefit from a quarrel between two people."An Old Horse" encourages us to value the wisdom of an experienced elder."The Dragon Lover" portrays the psychological reaction we all have, at one time or another, to cover up our fears. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (7)

a wonderful lesson
Having recently adopted a beautiful toddler from China, we have purchased all the books by this author to start teaching her (and ourselves) a little Chinese. The author has a lovely style of teaching the pictures behind the pictograms. A great book (as are all by this author)!

Fun Book!
This book will allow my Chinese-Vietnamese students to share their writing and culture with other students in my class. It allows me to understand the written Chinese language better myself. Excellent!

Wonderful book for children curious about Chinese writing
By drawing pictures in the sand a mother teachers her young son how to write Chinese characters. This is a marvelous idea, reminding us how thousands of years ago Chinese people took sticks and scratched pictures in the mud, thus inventing the very first Chinese characters. In this book we learn how to draw the characters for the words "person," "big," "small,""sky,""water," "mountain," "sand," "woman," "child" and "good." Through beautiful cut paper illustrations we can easily see the similarities between characters and real life objects. Huy Voun Lee is the talented writer and illustrator of two other books in this series - "In the Park" and "In the Snow." I highly recommend all three.

a fun book for kids
Lee, a native of Cambodia, creates a children's book that explains some Chinese language characters, characters that look like what they mean. Xiao Ming and his mother go to the beach, where Xiao Ming likes to draw Chinese characters in the sand with a stick. Xiao Ming and the reader learn 10 characters. One character is introduced per double page. They are drawn and explained, and for each character, the illustration matches the character. "Person", for example (ren/wren), looks like a person walking down a beach, right foot leading one's left. "Big", (da/dah), looks like person but with an additional horizontal line, or a person on his back with outstretched arms and legs (and thus the illustration of a person lying in the sand). The word for "sky" follows later. It adds another horizontal line to person and big, as if something is sheltering the person. Seven other words are learned ending with "Good" (hao/how), which looks remarkably like a mother holding her child at the beach. Mandarin pronunciations are used.

a gorgeous book
my daughter from China and I love all the books written by this author. This is the best one and we share it with anyone who visits us at the beach. We practice making Chinese symbols in the sand ourselves. ... Read more

Book Description

"Gee lee, gu lu, turn the cake. Add some oil, the betterto bake. Gee lee, gu lu, now it's done. Give a piece to everyone."Children of all lands will welcome this enchanting collection of poems, lullabies, counting rhymes, and songs from the Chinese oral tradition."These versions retain the mood and graceful tone of the originals...Ed Young's illustrations, inspired by calssic Chinese art, show a master's use of line, color, and pattern." -- The New York Times book Review"Beautifully conceived and designed." -- Booklist"Ed Young's paintings charm the eye and ...make a gentle, almost luminous visual re coming together, and apart, in Los Angeles. Fresh and in-your-face, this witty novel depicts a world where women sometimes have to alter their dreams, but never have to stop embracing the future. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A nice addition to Western Mother Goose rhymes
There is a wealth of Western "Mother Goose" to share with children, but this is a wonderful alternative for Westerners who are looking for something "different." My five-year-old especially enjoys the riddles. I do not know how accurate the translations are, but they have a nice sense of rhythm and rhyme -- exactly what you expect in a nursery rhyme.

Disappointed
... The rhymes were not v. good or catchy for a child, and did not flow. I bought the book for the Chinese translation, but was disappointed with the caligraphy and Chinese in the rhymes. The English translation seem OK, but translations are not really for reading out loud. One star for the good pictures which my daughter liked. ... Read more

Book Description

This book and cassette introduces Mandarin Chinese to childrenthe fun and natural way using many familiar melodies as well as nativechildren's songs from China. Children will enjoy learning basicvocabulary and pronunciation through popular themes such as greetings,numbers, family, animals, weather, colors and more. The song bookcontains illustrations featuring Penny and Tommy Panda while thedigitally recorded cassette has 22 vocals in Chinese on one side andmusic only on the other. The book also includes English translations,pronunciation guide, suggested activities and instructional guides. TheSing 'n Learn Chinese is the first of its kind to be released in theUnited States and it is also in use in China. The 23-minute digitallyrecorded tapes have a slightly slow tempo to allow for clearenunciation. It is also the only title with the lyrics in bothtraditional and simplified characters and romanized pinyinpronunciation system. No prior knowledge of Chinese is necessary! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Great for kids
My 4 year old son just loves the songs. He will listen to it three or four times a day. He has learned all the words in book. All the Chinese say he has very good pronunciation. A friend of mine recommended this book to me. She says they have worn out the tape once and are now on to the CD. The singer sings and also says clearly the words to the songs.

Skull-splitting headache guaranteed!!
If you enjoy a thumping, skull splitting migraine headache, then Sing N Learn is for you.

As a longtime language instructor, I agree with the attempt and effort that this series makes, but it is the execution that ultimately weakens Sing N Learn Chinese.

To be sure, there are much, much better ways to learn Chinese. In fact, I would recommend this title only as a last resort and after you've thoroughly exhausted traditional ways to learn Chinese.

The songs contained herein are renditions of popular Chinese folk songs. WARNING: Most of the words sung throughout are inaudible. While the accompanying workbook aids in comprehension, it isn't enough to get you through the annoying vocals of the entire Sing N Learn series.

Indeed, most of the songs contain blood-curdling vocals accompanied by low fidelity musical arrangements making listening to the songs almost unbearable. (My students asked me to turn it off after one song). Overall, the musical and vocal quality is definitely poor and grating at best. I will bet an entire year's paycheck that my dog can howl better than the vocals on this tape. Do yourself a favor: try something, anything else other than this series to learn a foreign language. "*"

My 2 year old loves it - what else matters?
My two year old wants to hear this CD again and again. He sings the songs to me and corrects me if I make a mistake!

This CD is entirely in Mandarin. At the end of the songs, the music from the entire CD is played over again without the voice, so you can sing it yourselves. Included is a book that has English translations, traditional and simplified Chinese characters, pinyin spellings with tone markers, and a glossary. (The glossary has the most important words, but not every single word that is used).

Be aware that this CD does not "teach" Chinese by itself. If the child doesn't already speak Chinese, the material needs to be presented by a parent or teacher. The songs (there are 22 of them) have been selected so that most of them can be "acted out" in some way, allowing the parent or teacher to illustrate the meaning of the song while singing it. For example, one favorite song of ours asks "Where is mommy?" and then answers "Here she is!", and you can play along with a Peek-a-boo type game. Likewise, there are two songs naming bodyparts similar to "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." In the book there is an Activity Guide with ideas for each song. I am very much in favor of this "total immersion" style of learning, especially for young children.

As a beginner myself, the task of learning the songs has taken quite a bit of effort. (To be honest, I am making my way through them at a rate of one every month or two). The songs are sung very quickly on the CD, and the English translations in the book tend to be correct English rather than literal translations. I have had to do some research to make sure I understand the meanings of each word individually. But, since I want to learn Chinese myself, this is not a bad thing. I am very grateful that this is a CD instead of an audio cassette, making it easy to repeat a song over and over while learning it. I could complain about the fast pace of the songs, but I think that it probably adds to the preschooler appeal.

One caveat is that the tone of a word is not usually clear from hearing it sung. By that I mean, I can learn a word from the song and sing along with it, but when I try to speak the word later I find that I don't know which of the four tones to use. The tones are indicated in the book, but as a memory aid the songs do not help reinforce the tones. I think that that is an inherent limitation of music as a tool for learning Chinese and not a criticism of this product in particular. It is probably best to use a combination of approaches anyway and not expect one product to do everything.

(I could also complain that every time I want to remember the word for "mouth" in Chinese I have to sing to myself "'I have two ears, I have two eyes, I have one nose, and I have one . . . . ' Oh yeah, that's it!". But hey, at least I can come up with it eventually!)

From an adult aesthetic point of view, most of the songs don't appeal to me very much. The electronic keyboard accompaniment sounds kind of like a hyper-active circus to me. I find it quite annoying when I realize that I have left the CD on and it is playing the part with just the background music and no words. Most of the songs seem to have familiar (ie, boring) western melodies - there are at least three to the tune of "Are you sleeping." But a few, like the "Frog Song", sound more like Chinese folk songs and appeal to me more.

But given the limited number of products out there, I say this one is helpful and motivating, so what else could I ask for?

The jury's still out
I bought this tape expecting that there would be children singing these songs (I don't know what prompted me to think that); instead it's an adult woman with a rather high voice. My 3 year old son has only listened to the tape once because I found the music and singing a little grating the first time we heard it. Also, I think that the songs are sung a little too fast for beginners, even though I am a Chinese speaker and can understand what's being said. I may just need to play it hundreds of times, as I do most of my son's music tapes, for him to learn the words.

sing n learn chinese
these song are great, my daughters not only learn the chinese language but also the english version of these songs. This item is used at our play group and the children love this tape. the tape is music and words are clear each word can be understood it is a must. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An ambitious but well presented book on Chinese writing
There is a lot of information presented in this book. Perhaps too much for young children to absorb unless it is presented to them very slowly and systematically. However children of all ages definitely have a fascination for "secret codes" or "symbols" and their meanings, which is essentially what Chinese writing is to most people. The graphics are large and bold and the text easy to follow, making it an appropriate reference for grade school children. The calligraphy alongside the simple line drawings allow children to easily see the resemblance between real life objects and the Chinese pictographs. I am a teacher and often use this book when giving classroom workshops on Chinese calligraphy. Some of the characters are rather small to see from a distance so I paint larger versions of them on 8X10" cards. Children enjoy looking at the ancient pictographs first and then trying to guess what they mean. After that we try matching the modern characters to the ancient pictographs, which is another fun activity. We always conclude the lesson with trying to write some of the characters using real brushes and ink. This experience brings to life everything that this book so ambitiously tries to present.

A perfect book for those of us struggling to learn Chinese.
Although written to be a children's book, Long Is a Dragon is an excellent tool for adult learners of the Chinese written system. I originally encountered the book while visiting a professional calligrapher. This light hearted, well animated and fairly matter-of-factual book, takes the mystery out of stroke order, character origins and all the complexities of Chinese writing. It is also refreshing and entertaining in its whimsical approach. This book is a must for anyone accustomed to the romanized alphabet who is serious about studying Chinese. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Ballad Review
In this portrayal of the famous ballad of Mu Lan ,or Fa Mulan as some call her, a story of a young woman who saves China is depicted. She puts her life in danger to protect the life of her father by taking his place in the draft. This very moving and heart warming poem is very well written and a must read if you are interested in the story at all. Its good to see the real work that the movie was based on... ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Academic Exchange Quarterly, published by Rapid Intellect Group, Inc. on March 22, 2003. The length of the article is 3089 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A study of bilingual Chinese/English children's code switching.
Author: Jiening Ruan
Publication: Academic Exchange Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2003
Publisher: Rapid Intellect Group, Inc.
Volume: 7Issue: 1Page: 142(6)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description

The story of a rich jewelry merchant of ancient India and his slave who encounter a wise Buddhist monk. The tale teaches the lesson of cause and effect, kindness and compassion, greed and hatred. Bilingual/Chinese English with color illustrations. Designed for children, but the lesson learned in the story is universal. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

My opinion of Spider Thread
Spider Thread

This book is bilingual, in English and Chinese. The illustrations are very pleasing to look at, making use of soft colors.

The story is wonderful. It is about the events in the life of a jeweler from ancient India, named Pandu. On one of his travels he meets a Buddhist monk, and offers him a ride. A series of interesting events occurs, I won't give away the whole story.

Also there are wonderful short poetic verses that help children (or maybe adults!) understand the principles that the story is trying to teach.

My favorite of the verses is:

He who hurts others hurts himself.
He who helps others helps himself even more.
To find the pure Way, the Path of Light,
Let go of the falsehood that you have a self.

My favorite part of this book is the short story that a second monk in the story tells to Pandu's former slave to comfort him at the end of his life. It is from this short story that the book gets its name, and it is truly wonderful.

My friend first told me the story about the Spider Thread one night to cheer me up, and that is how I heard of the book. Every time I read it, if I am feeling really low, it cheers me up. I think it is a good book for kids, and adults, too.

A thought provoking story for all ages
A wonderful story for both children and adults about the workings of karma. Rich merchant Pandu learns that when he harms others, harm will eventually come to him.

Lovely color illustrations.

The only minor distraction from an othewise fine book, is that the placement of the bilingual text is often awkward. ... Read more

Book Description

Now in a Chinese edition comes the story of a young Chinese American boy who discovers that no gift is too small when it comes from the heart. On Chinese New Year’s day, Sam receives the traditional gift of lucky money from his grandparents. He can hardly wait to go shopping with his mom, but excitement turns to disappointment when Sam goes to Chinatown only to realize he still can’t afford what he wants. His mother reminds him that he should appreciate the gift, but it takes a chance encounter with a stranger to bring the lesson home in this vividly illustrated book. "The artists’ vibrant watercolors embellish this story, which reaches across ethnic boundaries to reaffirm a universal truth." — American Booksellers Association Children’s Pick of the Lists ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Not a Bilingual edition
This edition (Xiaoshan Di Ya Shui Qian) is NOT, despite the book description, a bilingual edition--it is Chinese only (simplified/modern characters). I gave it 3 stars because I had to give it something--my Chinese is not good enough (yet) that I could read the book. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Reviews (4)

Wonderful story with factual information
I purchased this story to share with my preschool class, since we have 2 Chinese ESL students. While the story was not of high interest to all of the children (probably better for slightly older children), it held their attention, and the 2 Chinese boys were thrilled to see familiar faces, familiar writing, and hear familiar words. The story is about a mother and son walking in the snow. The mother teaches the child the Chinese characters for certain words by explaining how the character looks like the word it represents. It was exciting to have the boys participate in storytime and be able to teach the rest of us something! This is so important in a diverse preschool classroom - I can't wait to order more books.

Great Book for Understanding Chinese Writing!
This books provides a great introduction for students and teachers to the Chinese language.

A Wonderful Book!
I read this book last year in my class when I had a Vietnamese student . She had learned some Chinese characters from her mother and taught us how to write the characters while we celebrated Chinese and Vietnamese New Year. It was a moving experience.

A beautiful and unique book!
This book is beautiful to look through and read. Huy Voun Lee tells a story of a mother and son taking a walk on a winter day. During their walk the mother teaches her son different Chinese characters. Lee not only provides the characters, but the symbolism behind them. The story line is simple and Lee provides ten characters, so this book is great for young readers. My two year old loves to thumb through it. Lee's cut paper artwork makes this book not only beautiful, but unique. In The Snow has not only brought joy to our family but added diversity to our bookshelf. ... Read more