My Chinese Nana

As I was writing my last post, I thought it would be nice to share some photos of my Chinese Nana who has in part inspired my love of China and Mandarin.

This is my Nana, Gladys McGargill, a few years ago on her 80th birthday. She was born in Australia, spent a few years in China, and then the family moved back to Australia for good. Nana spoke English and Mandarin when she was little but when they moved back to Australia, her father did not allow them to speak Mandarin anymore because they needed to do their best to fit into Australian society. This meant that Nana didn't remember any Mandarin...I actually know more than she did as an adult.

Here are a few cute photos of her when she was very young.

This is Nana's family. She is the girl on the far left. Apparently my great grandfather was a Chinese herbalist both in China and Australia. He had a shop (not sure if it would be called a shop, maybe practice, clinic??) in Little Bourke St. in Melbourne.

This is Nana with her two sisters. She is on the far right.

Here are Nana and her sisters on her wedding day when she married my grandfather, Alan Muir.

Nana travelled to China with her sisters about 20 years ago. Here are a couple of photos from her trip. I was about 8 when she went and always treasured the gifts she bought back for me. I even kept the wrapping paper for years. haha She bought me a beautiful pink, silk Chinese brocade jacket and an embroidered handbag. I still have them. :-)

This is my mum, Nana and I on my wedding day. 

This is Nana with her four daughters on her 80th birthday. My mum is second from the right.

Well, that's my Nana. She passed away a couple of years ago and I always wished I could have known more about her earlier life. In the last year before she died, I remember her telling some stories about when she lived in Ballarat in Victoria as a teenager and the things she and her sisters did. It was fascinating to hear how my great grandfather travelled into Melbourne from Ballarat each week and other funny stories about going to the theatre. I also had the opportunity of living in Melbourne for a few years and got to spend a little more time with Nana's sisters and my other Chinese relatives. I really enjoyed my time down there and got to attend a few big Chinese banquets which was a lot of fun. (I was particularly thrilled one time when we went to a restaurant that had Jay Chou music videos playing! You don't get that in Queensland! haha) It was great being able to try more authentic Chinese foods and be a part of my extended Chinese family. 

Easier to Download Chinese Flash Cards

Hello! You may have noticed awhile back that Scribd changed the way it works and if you wanted to download documents that were stored there, you had to sign up, upload your own document, and then you could download whatever you wanted within the 24hrs after uploading your document. You could also pay but that defeats the purpose of providing free stuff!!

Well thanks to my multi skilled husband, I've now got my own web space and have uploaded all my PDF's so that you don't have to do anything but click on the link and it will automatically open in a web page ready for you to download. I am much happier with this as I know when I want to download things off the web, I don't want to muck around so I'm sure you don't want to either.

I've updated all posts with PDF downloads in them and any in the future will be a simple click and download for you. This should make things much easier for everyone. :-)

Here's links to my previous posts with the flashcards.

Lesson 1 Flashcards
Lesson 2 Flashcards
Lesson 3 Flashcards
Lesson 4 Flashcards
Lesson 5 Flashcards

As for my lack of Chinese posts these last few months, I have to admit I'm quite distracted with baby things. This will definitely (I think!) be our last bub so I'm trying to sew and make as much as I can since it will be my last chance to make baby things for my own kids. So things will probably remain quiet in the near future with not so regular posts until I get the majority of projects crossed off my list. In saying that, we are still practicing speaking Chinese and my son's favourite music at the moment is our Chinese songs CD's. He's even memorised the words to one of the songs and sings it while he plays.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I know I really must get the rest of the flash cards up for book 1 so will try and do that before bub arrives as I'm now often not able to do much other than sit on the couch...will have to see how I go though!

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or suggestions for posts, please don't hesitate to comment!

Family Relationship Names in Chinese

I stumbled across this fantastic site this morning that details, in a lovely clear table, all of the family relationship names in Chinese such as mother, uncle on the father's side, older sister etc. It includes formal and informal names in both Mandarin and Cantonese and shows the characters and pinyin. Amazingly, it goes through the generations from great-great-grandparents right down to great-great-grandchildren!

Here is the link for the detailed table. You will also see links under the heading near the top of the detailed table page that lead you to an introduction page and a page that has a diagram in English of a family tree. These are worth reading as they explain a bit of how the information is organised and how to easily use it.

I hope you find this handy!!

Flash Cards For Lesson 5

Ok! After a bought of sickness going through the family, I think it is finally over and I am itching to get back into life. I'm not feeling so sick and tired from being pregnant so it's time to start doing stuff again. :-) 


Before I get to the flashcards, I just have to share a couple of exciting moments I had the other day. Out of the blue, my little son asked me if Baby Bob (just our nickname for the baby before he is born) will be a 哥哥!! He wasn't quite right but I was amazed that he was thinking about the Chinese names for little brother and the relationship between himself and the baby. I reminded him that he (my son) will be a 哥哥 and Baby Bob will be his 弟弟. 


My other exciting moment was hearing my son singing one of the songs on our children's Chinese CD while playing in the bath. I had no idea he had actually memorised the words and was so proud of him because I have only heard him memorise words to English songs before. It is so wonderful that even while I have been unable to keep up with regularly teaching my son Chinese, the immersion he is getting and little conversations we have are actually sinking in!


Alright, now down to business. Here is the next set of flash cards for lesson 5. Like I've said in a previous flashcard post, please keep in mind that the translation comes from my teachers who are native Chinese speakers and have lived there for many years. They may not be exact dictionary definitions or I may only have one meaning for a word that can actually mean a number of things. These books are aimed at children (but can still be used by adults) so some definitions are simplified and could be considered 'kiddy language'. I have tried to put in a little extra information where this was the case.

Click on the link below to see my flash cards.

Flash Cards for Lesson 5

If you notice any mistakes or have any suggestions, feel free to comment!

I'm Still Here!

Just thought I'd pop in and let you know that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. Also a BIG welcome to all my new followers!!! Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. I hope you find this info as helpful as I have!

I have just had a wonderfully sick pregnancy and even though I'm over half way now, I'm still getting sick at least once each week which is very annoying. I'm also a little sidetracked with sewing and knitting baby stuff. :-)

Aside from that, I did start reading our Chinese books to my son again and he has now been asking me what each page says and then repeats it back to me. He just turned 3 and has realised that when you read a book, you read the words (or in Chinese, characters) that are on the page so he likes to know what they all say. I finally got my ipod replaced too (there are some perks to having my husband work in an Apple store!) so we have been able to listen to his Chinese songs again. It's so cute to hear him copying everything they say and sing. He still isn't really doing tones yet but I can hear some tonal change in his voice which is an improvement. I can't wait to see how our new little bub takes to Mandarin as he (yes, it's a boy!!!) will get to hear it from the moment he is born. He'll also have his big brother using Chinese so it won't just be me talking.

Well I hope to get back into this very soon. I have the rest of the flashcards for my 1st textbook to post and I am always stumbling across more wonderful Mandarin resources that I can't wait to add here.

Thanks for reading!!!

Another Little Chinese Student is on the Way...

Thought I'd better give a quick explanation of why I've been so quiet lately. I've got another little bubba on the way, due next November! I've been feeling pretty sick and tired for the last couple of months so haven't been able to do much about learning Chinese, let alone doing the stuff I 'have' to do like keeping the house clean and cooking. My little son has kept me on my toes though pulling out Chinese flashcards and begging to play and practice Chinese. He has also started choosing to count in Chinese instead of English which is great. It will be very interesting to see how things go with our new bub hearing Chinese from the day he/she is born. I didn't start learning until my son was 1 1/2 so I'm curious to see if speaking Chinese seems even more natural to bub #2. Hopefully I'll start feeling better in the coming weeks and will be able to be a bit more active in my learning and finding more great stuff to post here. :-)

Should it be grammatically correct???

Thought I'd say hi and pop in a quick post. I haven't been on in awhile due to health but haven't forgotten my blog either!

The other day I was telling a Chinese friend how my son said 'I love my mum' completely unprompted! Very exciting stuff! :-) Anyway, I was explaining how my son said 我爱我妈妈 (wo ai wo ma ma), and left out 的(de) which turns 'I' (我) into my (我的) making it possessive. Basically, I was taught (and books teach) that to say 'I love my mum', you would say 我爱我的妈妈 (wo ai wo de ma ma). My friend told me however that when speaking, Chinese people normally leave out 的(de) and just say it the way my son did. Apparently the other way is still correct but Chinese people don't normally speak like that and often just say 我 instead of 我的.

It seems to me that when foreigners are taught Chinese, we are taught to say what is grammatically correct, not what native Chinese people actually say. It makes it feel a bit tricky sometimes and I wonder about what I've learnt and whether Chinese people would really speak like that. I guess it's just a case of learning it properly and then trying to get experience and discovering the 'real' way to say it. Or maybe if you're only worried about speaking, you could just go straight for learning how Chinese people usually speak. I want to learn speaking, reading, and writing though so I probably need to know it grammatically too. I really hope I have the opportunity soon to learn the language in an authentic setting where I am surrounded by it and can learn how it is used by native speakers.

Flash Cards for Lesson 4

Thought it was about time I made the effort to keep uploading more sets of flashcards. I have actually had them all made for months but I don't have the translation bit done on all of them and it is time consuming to get the pinyin with the tones above the letters. Please keep in mind that the translation comes from my teachers who are native Chinese speakers and have lived there for many years. They may not be exact dictionary definitions or I may only have one meaning for a word that can actually mean a number of things. These books are aimed at children (but can still be used by adults) so some definitions are simplified and could be considered 'kiddy language'.

Click on the link below to see my flash cards.

Flash Cards for Lesson 4

If you notice any mistakes or have any suggestions, feel free to comment!

My Son & Chinese

This year since my babysitter has gone back to work, I am not able to attend Chinese classes. :-( I'm disappointed because this will only prolong the process of learning the language and increasing my proficiency. Anyway, I'm doing my best to keep up what I have learnt so far and slowly add new words and phrases along the way. It really helps that I am teaching my son what I have learnt because we can speak it to each other and I have some way to practice...even if it isn't ideal. He is 2 1/2 years old.

It's so great to see him pick up Chinese while he is learning English. I try and use Chinese and English words when teaching him different things so that he learns right from the start that different languages exist and we can easily use and learn each language. I really hope to help him grow up with the idea that being bilingual is a completely normal and great part of life.

I have a set of books for him to read in Chinese that are all on simple topics suitable for children and I had the most wonderful experience a few weeks ago when I saw him pick up one of the books and tell himself the story in Chinese!!!! He can't read but he had completely (almost perfectly) memorised the story in Mandarin. It was so rewarding to see some results from my effort to teach him. Because he is so young, he just picks up the words as though he was learning English words and it is completely normal to him. I can even ask him simple sentences like 这是谁？ (who is this?) and he understands and answers me! It's really exciting. :-)

I discovered 'international schools' the other day. Ok, maybe it has taken me awhile but anyway, I finally discovered them and would totally love to teach at one and send my son to one. One particular school I looked at in China has 2 teachers for every class, one Chinese and one Western, so that everything is done bilingually and multiculturally. I would love to give my son this wonderful opportunity to learn about Chinese culture and learn the language while he is young. My husband will finish his teaching degree in a couple of years so we are considering applying for teaching jobs then and heading over and with us teaching at an international school, it makes the perfect opportunity for our son to attend and for us all to really increase our knowledge and proficiency in the language. I don't know whether this will happen but I am so glad I discovered this option and I hope we will get the opportunity to make the most of it.

333 Hanzi In A Day

The other day I stumbled across this great e-book for learning Chinese characters (hanzi). I found it while I was browsing through scribd and managed to fine the main website which had the e-book for free and a heap of other resources.

http://www.kanji-sudoku.com/

Now, when you go to the website, you will fine a heap of stuff for learning Japanese Kanji. Don't worry, you are at the right place! Most Japanese Kanji is based off Chinese characters (hanzi) and therefore, there is a large set of characters that look identical in both languages. In many cases, the meaning is also the same but I'm pretty sure the pronunciation is always different between the languages.

Pretty much everything you will want is found in the lists of links on each side of the homepage, specifically the right hand side which contains all the links for the actual downloads. The list of links on the left seems to mainly be links to pages with information on the given topic and doesn't contain the link you need to download. As this page is made primarily for Japanese Kanji, you will see that there is not too much for Chinese but what they do have seems fantastic.

You will find:

• 333 Hanzi In A Day e-book
• Chinese sudoku using numbers 1-9 in the form they are written for legal/financial documents
• 12x12 sudoku using the Chinese Zodiac characters
• Hanzi Crossword Puzzle

These are all really useful ways to practice your basic characters. I haven't tried them out yet but after having a read through the e-book, I thought it looked very practical and really made sense learning characters that were so similar. I found even in just a few minutes of looking at some characters, it really aided my memorisation of their meaning and construction.

How to type in Chinese on your iMac.

Here's the steps to get your Apple iMac set up to type in Chinese. It's pretty simple but I've put detailed instructions below so that anyone can set it up, no matter how good/bad you are with computers. :-) Please note: I am using Mac OS X Version 10.6.6 It may be a little different on older versions.

1. Click on the apple symbol in the top, lefthand corner of your screen.

2. Click on System Preferences. A window should open.

3. Click (You'll probably have to double click) on an icon called Language and Text. It has a little blue flag above it and is the 5th icon from the left in the top row. If your display is a little different, it is under the category, 'personal'.

4. Now that you are in the Language and Text window, there should be 4 headings near the top. The last one should be Input Sources. Click on this.

5. You will now see a list of languages on the left that you can scroll through. Scroll down until you find Chinese and click on the box next to it. You can choose either Simplified or Traditional Chinese. I only use Simplified. It also has 4 sub-options underneath it. I'm pretty sure the main one you will need is just the pinyin-simplified one but you can tick all if you like just to make sure. You can always try them out and then go back and un-tick them later.

6. Take a look at the bottom of the Language and Text window and make sure you tick an option that says 'Show Input menu in menu bar'. You have now done everything you need to do to get going.

7. Before you close the Language and Text window, you can have a look at the keyboard shortcuts for changing between English and Chinese. These make it a lot faster and efficient if you are often changing between the two languages. You will see the shortcuts near the top right corner of the window. You can use the default shortcuts already shown or if you click on the button that says 'keyboard shortcuts...', you can set up your own shortcuts. I won't go into how to set up your own because that could take awhile but feel free to try it out yourself. You can always reset them back to the default settings if you mess it up.

8. Give it a go using the keyboard shortcuts to change between English and Chinese. Make sure you have a typing program open like Text Edit or Pages so you can actually try it out.

9. To see which language you are in, take a look at the bar at the very top of your screen. In the top right corner near the time, you should see either a flag from your country (mine shows an Australian flag) or a grey square with a Chinese character in it. This is what indicates your language 'input'. You can either use the keyboard shortcuts to make this change or you can click on the flag/symbol with your mouse to make a drop down menu appear. You can then choose your selected language with your mouse from the drop down menu.

10. When you are in Chinese typing mode, you need to type in the pinyin for the character you want. For example, try typing, 'yi'. A list will then appear of possible characters and you can select the character you want by pressing the corresponding number. This may seem slow at first but it actually gets quite quick with practice. It will only show 9 options at a time (sometimes less) but if the one you want isn't in the list, you can usually click on a little down arrow after the 9th character to see more options. I occasionally don't find the character I'm looking for. I don't know why they don't exist but I just find it in another program and copy and paste it in. For words that require more than one Chinese character, you can type in the pinyin for both (or more) characters and you will be given the option to choose multiple characters at once. Eg. type 'taiyang'. (this means sun) You will then be given the option to input 2 characters at once, 太阳. This is much faster than typing tai, selecting the character, and then typing yang, and selecting the character.

I think that's about everything you need to know. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I think the main thing is to have a go at it yourself and try it out. You will figure out all kinds of things when using it yourself.

Have fun typing in Chinese!!

ProVoc - Language Learning Program for Mac

The other day, my husband reminded me of this fantastic program that he used to learn Greek when he was at uni. It's called ProVoc and is only for Apple Macs. It is completely free. You download the program and then either create your own vocabulary lists or download lists that others have made. They have heaps for Chinese - some are more useful than others. A lot of people have made lists for the textbook they are using so you might find yours in there. I have ended up making my own list for my textbook.

It is so simple to use. You put in your vocabulary including translation and comments if you wish. Then you have a few different types of tests you can do to practice your words. There are also many different options for the tests so you can really vary them to suit yourself and your needs. When you are making your own vocabulary list, it really helps if you have Chinese as an option for typing on your computer. I'll explain how to set that up on a mac in another post. It's really easy. :-)

To download ProVoc, go to http://www.arizona-software.ch/provoc/download.html. You can also download a widget to practice your words too.

To download the vocabulary lists, go to http://www.arizona-software.ch/provoc/vocabulary.html?show=cn.

Hope you find this as useful as I have!

My Review of 'My First Chinese Words Teacher/Parent Guide'

Originally submitted at Childbook.com

Handy Parent Guide

4out of 5

Pros: Detailed, Educational

Cons: A little confusing

Best Uses: Education

Describe Yourself: Parent

I have found this book quite helpful and full of useful ideas to help my son learn Chinese with the My First Chinese Words set. For each of the 36 books, you get the vocabulary list, sentences taught, teaching objectives, songs & rhymes, craft activities, games, references to the corresponding activities in the exercise book that you can buy as an extra, references to online activities, and homework.

To do some of the activities and work, you do need to purchase extra items such as the 'Sing With Better Chinese' CD set, 'My First Chinese Exercises' books, and subscribe to the online learning.

The parts of the book that are in Chinese are also in traditional Chinese which is a bit of a pain if you are using the standard Chinese set of books like I am. Some parts are confusing because they reference specific products or songs/activities that I don't know how to find. Despite this, I am still very happy with the book because the rest of it is very useful and has given me some great, practical ideas that I can use at home or with a class.

Flash Cards for Lesson 3

I'm on a roll tonight! Here's the flash cards for lesson 3. Just click on the link below and away you go!

Flash Cards for Lesson 3

If you want to know more about these flash cards, just take a look back through my posts (see links below) for previous flash cards and a little more info on what they are for and how to use them.

Flash Cards for Lesson 1 Post

Flash Cards for Lesson 2 Post

My Review of 'Sing With Better Chinese' CD Set

Originally submitted at Childbook.com

Great Songs!

5out of 5

Pros: Funny, Educational, Entertaining

Best Uses: Education, Entertainment

Describe Yourself: Parent

This is a great set of songs to help learn Mandarin. Its hard to find good Mandarin CD's for kids but I am very happy with this one. It is also great that it goes with the 'My First Chinese Words' set of books. There are 36 tracks across the 4 Cd's. You get a little booklet that has all the lyrics so you can really learn each song well. It is a big help that some of the songs have the same tune as childhood songs we know. For example, 'Old Mr Wong Has A Lot' is sung to the tune of 'Old McDonald Has A Farm. Each song has parts in English and Chinese so you don't get a full song in Chinese only. I don't mind this because it makes it a bit easier to learn. My set of Cd's came in a different type of packaging to that shown in the photo so I've attached a picture so you can see what it looks like.

This is what the set of Cd's I received looks like.

Flash Cards for Lesson 2

It's been ages since I've been on here. I've still been busy learning Mandarin...although this has had a setback over the last few months. My teacher had to go back to China for a few weeks and we had a new teacher who really put me off learning Mandarin. She stressed me out so much I didn't even want to look at any of my work. My normal teacher was meant to be back for this term however, so I was looking forward to that and was trying to motivate myself to catch up and get prepared over the holidays.

Well...my normal teacher never came back!!! :-( I'm partially annoyed and sad but our new teacher (still the same teacher I didn't like from last term) at least goes through our textbook more thoroughly (although nowhere near what she should) so I guess I am partially learning better. If only she would slow down and write the characters neater on the board so we can actually copy them down. On the plus side, we have new adult students in the class so she is focusing on them more and leaving me in peace. lol I feel so sorry for them though. She is going through stuff way too fast for them and they are so confused.

Anyway, I've decided that I can't always choose my teacher or have one that I really like so I will have to do the best with what I've got right now and just be thankful that I even have this opportunity to learn Chinese. I'm going to make the most of what I've got right now.

Ok, on to the real topic of this post. Here's the second set of flash cards for lesson 2. Just click on the link below.

Flash Cards for Lesson 2

Again, they follow the same format of the flash cards for lesson 1. Simply print them out, write the translation and pinyin on the back, laminate them if you wish, and then practice. :-)

Arch Chinese - Pinyin Syllable Table

This is an amazing website for learning Chinese. Most of it is free but to get the full use of it's functions, you need to subscribe. I have found however, that I have all I need in the free functions and it has been a big help with my learning.

Today I'll tell you about the Chinese Pinyin Syllable Table. It is a complete list of all pinyin syllables used in standard Mandarin. It gives you every possible pronunciation you will ever need to speak standard Mandarin. You can click on each syllable to hear it's pronunciation, view all characters with each pronunciation in each tone, and also view each character's definition. You can also click on each character and you will go to a page that gives you further info on the stroke order, radicals used, and definition. It is simply fantastic and an invaluable tool.

I am currently using the table to remind me of pronunciation because I often forget it after I go home from class. I have flash cards for all the words I have learnt so far and I simply look at the flash card and then click on the corresponding pinyin syllable and choose the correct tone. I make sure I do this without checking my flashcard first to try and memorize the pinyin for each character. After I find the syllable I think is correct, I then choose to view the characters that have that pronunciation and see if the one I am looking for is in the list. It seems quite a simple task but it really helps me to memorize the correct pinyin and even the meaning of characters.

Go here to check it out: Arch Chinese

Miao Miao Chinese School Caboolture

I got an invitation today for my Chinese school's 2nd birthday and it reminded me that I should tell you a bit about the school.

My Chinese school is called Miao Miao Chinese School. It is one of the largest in Queensland with over 400 students at 4 different locations around Brisbane. The main center in Sunnybank is now 13 years old! They have classes at Sunnybank High, Centenary High, Southport High, and Tullawong High in Caboolture. Classes run for adults and school age children during school terms and each term is usually 9 or 10 weeks long. They teach simplified Chinese in the Beijing dialect which is the standard Mandarin taught throughout China.

I go to the branch in Caboolture. It holds classes on Saturday morning from 9:30-12:30. It consists of 3 50min lessons with breaks in between. There is a beginners class and an advanced class. Our teachers are native Chinese speakers and are very friendly and helpful.

I am in the beginners class. We learn pinyin (pronunciation), characters, speaking, reading, and writing. The class is a mix of children and adults. Because there is such a wide range of ages, we start out learning very simple things but these are very valuable foundations for more complex sentences and words.

I almost forgot, the classes cost $12/day or if you pay for the full term, it works out at about $10-$11/day. I found that this is very cheap compared to other places. You are in a class setting though so if you want really intensive lessons, then this isn't for you.

Here's the link to their website. You can view it in English or Chinese.

http://www.miaomiao.org/

Flash Cards for Lesson 1

Ok. So maybe sometimes I have a little too much time on my hands but I was given a sheet with flashcards for lesson 1 when I first started and I hurried home, cut them out and laminated them. Since then, I've made flashcards that match these original ones exactly and have done this for every lesson in the book.

The flashcards are very simple. They have the Chinese character on one side and on the back, it is blank. On the back of mine, I write (in pencil so it doesn't show through) the English translation, the pinyin, and then if it is hard or unusual to pronounce, the pronunciation. I get this info from my teacher. It is not found in the book which is why I recommend you find someone who speaks Chinese (a native speaker is best) to help you if you use these books.

Here's the flash cards for Lesson 1 including their translation. Just click on the link below and you can print them out for yourself. Hope you find them helpful!

Flash Cards for Lesson 1

My Textbook

This is the textbook I am using in class. It is the first book in a series of 12. As far as I know, each textbook comes with 2 workbooks to practice what you are learning. We usually do 1 lesson each week (there are 12 lessons in the first book) and I've found that if you do your homework, it's not too hard to keep up. You do need a Chinese person to translate for you though. Each word you learn has the Chinese character, pinyin and a picture. There is no English translation for the words in the books.

This series of textbooks is printed in China specifically for students from other countries.

The textbook teaches reading and writing characters as well as giving the pinyin pronunciation. I'm not totally sure what the title of the book is called but I found an American website that sells it by typing 'zhongwen chinese textbook' into google. The website is http://www.ccdcus.com/id75.html if you're interested.

I guess, from the design, the books are aimed at children, but I find them fantastic even as an adult because they are not too complicated and quite clear. I find that learning to write the characters really helps me to remember them so I can read them and recognise them in amongst Chinese text.