Helping Children to Learn Chinese Language -Childbook.com an Online Chinese Book store

Learning Chinese Styles fo Babies and Toddlers.

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:25:00 +0000

Babies have a short attention span, but are like a huge sponge. The trick is giving them the right material that keeps them interested and is at their level. I like the idea of reading to them at a young age. Board Books and pop up books are great for exposing them to Chinese.

This series of DVD's are very popular for teaching Babies and Toddlers Chinese. Baby Learns Chinese, DVD, Level 1,2,3 & Flashcards Bundle and Baby Learns Chinese, DVD, Level 4,5,6 & Flashcards Bundle (green). They use a full immersion style of teaching Chinese. What I like is they also include Flash Cards so a parent is involved in the Teaching of Chinese to their kids. I am a big proponent of having parental involvement/interaction with children.

A longer article with Learning Chinese Tips for Babies and Toddlers

More US Duties on Chinese Imports

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:19:00 +0000

The US is now applying duties to imports of Steel Pipes. $2.6 Billion worth of imports.

This tit for tat I am finding scary...

China brands US ‘protectionist - Financial Times.

Virtual Classrooms - Are they the future?

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:29:00 +0000

An article from the NY Times that is a good read - Virtual Classrooms Could Create a Marketplace for Knowledge

Many top universities are taping lectures and putting them online for free. MIT has a series on physics for example, that I have heard very good things from.

My opinion is for the right person these are a great resource! For those that can self study and have the discipline to do so. Taking a class forces you to attend it and a great teacher can help in motivating you to do more. Of course when you are in a huge lecture hall of several hundred students, the online experience may be superior. I have not seen taped lectures being used as part of a regular class. Even by teachers as a way to supplement material in their classes. The part that is missing from watching a video is the interaction a student can have with a teacher. The asking of questions and how the teacher can pace/customize their teaching to the class. Different classes and even times of day can require a slightly different teaching style. Early in the morning (are your students awake), to after lunch (bit lethargic), to the class before school ends (how many minutes left?

I wonder if anyone is going to put on the web an entire series of Learning Chinese video's for teaching Chinese as many top colleges are doing for other classes? Since a textbook is needed for a Chinese class, there would also need to be associated content. Be it an eBook or something.

Learning Chinese Materials for KindergartenI

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:20:00 +0000

I was speaking with a customer on which product was right for them for their 4 and 6 year old for Learning Chinese. I recommended two series for him to look at. He is interested in teaching at home and he would also be learning Chinese at the same time.

My First Chinese Word is a great series that teachers through stories. The first book and cd set includes 36 books and a CD. I like the idea of teaching Chinese at this age in small segments, to avoid the boredom issue. There is also a huge amount of other support material available including teacher guides in simplified, traditional, and English, Flash Cards, CD ROMS, and more. The quality is A+ and the amount of support material you can buy is great.

Chinese Made Easy for Kids - is the other Learning Chinese program I suggested. A great value for the money and is also very popular.

I did not recommend Practical Chinese because in my opinion, this is better if you have a native speaker teaching.

Video Game Nationalism

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Interesting article in the NY Times - Chinese Agencies Struggle Over Video Game

Take Aways:

Online Video Games are at least $2.9 Billion a in China and rose 50% last year.
7 of the top 10 Games in China are done by Chinese companies (other are 1 American and 2 S. Korean).
Interesting quote - The press and publication administration has taken a hard line against outside involvement in the industry, stating flatly last month that foreign investment in Chinese online gaming operations, whether by joint ventures, cooperatives or other means, is forbidden.

It is a bit off topic from Learning Chinese Software :-)

iPhones in China

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:35:00 +0000

I could have told them this...

Apple's iPhone sales debut in China disappoints analysts

My Reasoning:

1. It's cheaper to buy in HK.
2. No WiFi Access on the Chinese Version.
3. A 3rd party imported (Grey Market) phone costs 20% less and has more features.
4. There is no deal to have a low initial cost as is done in the US where you can get an iPhone for $99 with a 2 year contract.
5. My guess is status of owning a full version verses the one without WiFi.
6. Lots of people already own iPhones in China.

Higher Education in California

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:29:00 +0000

I agree with this article and as my daughter is looking at colleges - I worry about the cost. There is a lot more that could have been written on the issue. Cal Poly, Pomona actually canceled Summer School due to funding (my undergraduate is from there).

California's higher-education debacle - LA Times.

Disneyland in China!

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:28:00 +0000

Exciting news! China Approves Disney Theme Park in Shanghai per the NY Times. It is expected to open in 5-6 years and will be about the same size as Disneyland in Anaheim. About 100 acres, but Disney will have surrounding land so they can add more parks as has been done in Florida with Disneyworld.

Moon Festival & Adoption

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:16:00 +0000

Nice article in Dallas about a Girl Scout Troop of Girl's adopted from China. The troop celebrated the Moon Festival and Dragon Boat Racing!

Girls adopted from China explore Asian culture, find friendship in Daisy troop - Dallas News. And per the comments there are two other girl scout troops like this, one in Florida and the other in Indiana.

My daughter was #2 in her troop for sales, after she got credit for selling a couple of hundred dollars worth of cookies (my Mother was a former Girl Scout and took it to her work, and we also had a table out at the Monrovia Rock Hound Show).

A challenge with ethnic Chinese in the US and Girl Scouts per a friend of mine (Taiwanese and in my MBA program) who did a lot of outreach to the Chinese community was the emphasis on academics in the Chinese Culture. Per her, girl scouts was a hard sell to Chinese parents. Personally, I see a huge amount of value in the Girl Scouts, especially in the leadership area.

Back to the Imperial Punishment System?

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:04:00 +0000

When China was ruled by Emperors, when a person was convicted of treason the family also got punished. This was called the nine exterminations.

China is now proposing a law, where the Mistresses and children of corrupt Chinese officials face prison. To me this seems a very similar idea.

Simplifying Chinese Characters Even More?

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Per the Telegraph, there was a recent proposal to simplify 44 Characters in Chinese even more. The public reaction in China has been 92% against, and 4% for.

IMHO - many of the arguments seem to be very similar to the ones between Simplified Chinese Characters and Traditional Chinese Characters. The issue of the cost of making the changes to all the textbooks seems to be a major one against the change. It's interesting that some places have already made the changes - my guess is as a way of being more trendy.

Plans to simplify Chinese characters provoke anger - UK Telegraph.

An older post of mine that summarizes the arguments between Traditional and Simplified Chinese Characters.

Chinese Education Secretary Replaced

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:07:00 +0000

China Dismisses Its Minister of Education - NY Times.

I am curious on how much impact this position actually has. The issues of low quality and not enough jobs for college graduates are systemic. It's important for China to fix this, but I am not sure with the decentralization and corruption how much is really possible.

Chinese Halloween Ideas

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:30:00 +0000

A Candy that is great to give out to a Chinese Class, White Rabbit Candy. Very famous and delicious candy from China.

Some coloring pages (free to use) that are Chinese related and can use on Halloween:

Monkey King DVD would be fun to show on Halloween:
- On sale for $18.88

Chinese on the Web in 5 Years

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:22:00 +0000

What the web will look like in 5 years
ReadWriteWeb.com reports Google CEO Eric Schmidt envisions a radically changed internet five years from now: dominated by Chinese-language and social media ...

and this:

Five years from now the internet will be dominated by Chinese-language content.

Interesting... Mr. Schmidt is a very smart guy. Something to think about.

Another reason on Why Learn Chinese

China's Pirate Headache

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:19:00 +0000

Time line so far:

1. A Chinese ship was taken over by Pirates. Oct. 19th.
2. China's military said they would take back the ship.
3. China refused military help from the US, Britain, an/or France
4. Now the ship is anchored off a Somalia town and China is in secret negotiations. Oct. 27th

Personally, I don't see any good face saving ways for the Chinese Government on this mess. I hope I am wrong.

Saluting Cars

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:14:00 +0000

NY Times article - Salute All Cars, Kids, It's a Rule in China.

Take awys

Shows lack of feedback avenues on local government officials.
Shows how press and web users can impact in a positive way.
Shows the power of local officials.

SUPERFUSION: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World's Prosperity Depends on It

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:04:00 +0000

There is a really neat seminar tomorrow morning called: SUPERFUSION: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World's Prosperity Depends on It.

The speaker has a blog looks very good on content and I agree with him that China is not going to revalue. Reviews of his book at Amazon look very good.

Join us for a DRUCKER BUSINESS FORUM

in association with The Asia Society of Southern California and KPCC featuring:

SUPERFUSION: How China and America Became One Economy
and Why the World's Prosperity Depends on It

Zachary Karabell

Economist, Author, Political Analyst, TV Commentator
in conversation with James Flanigan, Business Columnist and Author

Thursday, October 29, 2009
Breakfast: 7:45 A.M. TO 8:30 A.M. Forum: 8:30 A.M. TO 9:30 A.M.

LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY
630 West Fifth Street, Downtown Los Angeles

RSVP by Wednesday, October 28 to:
Ted Habte-Gabr ted@druckerbusinessforum.org

"In this provocative new essay, Zachary Karabell lucidly sketches out the tectonic shifts that now compel us to redefine how we relate to China. Karabell's is an urgent call for Americans to shake off their torpor and complacency before it is too late and recognize how China has changed the global equation."
-- Orville Schell, Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society

Author and economic and political analyst Zachary Karabell was once deemed by the World Economic Forum as a "Global Leader for Tomorrow." He is the President of River Twice Research and the Senior Advisor for Business for Social Responsibility. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing and Chief Economist at New York-based investment firm Fred Alger Management. He is also a regular commentator on CNBC, and a contributor to Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and The Washington Post.

In his newest book, SUPERFUSION: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World's Prosperity Depends on It, Karabell explores the vital and unique relationship between two of the most powerful economies in the world today - China and America - and how they are upending conventional wisdom and reshaping the global system. Karabell traces the twenty-year history that began with the suppression of the protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The Chinese leadership adopted a policy of aggressive economic reform and courted U.S. companies and expertise. He shows how U.S. corporations such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Proctor & Gamble, Avon, Nike, General Electric, Siemens, and IBM are integral to the Chinese economy and how their investments in China helped create a new international system of trade, production and capital flows. In the meantime, China has moved beyond being a poor country that produces cheap retail goods consumed by the U.S. and Europe.

The Drucker Business Forum (formerly the ALOUD Business Forum) is made possible by the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management. Join us in celebrating the Drucker Centennial week of Nov 2, visit www.drucker100.com

Taiwanese Restaurant in Miami

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:03:00 +0000

On my families Southern Vacation after visiting the Everglades my family decided to go try a Taiwanese place. Chu's Taiwan Kitchen Bar. Surprising to find a Taiwanese restaurant in Miami. The owner came out and had a chat with my in-laws in Taiwanese, and he was nice enough to make up some real Taiwanese food for us. My in-laws had a great time and I had my usual pork shop rice :-)

Red Dawn 2010 with China as the Invader

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:44:00 +0000

I saw the original Red Dawn in 1984 opening night and the audience cheered when the Russian translator was killed. The tanks and BMP's they used were amazing on the accuracy. I saw it on discount recently and bought it to show my daughter and have a talk about the times that produced this movie and the Cold War ideology and fear of the Soviet Union at the time.

Now a new Red Dawn is being produced with the Chinese as the invaders.

I"ll b honest - I just don't see China in the role of invading the US. Taiwan, that is a threat. Teaching lessons to countries close to it - India and Vietnam has also been done. Building up a the military is along term goal that was shown in the recent China's Anniversary parade.

But invading the US?

If you want to do what if scenarios may be theoretically possible in 25 plus years if everything went wrong for the US (great Depression in the US that somehow does not affect China, so China's economy continues to grow and the US collapses). But the truth is the US and China is so intertwined with our economy that is just not possible.

Another scenario is a coup or new leadership that is bent on replicating the outbound spread of communism as the old Soviet Union did. Again, China is much more interested in economics now, rather than conquering nations. Conquering neighbors is more headache than it used to be and actually costs money, instead of makes the country money. And with the Chinese people being promised and expecting a better standard of living, I don't see China spending twisting their economy as the Soviet Union with the focus being on the military that resulted in a poor economy, and did not produce Military equipment as good as the US.

A third scenario is some new technology upsets the military balance with the US and China. But of the ones possible I don't see how this would allow for a Chinese invasion of the Us. An interesting one is a anti-carrier ballistic missile developed after President Clinton had 2 US carriers sail near Taiwan that changes the situation on defending Taiwan. Question is what US technology is going to counter this one (none yet).

New Chinatown - Why No Great Bread Places

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:05:00 +0000

Yesterday after dropping off my daughter at So. CA Honor Choir practice at Nazarene University on Point Loma in San Diego, we stopped by a bread place that had a lot of people there. I did not even check it using Yelp on my iPhone that morning since I was in desperate need of a Hot Chocolate and the name was so cool, Rustic Bread.

We walked around the area after the Hot Chocolate (A+ quality, tables outside were a little unstable so a slight spill on me when I bumped the table). So we then went sight seeing and I finally got to see an air craft carrier. I had wanted to see one in New York, then another in Oakland, but there was never enough time. So finally I had enough time due to my daughter's choir practice in San Diego. The aircraft carrier Midway was a great tour. There were a huge amount of volunteers who were just full of information. We spent 4 hours on the carrier and finally left because we were hungry (they have a cafeteria that is OK, my only complaint was charging $3 a bottle of water, but it is worthy cause).

So ate lunch and went back to get my daughter. We asked if she wanted a hot chocolate and found out she had a group meeting at 8PM that night. Answer was yes on the Hot Chocolate - good genes :-) and we stopped at the Con Pane Rustic Bread, but right outside I checked it out on Yelp and it has 115 reviews! Wow on the food. Lots of it and very fair prices.

There are a lot of Chinese and Korean Bakeries in the Rowland Heights area, but the usual Chinese Whip Cream pastries. Not real bread places at all. At Con Pane Rustic Bread we had some more Hot Chocolate and I had a Roast Beef Sandwich. We also ordered a selection of the 3 sweet breads (my thought to0, but it was the sugary type) and we just told the person taking the order to select 3 pieces. We got 3 huge pieces of bread, one was chocolate, another hazelnut, and the third was a white bread along with cream cheese, butter, and a cranberry topping). And a seasonal scone. We only ate about a third of what we ordered, because there was so much food! And it was delicious. I hope one of the local Chinese/Korean restaurants decides to emulate this place (and separate themselves from their competition).

Chinese Pronunciation

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:57:00 +0000

My dear Daughter got a group project assigned on Friday for US History. Lesson Plan due Monday. So she had to go Friday night (so she missed Miss Saigon which we already had tickets for) because she had to go to a meeting. Then on Saturday, after driving to San Diego (2 hour drive) for a rehearsal for the So. CA Honor Choir she had another group meeting.

She had written down the directions and put in my iPhone, and not address. So she called her friend, who was most definite it was an S, not an F. Then we asked what the major street was. It sounded like Californ. I could not find this, but I knew I was close. So I finally had her friend E-Mail. Pronunciation of the street was totally wrong (no i and f should have been a B). I am guessing the parents did not know how to pronounce the street and just passed it on to there daughter. It was interesting and when I got home, my wife asked me why it too me so long to drop off my daughter!

San Diego was nice. Practice was on Point Loma and we found this really good bread shop!

Mandarin Vs. Cantonese

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:16:00 +0000

I agree 100% that Mandarin is huge, where Cantonese is becoming a much smaller market in the US. NY Times article today states that - In Chinatown, Sound of the Future Is Mandarin

Which is why my Learning Chinese Material is in Mandarin. I do get calls from time to time on Cantonese and I refer them to two physical bookstores I know that have Cantonese Material.

Why Learning Chinese Matters

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:51:00 +0000

Amazing - The US Ambasssador to China does a speach in Chinese, and it makes the newspaper headlines.

Delegates praise Chinese FM, U.S. Ambassador for bilingual speeches

And of course some other reasons for Learning Chinese.

China's US Oil

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:42:00 +0000

China's oil companies, under heavy pressure to get more oil reserves to feed China's growing economy ares looking to buy some of the leases for oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. Interesting, since the oil pumped from the Gulf currently supplies 50% of the US.

I am not sure how the US congress is going to react to this. It should be interesting!

Articles about China - separating truth from bias

sales@childbook.com (Ray) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:38:00 +0000

I am confused... The article looks very good, about a movement in China in the Christian Science Monitor, yet there is a major piece of information left out of it. Once I found that out the article may be biased.

Why is the person writing this? Initially I though the article because the author is working on a Master's at George Washington University. For a Master's Degree at most universities you need to do new research in an area. This article appears to be based on the research the author is doing for her Master's.

But I did a quick google search because I wanted to know more about the person. The author definitely has an axe to grind on China.

In the article if this had been mentioned the author's affiliation, I would have appreciated it. Instead of finding it out by accident.

I am leaving out a few keywords because I need to focus on what my online Chinese bookstore does, which is sells Learning Chinese Materials, not politics.

Even if politics is so interesting! Disclaimer - both my parents have Masters in Political Science and I passed the Social Science Teacher's test by taking the test, where my education is in Business and Engineering.