The ability to converse in a foreign speech has been discovered to be a significant asset.

How is learning Chinese beneficial?

In this age of globalization, it is highly recommended to learn one or more foreign language as it’s great for your business, aids you in regards to career plans and also will offer you lots of job opportunities.

1. Speaking Mandarin gives you an edge in this competitive business world as China emerging as one of the major global economies.
2. Chinese, most frequently spoken language, is the language of Nearly 1/5 of the World’s Population
3. Opens the way to different important fields such as Chinese politics, economy, history or archaeology
4. You can immerse yourself in another culture.
5. AP Chinese develops a range of specific technical skills, the ability to understand and interact with Chinese culture and the knowledge of Chinese literature and history.
6. Learning Chinese language is productive and knowing it benefits you in your occupation.

Some career options after learning Chinese Language –

• Translators/ Interpreters
• Teacher in educational institutes
• Chinese Language Analysts
• Travel and Tourism
• Public Relations/ Communications Officer
• Immigration/Customs Officer
• Journalist
• Diplomatic Services Officer
• Sales Agent
• Import/Export
• Management trainee
• International Conference organizer
• Art historian or curator

It’s a busy world with hectic schedules. So, why drag yourself to learning centers. Learn Chinese online and take Chinese lessons from your home, your office or anywhere at any times that are convenient to you. Arrange lessons that fit your schedule, life style and purpose. Learn to speak Chinese online with lessons delivered from experienced teachers and write Chinese characters through pictures and stokes.

Learning a foreign language needs dedication and motivates you in your studies and carrier. No matter what may be the reason, learning languages is a treasure that follows you everywhere.

Parents come around with some situations like -

The child refuses to speak in Chinese? The kid hates writing those Chinese character strokes? Take hours just to finish reading a short Chinese story? Many Chinese learners have been struggling for years on reading, Chinese pronunciation and failed to be able to speak Chinese language with correct pronunciation.

It’s not that terrifyingly hard to learn to speak Chinese. Here are some ideas that would guide you to get your kids interested in learning Chinese.

• Music, Movie, Educational Audios and videos – A great way to commence your children in learning the Chinese Language is by means of Chinese DVDs and videos and audio CDs that your kids are sure to enjoy.
• Chinese stories – Chinese stories on CDs can be played to expose them additionally to more Chinese vocabulary and sentence building.
• Story Books with illustrations – Fascinating pictures help create an interest in learning. It also creates good reading habits and helps learn new words.
• Flash Cards – A great way to introduce a variety of vocabulary words and phrases
• Field Trips – Field trip to a place where Chinese is spoken regularly. Encourage your kid to use their Chinese when communicating with other people.
• Summer Camps – The result complete involvement the children get to know about the traditions, culture in china  and a better grasp of the language
• Speak, Write, and Read daily – If possible daily interaction with your children is an additional benefit to increase fluency and master the language.
• Appoint Chinese tutors – Appointing Chinese tutors will  focus on a way to create interest in the subject so your kids learn Chinese.

Also another advance way is to enroll and take courses online. Learn Chinese online with lessons from experienced teachers and learn to speak Chinese and write Chinese characters through pictures and stokes.

Make it a fun learning, more interesting and exciting experience. When Children find it interesting, they will not view it as learning. They will do things that they think are fun while learning at the same time. Make learning Chinese for kids an effortless job.

]]> http://www.chinesesphere.com/2011/11/interesting-ideas-for-kids-to-learn-chinese-language-online/feed/ 0 http://www.chinesesphere.com/2011/08/top-five-fascinating-activities-to-do-in-beijing/ http://www.chinesesphere.com/2011/08/top-five-fascinating-activities-to-do-in-beijing/#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:21:38 +0000 admin http://www.chinesesphere.com/?p=1000 1.    Visit Hutong complex
The Hutong passage ways are an old time hallmark of the Beijing city. Hutong came into existence in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasty. Hutong streets identify with the simple yet interesting people who were deeply rooted with the Chinese culture. Hutong roads will surely inspire you and provoke you to think about the Chinese culture.

2.    Watch the Peking Opera
Peking Opera is a mix of performances namely instrumental music, vocal music, plays, and the famous Chinese combat art – Kung Fu. The performers in Beijing Opera are extraordinary in their individual skill set. The outstanding performance of the actors has made Peking Opera a popular event. Peking Opera is a sacred and very jovial time for the Chinese; this event embarks the journey to the magnificent Chinese culture.

3.    Eat Peking duck
Peking duck is the most popular traditional dish of the Chinese. Each bite is relished by the Chinese people, as it lingers the flavor of China on their tongue. No wonder, Peking duck is declared as the Chinese national dish. The covering of the meat is exceptionally scrumptious and it forms most part of the dish. Little meat pieces are served with the skin which taste absolutely marvelous as they are marinated for 65 days. This dish tastes best when eaten with noodle sauce, pan cakes, or spring onions.

4.    Enjoy local snacks
Beijing snacks are savored since many decades due to its traditional recipe. The snacks can be classified into three types, Han, Hui, and imperial snacks. The Local snacks are commonly cooked by methods such as deep fry, boiling, low oil fry, and fast boiling of the snack above large flame.

5.    Walk through the Panjiayuan market
With around 50,000 shopping stalls, the Panjiayuan market is well-known for antiques such as paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, jade, furniture, coins, army surplus and other Buddhist artifacts. Located in the west direction of Panjiayuan Bridge this market has its roots in the flea market that was established in the 1990s. You may be new to the place and may not know what to buy, the good news is you will equally enjoy taking a stroll by this huge market.

We are expanding our learning Chinese online program into European countries with an office in Denmark this coming September.

As China became the No. 2 economy in 2010, Non Asian population has shown significant interest in learning Chinese. The number of K-12 public school students in the United States learning a Chinese language rose to nearly 60,000 in 2008, from about 20,000 in 2005, according to a report from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. By now, Chinese has over taken Japanese, as the secondary language in US schools next only to Spanish, which has 6 million plus students.

There are many ways a school can add Chinese classes into their offerings. After school Chinese program is one, hiring a Chinese teacher is another. With the ongoing budget crisis for all school districts, adding online Chinese classes at a fraction of the cost of hiring new teachers become extremely attractive. Under current economic circumstances, being able to offering students the skill and knowledge they need while stretching the dollars on hand, requires school administrators to think creatively and make wise decisions.

Learning Chinese Online has been tested, and it offers the quality education, the convenience of scheduling, the cost saving, the interesting content via multimedia, and the excitement of having a native Chinese teacher reside in China.

Contact us at info@chinesesphere.com for our collegeboard Access code to add AP Chinese to your school offerings.

The Chinese language that we all seek to learn and which is commonly spoken is Mandarin. Mandarin is the official language of the People’s Republic of China (RoC) and spoken by over 850 million people worldwide as their mother tongue.

Language and culture

Most countries around the world have recognized the importance of learning Chinese. Schools and Universities have introduced Chinese language learning courses as part of their curriculum. The idea is to equip students with language skill sets that would be needed to function in a global environment.

It may not be possible for everyone to study in China to be fluent in the language. However an equally effective alternative is to get acquainted with the Chinese culture along with learning the basics of the language. This way one grasps the situations and context in which the language is used giving the learning process a practical feel about it.

Learning Chinese online

One of the best ways to go about learning Chinese is by enrolling for an online course. Several online language schools offer Chinese learning courses suited for learners from different backgrounds with different learning needs. The professional who wants to grasp the business aspects of the Chinese language or the student preparing for the AP Chinese exam or the tourist visiting China all can benefit from learning Chinese online.

A universal and flexible learning medium

The online method is suitable both for learners who wish to focus on different aspects of the Chinese language whether written or spoken. The learning process is quite interactive based on web or videoconferencing technology like Skype along with learning aids like whiteboards. The courseware makes use of several innovative means like sound and video clips, slideshows and simulate situations to make the learning a fun filled activity.

The learning schedule is usually flexible, a convenient aspect both for students as well as professionals. This also enables the student to learn the language at their own pace something which is important as the finer points of the language need to be absorbed patiently. The tutors conducting the courses are often native speakers and graduates certified to teach Chinese as a second language.

Of course learning Chinese or for that matter any new language would require commitment on the student’s part. Diligently applying oneself to the learning process is a necessity as one seeks to comprehend the script, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary.

A tip for students, while learning try to think in Chinese rather than framing a sentence in one’s first language and then trying to translating into Chinese. This would make the learning process easier and enable you to grasp the language quickly. Keep the mind open as you take in the new rules of writing or speaking in Chinese. All the Best!

It is the common language of communication in China used in government departments, business, media, as well as in schools. There are various other language groups in the Chinese language family like Cantonese, Wu, Min and Hakka all of which share a fairly common written script.

Chinese characters and writing system
The Chinese writing system is termed as “zhongwen”; an interesting aspect about the Chinese language is that the spoken and written forms developed at a different rate in history.

The Chinese characters known as “hanzi” are written and arranged vertically in columns and read from top to bottom and right to left. The characters or morphemes are independent of changes in phonetics according to language group. The characters derive their meaning and pronunciation from semantic radicals and phonetic components.

The system of Chinese characters currently in prevalence is the Simplified Chinese Character system introduced by China in 1954. The traditional system is still used in some parts of the Chinese speaking world mainly in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

To gain a functional knowledge of Chinese a literate person needs to have knowledge of over 2,000 characters. Large dictionaries identify over 40,000 characters with estimates putting the overall figure at over 60,000. Most well educated people are able to comprehend about 6,000 characters.

Spoken Chinese and pronunciation

Spoken Chinese makes use of different tones to give different meaning to similar sounds. Standard Chinese uses four tones based on a rising or falling and high or low or neutral pitch.

Romanization of the Chinese language has made it easier for several students to learn Chinese as a second language. The most common standard employed in most Chinese Language Schools worldwide is Pinyin introduced in 1956 by the Chinese government.

The Chinese language is more concise than English, and has no gender and tenses. The speaker can simply add appropriate word and time period to the beginning and ending of the sentences to indicate the gender and tense.

The language is based more upon the word order and sentence structure for meaning rather than on changes in the form of the word to indicate its function in a sentence.

Here are some Chinese Pronunciation for commonly used expressions in English

1. This isn’t right – Zhe Shi Bu Dui De or Bu Dui
2. See me ASAP – Kuai Lai Kan Wo or Kuai Lai
3. Stupid Man – Sha Mao
4. Did you go to the beach – Qu Sha Tan Le Ma?
5. He is washing his car – Ta Zai Xi Che
6. How is the weather? – Tian Qi Ru He?
7. Our meeting is scheduled for next week – Hui Yi She Xia Zhou
8. Where do you go skiing? – Qu Nar Hua Xue?
9. How do you like America/India? – Mei Guo/(Yin Du) Hao Ma?
10. Great – Zhen Bang
11. I though you went on a diet – Ni Bu Shi Zao Jian Fei ma?
12. It is very dark here – Zhe Li Teng Hei De
13. I think you need a face lift – Ni Xu Yao Huan Zhang Lian
14. It is necessary – Bi Xu De
15. Happy New Year (Hope you get rich) – Gong Xi Fa Cai

Although Chinese is a harder language than English to learn, it is not impossible. Utilizing combination of online free resources and a native speaker private tutor/teacher will make you a formidable Chinese speaker. Learn Chinese Online with a highly reputable program will shorten your learning time frame and reduce the frustration you might have. Here are some online resources:

http://www.languageguide.org/mandarin/

www.chinesepod.com

http://www.fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php?page=Chinese

The U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute rates Mandarin a “Category III” language, meaning it is one of the most difficult languages to learn for a native English speaker. The institute specifies that Mandarin competence requires 88 weeks of study, or 2,200 class hours. If you can dedicate 2 years with weekly 6 hours of learning (2-3 class hours), you will be fluent in Chinese.

It is a special day for me today. I took the HSK exam(HSK——han yu shui ping kaoshi ——chinese text for students learn chinese as a second language) advanced. I got up early to prepare to go to Beijing Language University to take the exam. It felt come the moment I stepted out of my dorm—it is late autum. But it was as warm as sparing in Beijing. But the fine weather which is totally different from that in Tianjin made me feel that I was welcomed by Beijing. Unconcously, I got a feeling that everything should be a surprise for me.

The train took me to Beijing. South Train Station After my arrival, I transferred to subway and got off at Wudaokou staion. It was 7:30—relatively long before the beginning of the exam. Thus I paced to the exam place, listening to the music. There were already a lot of peoplw waiting for the exam to start then I got there. Some were talking while they others were reading their notebooks. I felt I could not waste mt time either. So I decided to open my notebook. But I saw an oldclasmate when I just opened the book which I closed later. Then we started to talk to make ourselves feel less presured.

I took a deep breath after I sat on my seat a moment before the exam started. The questions were not too difficult. I finished all the questions one by one with a smile because I did not feel any pressure. It was like when I did the modle exams at home. We had a ten minutes break after the first part of the exam. Dduring the break I noticed that people there had various expressions. Some looked very low and some were radiant with hapioeness. I recalled all the efforts I made before. In this way, I did the writing and oral test without much difficulty.

Then the exam ended, I was totally prssure-free. It was like I just put down a heavy burden. I met a schoolmate who is studying as a MA in Qinghua University on my way home. I intended to show off that I did very well in the exam but what was beyound my consideration was that he beated me by saying this: It is nothing at all.if I attened this exam, I would be able to pass level 11 without any efforts. I did not feel good for his words, thinking that he should not have said that  to me who is four years younger than him. But I got his text message on the train back to Tianjin. It said:” It will not surprise me if you pass level 11 of HSK. You deserv this honor. I am proud that you are my younger schoolmate. Wish you can make a big progress. Take care on the way and rest well when after you arrived.”I was deeply moved by his words—what a good elder brother.

After my arrival, I tidied my room. It had been in a mass after a long time of not being cleaned. Now, I am sitting in front of my desk, writing my journal. Ah! No matter good or bad the result is, I will not regret or feel pitty because I have tried all I can. There was an old saying: “Try your best and wait for God’s decision.” Now all I can do is to wait for what God says in the end. I have never been so hard-working before. I firmly believe that I definetly can win Level 11.  Iwant to say something to myself in the end: “具本儒(Chianese name:Ju Ben-ru/Korean name:Ku Bon-yu),you really worked hard and now you deserve a good rest. Now, go to bed and relex. Your life of studying aborad is still going on. Hope you can go on persuiting best from good! ” I felt I was a bit wordy so I went to bed.

日记一篇

2010年10月16日 星期六 晴 （韩国）具本儒

今天是特别的日子，就是有“高等汉语水平考试”的日子。我一大早就起来准备去北京语言大学考试。我一出门就感到深秋的寒气，但到北京恰恰相反，北京像欢迎我来考试似的，天气跟春天一样暖和。所以我不知不觉的有了吉祥的预感。

到了北京南站，匆匆地坐地铁到了五道口。那时七点半左右，离考试时间还有很长时间。于是我听着音乐，慢慢地走向考场。到考场一看，已经有很多人等着考场开放。有的人跟朋友唧唧喳喳地聊天儿，有的人看自己以前学习时的笔记。我也觉得不能浪费这段时间，在打开了一本以前的笔记的刹那我遇到了上个学期的同班同学酒井理步。我就合上了本子跟她聊到进入考场的时间，以减轻对考试的紧张。

我找到我的座位坐下，做了几次深呼吸，过了一会儿考试开始了。考试不太难，感觉和在家里做模拟考试问题时一样，所以我带着微笑一个一个地回答问题。前一部分的考试结束以后十分钟的休息时间我看到了人们各种各样的表情，有的人垂头丧气、有的人满面春风，我在悲喜交集的场合里回想我以前的努力，越想越有自信，所以后一段的写作和口语考试也轻轻松松成功地考完了。

整个考试结束，我的心如释重负，开心得很。回家的路上我顺便跟在清华读研究生的学长见了面，我心里想向他炫耀自己，但反而被他打击。他说：“小小的HSK考试应当取得11级，如果我考，用脚趾头也能得到11级”。我当时心情很不好，心想对比自己小四岁的学弟怎么这么说话。可是我在回天津的火车上收到了学长发来的短信：“对你来说取得11级不足为奇，是应该的。我作为一个学长为有你这样的学弟而骄傲，希望你更上一层楼。，考试辛苦了，路上小心，快回去休息。”好个学长，这样鼓励我，我深深地感动了。

回家以后，收拾了好久没整理而乱七八糟的屋子，现在坐在桌子前写着今天的日记，啊！无论结果好还是不好，我尽力了，没有丝毫的遗憾。古话说“尽人力而听天命”，我只能等待这个“天命”下来。我从来没有这么认真地学习过，相信一定能得到我梦想的11级。最后我想对自己说几句话，：“具本儒，辛苦你了。快睡觉去，你的留学生活还没结束，希望你精益求精！”知道啦，知道啦，少罗嗦，我睡觉去了。

I was born in Stuttgart, Germany, since my dad was an American diplomat. When I was two years old, we moved to Baghdad, Iraq, then three years old moved to the USA. All of my studies were done in the state of Indiana (from Kindergarten to Master’s degree).

Interestingly, I never had an interest in China when I was growing up. Ever since I was young, I was a basketball fan, and dreamed of one day playing in the NBA. It wasn’t until my junior year of college that I started to become interested in China.

This was a bit of a tough time for me personally; I couldn’t find a major that I really liked-an ideal career choice. Because I’m a Christian, I prayed to God that he would help me and give me guidance on what to do.

That spring, a great opportunity came my way: a chance to study in Hong Kong for one semester. I had never been to Asia before, so I was a bit nervous.  With thanks to God, I soon found that I loved life in Hong Kong, and most importantly it changed my life.

After I graduated from college, I came to Tianjin to teach English. This experience not only strengthened my interest in Education, but also in my love for China.

After these two years I returned to America to pursue my master’s degree (my goal was to find a stable job). However, after only a few months, I began to miss China again. So, after graduation, I decided to go back to China to work at an international school in Qingdao.

When I arrived at the school, I found that my office was next to the Pre-Kindergarten classroom; I also discovered that there was a very pretty, lively, and friendly teacher there. Every morning we would greet each other and smile.

To make a long story short, that young woman is now my wife and my private Chinese tutor.

At that time, although we both had rather comfortable, stable jobs, I still didn’t feel very content. Since it was an international school, there weren’t many Chinese students; also I had a strong desire to have a career which was more directly related to China. I started to read on the internet about a new trend in American schools: studying Chinese.

After discussing and praying about this with my wife, I decided to go back to the states and get a Chinese teaching certification.

After this semester, I will graduate from Indiana University. I’m now applying for jobs, and hope I can achieve my goal: become a Chinese teacher. I hope to help students understand China better, be interested in China, and love China.

Even if I become a Chinese teacher in the future, I will still continue to study Chinese. Even though I’m already in the Advanced Level 2 class, I still feel that I have just started to study the language. I hope my Chinese can get better, and gradually more rich and fluent. In this way, this will help me to give students more help.

Teacher evaluation:

The content is concrete, is substantial, the sentence is smooth, says very much to own life course clearly, as soon as believes you to be able to become an outstanding Chinese teacher surely.

我的小传

（美国）霍智杰, 2010年春   南开大学

我叫霍智杰，美国印第安纳州人。

因为我爸爸以前是美国的外交官，所以我是在德国的斯图加特出生的。我两岁的时候搬家到伊拉克的巴格达，三岁的时候我们一家才回到美国。我从幼儿园到研究生都是在印第安纳州上的。

有意思的是，我小的时候对中国没有什么兴趣。我从小就是一个篮球迷，我的梦想就是有一天能够当一个NBA的球员。一直到大学三年级的时候我才开始对中国感到一点兴趣。那个时候我碰到一些困难：我找不到一个自己喜欢的专业――一个理想的职业选择。因为我是一个基督徒，所以我祷告神能够帮助我，给我一些引领。

那年春天，我得到了一个特别的机会：去香港学习一个学期。因为我从来没有去过亚洲，所以我有一点紧张。感谢神，我在香港的生活很开心，最主要的是我的人生观也有了很大的转变。

我大学毕业以后来天津教英文，那两年的生活不仅让我对教育工作更加感兴趣，而且也让我对中国的感情越来越深。两年以后，我又回到美国上研究生（教学的技术），为的是以后可以找到一个比较稳定的工作。可是我回到美国仅仅几个月的时间就又开始想念中国了。所以，我毕业以后又再一次回到中国，在青岛的一个国际学校工作。

我到了那所学校以后，发现我的办公室是在幼儿园的教室旁，我还发现幼儿园的教室里有一位美丽、活泼、亲切的老师。我们每天早上互相打招呼、微笑……长话短说，那位姑娘现在已经是我的妻子和我的私人中文老师了。

那个时候，虽然我们都有比较舒适、稳定的工作，可我还是觉得不太满意。因为那是一个国际学校，所以中国人很少；而我的愿望是多做一些和中国有关的工作。那个时候，我在网上看到美国的学校有一个新的发展趋势：学习汉语。

我跟老婆一起祷告，商量以后，决定再回国拿一个中文教师证。

这个学期以后，我会在印第安纳的大学毕业。我现在申请工作，希望我会达到我的目的：当一名中文老师。我希望能够帮助学生更了解中国、对中国感兴趣、热爱中国。

即使我将来当了一名中文老师，我还要继续而学习汉语。虽然我已经在高级二班上学，可是我感觉只是开始学习中文。我希望我的中文能够越来越好、越来越丰富。这样，我觉得可以使我给学生更多的帮助。

老师评语：

内容具体、充实，语句通顺，对自己的生活历程讲得很清楚，相信你一定能成为一个优秀的中文教师。

The AP Chinese Exam is a great way for high school students learning Chinese as a second language as well as native speakers to get acquainted with the Chinese culture. The exam enables the student to improve in all elements of the Chinese language from speaking and listening to reading and writing.

What is the AP Chinese exam about?

The AP Chinese exam is part of the College Board’s initiative to promote multiculturalism. High school students based on their performance in the exam can earn college credit towards their foreign language requirements under the Advanced Placement Chinese program. The exam is equivalent to a fourth semester or college course in Mandarin Chinese.

The questions focus on the three major communication modes testing the student’s interpersonal, interpretive and presentation skills. Preparing for the exam requires extensive practice as often students struggle to answer the question within the stipulated time frame.

Upon successful completion of the exam the student will be able to

•    communicate in Chinese especially in daily situations
•    appreciate Chinese culture and understand the Oriental way of life
•    connect with other subject areas related to the Chinese language
•    compare the Chinese language with the languages already learnt
•    be a part of the global community emphasizing a multi-lingual and multi-cultural environment

Exam date and duration

The exam duration is of about 2 hours and 15 minutes and is usually held in the middle of the year around May. The AP Chinese exam is designed in such a manner that the student while preparing for the exam also comes to know various aspects of the Chinese culture.

The exam preparation should focus on applying the language skills learnt. Since the exam includes significant references to Chinese culture the preparation course should include material that gives them an idea how the Chinese people live and have lived in the past. Studying topics related to Chinese history as well as philosophy would help students better understand the Chinese speaking world.