My Early Start: Learning Chinese

Book Expo America in New York City

Well, we made it back from yet another great Book Expo America show!  It was a quick trip, and although we did not exhibit this year, it was still well worth our time and effort.  We met with several distributors, including digital distributors like Overdrive, that will mean more extensive distribution of our Early Start Mandarin dvds to schools, libraries, and retail stores. 

We visited the children's pavilion, which had many vendors with wonderful books for children.  There was also a Spanish language section and an Arabic section.  Maybe there will be a Chinese pavilion in the near future?

It is always wonderful to visit New York City. It's always so exciting to travel around town on the subway and walk around the various neighborhoods.  We had a wonderful dinner at Da Silvano Restaurant in Greenwich Village, and another at The Kitchen Club restaurant in SoHo.  We even saw Nicolas Cage being filmed on 6th Avenue!  We'll be waiting for the movie to come out!

Now that we're back home, it's back to work!  We'll keep you updated on our next exhibit.

Dragon Boat Festival and Eating Zong Zi

I remember as a child growing up in Taiwan enjoying the preparation for the annual duan wu jie or dragon boat festival, usually in late May sometime.  My mom and aunties would spend a lot of time shopping and preparing to make the traditional food eaten during this holiday, call zong zi.  Once they had all the raw materials of glutinous rice, pork, mushrooms, and peanuts mixed in a big washtub, they would sit around on little stools to fill lotus leaves with the rice mixture.  All the cousins would wait around eagerly for the first batch of zong zi to be made, and then steamed.  They were delicious!  After we filled up our bellies with the savory ones, we then waited again for the sweet ones, usually made with red beans.  My mom and aunties always made plenty for family and friends.

I hope my kids will have wonderful memories around Chinese food.  At the very least I have our Cooking with Kids dvds (Celebrating Chinese New Years and Exploring Chinese Food, Culture, and Language) I can show them.

I found a great article Zong Zi - the Traditional Chinese Food, by Rhonda Parkinson on About.com with a recipe on how to make zong zi. I hope you will try it and let us know how it goes. Enjoy!

Teresa

Heading Off to the Book Expo in New York!

We're so excited!  Kelly and I leave Thursday morning for New York to attend the annual Book Expo America.  The annual book fair brings together authors, distributors, publishers, and basically anyone else that has anything to do with books.  This will be our third year attending.  The last two years, we exhibited our Early Start Mandarin dvds at the expo.  However, this year we decided to just attend.  We'll still have the opportunity to talk to a variety of people in the industry, and we'll have more time to enjoy New York!  The first year we exhibited, we received many comments and questions on "why Chinese?"  The second year there were a couple of other exhibitors with similar products.  Now, just a few years later, I'm sure there will be many exhibitors offering Chinese learning materials for children.  We can't wait to see everything! We'll update you from the show.

Learning Chinese Will Only Get More Popular

Did you know that the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to China is fluent in Mandarin Chinese?  You might think that's an obvious reason for choosing him, but he does have other qualifications that hopefully will help him be successful. Jon Huntsman, the current governor of Utah, contender for the Republican presidential nomination for 2012, has served previously as the ambassador to Singapore and deputy U.S. trade representative.  He learned Mandarin Chinese when he went on his Mormon mission to Taiwan.  Some say his appointment by Obama as the ambassador to China is a clear sign of the importance of the the U.S. and China relationship.

As for the rest of us, even if we don't aspire to be the U.S. ambassador to China, there are other good reasons to learn Chinese. 

Here's an article we found that I found interesting:  One in Five Persons Speak Chinese Throughout the World.

(John Abraham, March 25, 2009).

Chinese is spoken by 1/5th of the population all over the world according to the revelations made by the statistics. There is no field in which the Chinese people or people of Chinese origin have not made a name for themselves. Their sincerity and hardworking nature have gotten them genuine respect. 

China is visited by the tourists to see among other things The Great Wall of China, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and it is there no big surprise that it is becoming a famous destination for tourists and businessmen equally. Majority of them attend Chinese language and writing classes with the intention to speak and understand the Chinese language. Web is now offering Chinese language lessons where the Chinese can be learnt by you for free. 

The Global Services Delivery centers of many international corporations are being moved to China because of the necessity of Chinese language translation. In order to communicate with local businessmen and also the Government of China, they require help . It is because of rising of China’s stature in the global economy that makes it a must for international majors to deal with China and the people of China . Chinese people feel respected when you speak in Chinese to the people of China when you visit China. With the growing popularity to China, Chinese Language translation is being offered by majority of institutes free to people who do business with China .

It is out of sheer love for the language some people want to learn Chinese. To have an idea about China’s splendid history and its crusade against the ills of the yesteryears its rich literature should be read . 

For people of America who have studied the Chinese language, there are jobs available for Chinese language translator. Chinese has been identified as one of the four major languages for its citizens by America for its citizens. This is also one of the reasons for the growing popularity of the Chinese language. Thanks to a number of opportunities to learn Chinese online, the number of people learning Chinese has gone up. Chinese language free workbook is there to learn Chinese which will help you to understand what you have learnt. 

With the purpose of identifying beautiful tourist places, many people from China are visiting various countries across the world. The people who know the Standard Chinese language are needed by the countries that are visited to speak to their guests from China. A demand has sprung up for Chinese lessons. There are organizations offering people how to speak Chinese lessons for free.

There is a renewed interest in Chinese history and Chinese civilization in parts of the world. The people who want to learn about China’s past need to learn to speak Chinese. There are chances available to learn Chinese for free and one should take it to the fullest.

There are Chinese Language Conferences also being held frequently as it is spoken all over the world. This proves the importance of the language.

Learning Chinese has also become popular because of the career opportunities available for Chinese translators and also the career opportunities available in China in this globalist world. If you need to learn a foreign language, try Chinese.

Asian Heritage Street Fair

It was HOT!  That's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about the Asian Heritage Street Fair on Saturday, May 16,2009.  I believe it was in the 80s in the San Francisco civic center, rare weather for this city. 

This was the first year that we participated in the fair, and I suppose that's why we were placed at the very end of the long line of booths, right next to the stage where various bands blasted our ear drums!  Boy did we feel old!  On the positive side, our cute Chinese character t-shirts were well received and we sold lots, along with our Early Start Mandarin DVDs.  We brought the boys to "help" and learn how to talk to customers.  They checked out the interesting booths and sampled foods from different cultures.  All in all, the Fair was a success.  Check out our pictures from the event.

 

Asian Heritage Street Celebration, Saturday 5/16

This will be our first year participating in the annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration in San Francisco! The festival is this Saturday, May 16th, from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.  It will be held in the Civic Center / Little Saigon area in San Francisco, by the Asian Art Museum.  The festival will feature Asian artists, arts and crafts, and of course, Asian food!  Check out more information on the fair at Asian Heritage Street Celebration.

We will have a booth to showcase and sell our Early Start Mandarin DVDs and Chinese character T-shirts.  Stop by and check us out!

 

Learn the Four Tones of Mandarin Chinese

Chinese New Year Celebration at School

Last Friday I attended a Chinese new year celebration at my kids' school.  They call it a "mass greeting."  It is attended by the entire school along with most of the parents and even grandparents.  The kids from each grade sing traditional songs and perform dances.  This is my seventh year attending this event at the school, and I have to say, they are still adorable!  A majority of the kids dress up in traditional Chinese clothes and it certainly makes the event look very festive.  I think it's great that the school makes such a big deal out of the Chinese new year holiday because it is the most important holiday in the Chinese culture.  It's great that the kids learn many of the traditions and customs of this important holiday. The event culminated with a great lion dance performed by the 6th graders.  After the lion dance, the kids enjoyed a delicious Chinese meal with many of the customary dishes such as noodles, dumplings, and fish. 

Resources for preschoolers learning foreign language in the East Bay

Kelly and I attended the East Bay Moms' Preschool Preview event at the Scottish Rites Center in Oakland today.  We had a booth for our Early Start Mandarin Chinese DVDs.  This is our third year attending this event, and we have found this to be a great marketing event for our dvds.  The people attending this event typically have young children of preschool age, and living in the Bay Area, people are generally very open to having their young children learn a foreign language.  As a result, there are many schools that offer foreign language programs available.  Here are a few that presented at the preschool preview event:

Lango - Spanish, French, and Mandarin, www.langokids.com

French For Fun - language and cultural center with total immersion program, www.frenchforfun.com

Escuela Bilingue Internacional - Spanish/English dual language program from PK to 3rd grade, www.ebinternacional.org

Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley - French/English bilingual program for PK to 8th grade, www.eb.org

Sunshine Preschool & Childcare - Sign language and spoken English for children 2 to 5, (510) 848-4800

Celebrating Chinese New Year

I just attended the Chinese New Year luncheon for my daughter's preschool class.  The kids were adorable, of course, and very excited to have something different from their normal lunch time routine.  They've been practicing their Chinese good luck wishes and songs, and happily chanted them all for all the parents.  For lunch they had noodles, dumplings, fish, vegetables, and sweet glutinous rice pudding.  They they each received a tangerine and an apple to bring home.  Each of these items has some significance, usually related to wealth, health, and prosperity.  For example:
Noodles- the noodles should be uncut, so as to represent long life
Dumplings -one of the most important foods in Chinese new year.  The history of jiao zi dates back some 500 to 600 years.  Since the shape of the dumpling is similar to ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots, they symbolize wealth, and people eat them at new years in hopes of bringing good fortune in the new year.
Fish -represents togetherness and abundance.  The mandarin word for fish is “yu”, which sounds the same as the word for “surplus” or “extra”. 
Sweet glutinous rice pudding -represents nián nián gāo shēng, or may you improve (get a promotion) every year.

It is also common practice for families to have oranges and tangerines, as they are symbols of abundant happiness, and the words for these fruits sound like words for wealth and luck.  If visiting families and friends during this time, it is customary to bring some oranges or tangerines.  Tangerines with the leaves intact symbolizes that one’s relationship with the other will remain secure. Tangerine or jú zi – represents dà jí dà lì, or may everything go your way.