一个很大的复习: Super Review

Discovering Chinese Lessons 1-4: click 这里

Discovering Chinese Lessons 5-8: click 这里

Discovering Chinese Lessons 9-12: click 这里

Discovering Chinese Lessons 13-16: click 这里

Discovering Chinese Lessons 17-20: click 这里

Discovering Chinese Lessons 21-24: click 这里

Discovering Chinese Lessons 25-28: click 这里

Discovering Chinese Lessons 29-31: click 这里

Tablet Experiment: Map-Making

Create a Collaborative Map of China in the FlockDraw Drawing Program.

On your map, include:

- political features (major cities, provinces, capitals)
- physical features (rivers, lakes, mountain ranges, deserts, oceans, seas)
- bordering countries and surrounding islands


*awards for the best map!*


Group 1
Group 2

trying the tablets... SKRITTER-RAMA!

Skritter is a web-based character-writing tool.  We have a temporary trial account with Skritter.  Help us try it out!  Tell us how you like it!

to access our Skritter group, click 这里。

第二十九课的录音：Lesson 29 Recording

今天是星期天。白大卫的一家人都在家。爸爸和妈妈在看电视。姐姐和妹妹在看书。弟弟和他的好朋友在一起玩电脑游戏。白大卫在做功课。
 
小狗在做什么？它在啃骨头。小猫在做什么？它在睡觉。
 
金鱼在做什么？它在水里游来游去。
 

Jīn tiān shì xīng qī tiān . Bái Dà Wèi de yì jiā rén dōu zài jiā . Bà ba hé mā ma zài kàn diàn shì . Jiě jie hé mèi mei zài zuò gōng kè .

 

Xiǎo gǒu zài zuò shén me? Tā zài kěn gǔ tou. Xiǎo māo zài zuò shén me? Tā zài shuì jiào .

 

Jīn yú zài zuò shén me? Tā zài shuǐ lǐ yóu lái yóu qù.

第二十七课的录音：Lesson 27 Recording

每天早上六点妈妈叫我起床。吃完早饭，七点半我坐校车去上学。中午十二点我在学校吃午饭。下午三点二十分 放学。放学后，我在学校里打球。五点回家做功课。晚上七点和家人一起吃晚饭。晚饭后，我们一起看书。我每天晚上十点睡觉。

第二十六课的录音：Lesson 26 Recording

王小文的妈妈做什么工作？她的妈妈是商人。

王小文的爸爸做什么工作？她的爸爸是老师。

王小文的爷爷做什么工作？她的爷爷是医生。

王小文的奶奶做什么工作？她的奶奶是家庭主妇。

王小文是中学生还是小学生？她是中学生。

王小文的弟弟也是中学生吗？不，他不是中学生。他是小学生。

第二十五课：Lesson 25

春天在哪里？春天在哪里？
春天在我们的眼睛里，
看见红的花，看见绿的草，
还有会唱歌的布谷鸟。

第二十四课：Lesson 24

姐姐比妹妹高。妹妹比姐姐矮。

花猫比白猫胖。 白猫比花猫瘦。

飞机比火车块。 火车比飞机慢。

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

白玛丽的头发比白大卫的头发长。

白大卫的头发比白玛丽的头发短。

王小文的水果比李大中的水果多。

李大中的水果比王小文的水果少。

中秋快乐！Zhōng Qiū Kuài Lè

Mid Autumn Festival (Moon Festival) takes place on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. That's today, September 12th, 2011!

for an overview of Mid Autumn Festival, follow the links here below. they'll take you to some helpful articles on the subject:

http://taoism.about.com/od/holidays/a/MidAutumn_Festival.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Festival

Important Festival Vocabulary:
zhōng 中 center, middle
qiū 秋 autumn, fall
jié 节 festival
zhōng qiū jié 中秋节 mid autumn festival
kuài lè 快乐 happy, joyous
zhōng qiū kuài lè 中秋快乐 happy mid autumn festival
yuè bǐng 月饼 moon cake
shǎng yuè 赏月 to admire the moon

第二十三课的录音：Dì Èr Shí Sān Kè De Lù Yīn

找名字：Name Search

First step - finding a compatible surname.  You might pick one that sounds like your English last name.  Or you can pick based on the meaning of the character.

You can investigate the most common family names (surnames) and their meanings: here

Here's a very good tool to help you explore a given name that suits you: here
And another: here

This tool also provides several options: here

There's also the classic phonetic way (transliteration) for a foreigner to convert their name to Chinese: here

Lastly, I'd like to share a nice blog post by ChinesePod superstar Jenny Zhu on the nature of Chinese names: here

Stroke Order

Writing characters in the correct order is essential for the character to look correct. Two basic rules are followed:
Stroke Order
1. Top before bottom

2. Left before right

These rules conflict whenever one stroke is to the bottom and left of another. Several additional rules resolve many of these conflicts.
3. Left vertical stroke (usually) before top horizontal stroke

4. Bottom horizontal stroke last

5. Center stroke before wings

6. Horizontal strokes before intersecting vertical strokes

7. Left-falling strokes before right-falling srokes

A final rule can contradict the others:
8. Minor strokes (often) last
 
Despite these conflicts between rules most students quickly acquire a natural feel for the proper stroke order.


Component Order
Most Chinese characters are combinations of simpler, component characters. Usually the two parts are written at top and bottom

or left and right

so that the main two stroke order rules readily apply. Occasionally these rules also conflict with respect to components. When one component is at the bottom-left, and the other at the top-right, the top-right component is sometimes written first.

When there are several components, top components are written first.

These rules usually imply each component is written in its entirety before another component is written. Exceptions may arise when one component divides another,

encompasses another,

or the individual components are no longer discernible in modern writing.
(source: www.zhongwen.com)
Remember: most online dictionaries offer stroke order animations, so check there when you're not sure how to write a character.  

Radicals Flashcards: Top 40

Top 40 radicals, flashcards on Quizlet: here

Tone Mark Review

August 24 HW: 8月 24号 的功课

72页的录音：recording

我很喜欢我的学生！