Learn Chinese While Singing Pop Songs (边唱流行歌曲，边学中文) – An excellent website for learners of Chinese language

This is a wonderful website for students who want to learn Chinese by listening and singing songs. It provides the pinyin and English explanations for many Chinese pop songs. Type in Chinese or English to find the songs that you like to sing.  Have a try, you will love it. Link to: http://www.singchinesesongs.com/

Incorporating Songs Into Chinese Language Teaching (利用中文歌曲教学)

Since the student workbooks Learn Chinese While Singing 1 and 2 (边唱边学) were published online, I have received many emails asking questions about how to teach the songs. Since then, I had conducted some workshops titled “Incorporating songs into Chinese language teaching” on different occasions, including one at the Chinese National Conference last year (2011). The response was very positive. On 13/06/12, I was invited by Jess McCulloch from Melbourne to present in the Hanyulaoshi Show.

Using songs to teach Chinese may be a positive experience, especially when teaching to young learners. However, some teachers find it hard to teach songs to Year 7-10 students. I don’t agree, since I have tried it for all levels and school years including Year 11 and 12 students, and it can work well. I think the key point is ‘What (songs) and How (to teach)’. Teachers need to understand their students’ needs and language abilities. At the same time, they need to know what they want to achieve, e.g. speaking, listening, reading, writing or cultural appreciation. In order to teach effectively, teachers need to conduct some pre-teaching or after-teaching activities. If you are interested in learning these strategies, please link to:

Incorporating songs into Chinese language teaching

Chinese Character Writing (写字帖) - an excellent teaching/learning tool

If you are keen to practise Chinese character writing and want to know the stroke order, this is an excellent tool for you. This writing tool is provided by Hanban and is very useful. You don’t need to rely on teachers to tell you the stroke order. As long as you can type the character, you can learn how to write it. Have a try. You will find it really useful.

这是一个非常实用、便捷的汉字书写工具。只要打得出汉字，就能知道它(们)的笔画顺序。科技的发展，让中文的教与学变得越来越容易。试看看，你会发现真的很好用。

Please link to: Chinese Character Writing (写字帖)