Singing songs is one of the most effective ways of learning a language, especially for young children. Back in the ‘70s, when I was studying Spanish at university, I enjoyed learning it through singing songs. Since I started teaching Chinese in 1995, I have used many songs to supplement the topics that I teach in my class. I have used songs as an effective text to teach students from K to 12. Sometimes we may hear a complaint from language teachers saying that today’s children are not keen to sing songs in their language classes. This may be true for some students but, it has definitely not been my own experience.
The crucial point is WHAT and HOW a teacher teaches. If a teacher uses a ‘childish’ song for Year 9 or Year 11 students, it is, of course, quite likely he/she will fail. If a teacher just randomly selects a song and starts to teach it without conducting any pre-activities or without relating to a topic, students will become disengaged.
The songs collected in these workbooks are some well-known and popular Chinese children’s songs. They have simple words and lyrics so that they are easily sung. Singing songs can improve a student’s speaking and listening skills. In order to master reading and writing skills, students need to practise and complete the accompanying exercises.
Based on the principle of a student-centred approach, these workbooks are designed to cater for different levels of learners. There are three levels of exercises for each song (Exercise A, B and C). Exercise A is for the beginners, e.g. non-Chinese learners; Exercise B is for learners who have some basic knowledge of the target language; Exercise C, which is more challenging, is for more advanced learners, e.g. young newly-arrived migrants or talented non-Chinese learners. Teachers need to assign the exercise according to the language level of the particular student(s) and, of course, need to encourage them to undertake more challenging work once they have mastered each level.
Although these songs are effective texts for teaching Chinese, I must emphasise that these workbooks should not be used as a ‘textbook’. It is recommended that teachers use these workbooks as supplementary material which can be related to the different topics they teach in the classroom.
If you would like to print or download them, pleas link to:
Workbook 1
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B4mezBT5o5NGZTZlNzQyMzQtNmYzNy00MGQwLThmODgtYzllYTUwODA0NjNm&authkey=CLb1gRM&hl=en
Workbook 2
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B4mezBT5o5NGYmQzMDc5ODctZjU5Ny00MWJlLWIxOGItNTE4ZWZmMzI4MjU1&hl=en&authkey=CNqU3a4G&safe=on
