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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 that 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 may
not be engaged.
The
songs collected in these books are some well-known and popular Chinese children
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. second
language 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 background language
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.
It
is recommended that teachers use these workbooks as supplementary material
which can be related to the different topics they teach in the classroom.
Topics related are suggested only. It is also suggested that teachers use the
videos, accessible from this blog, to teach and the music, which can be
downloaded from this blog, to record students’ singing.
For
purchasing Learn Chinese While Singing Student Workbooks 1, 2 & 3, please contact:
Or
2. China Books (Sydney), (02) 92801885
