To extend our study of the Goose Song, as well as to practice a little bit of the Chinese calligraphy and
character writing, we wrapped up this semester's club meetings with a
craft activity --- making a Chinese fan with "authentic" Chinese
decoration on it! Isn't this something cool to do for the hot summer
ahead us?
Since we haven't really practiced Chinese character writing other than our names so far, you may imagine that it IS challenging to all of us club members, especially at the very beginning. To write Chinese characters in the RIGHT way, you have to follow the thing called "stroke order." There are of course rules for this order, such as from left to right, from top to bottom......But it can get complicated when the character gets complex. It is a pain for young learners or beginners, having to memorize all those orders when writing more than one characters in a row. But as the teacher, I know that this is very important in your Chinese writing practice. If you don't care at the beginning and feel good when simply being able to "copy" the final format of the Chinese characters (that may happen to some classrooms where the teacher also doesn't care), you may work hard but only building up a "wrong" character writing habit. To the end, the student will struggle more as they progress in Chinese character learning and writing. On the contrary, if you start it in the right way, you will gain skills that lead to an easier future/progress.
With that said, we actually have some tricks and fun ways of getting things right when practicing our Chinese character writing. The tool I shared with my students this time was an APP called "zi bao bao 字宝宝," where the iPad was used to show the student how to write each individual character stroke by stoke. After the students got the hang of it, some of them were able to practice and to learn character writing independently.
After the students got enough practice on a draft paper, they then tried to write the Goose poem on their fans and drew a goose picture with water and ink painting materials. Due to the limited time we had and some absence towards the end of the school year, I had to help some students in their final write-up of the poem. But at least they all had a taste of how the ancient way of Chinese calligraphy gets done and created something that is both an art and a useful tool!
Last but not the least, I'm so proud for their continuous effort in trying out new things, their interest in learning Chinese, its language and culture, and all the amazing accomplishment they've made this year! I have had so much memorable and pleasant moments with this small group of kids. Thank you, thank you ALL, 谢谢你们 （xie xie ni men）！ I'll miss you in the summer and am looking forward to seeing you again next fall!
Since we haven't really practiced Chinese character writing other than our names so far, you may imagine that it IS challenging to all of us club members, especially at the very beginning. To write Chinese characters in the RIGHT way, you have to follow the thing called "stroke order." There are of course rules for this order, such as from left to right, from top to bottom......But it can get complicated when the character gets complex. It is a pain for young learners or beginners, having to memorize all those orders when writing more than one characters in a row. But as the teacher, I know that this is very important in your Chinese writing practice. If you don't care at the beginning and feel good when simply being able to "copy" the final format of the Chinese characters (that may happen to some classrooms where the teacher also doesn't care), you may work hard but only building up a "wrong" character writing habit. To the end, the student will struggle more as they progress in Chinese character learning and writing. On the contrary, if you start it in the right way, you will gain skills that lead to an easier future/progress.
With that said, we actually have some tricks and fun ways of getting things right when practicing our Chinese character writing. The tool I shared with my students this time was an APP called "zi bao bao 字宝宝," where the iPad was used to show the student how to write each individual character stroke by stoke. After the students got the hang of it, some of them were able to practice and to learn character writing independently.
After the students got enough practice on a draft paper, they then tried to write the Goose poem on their fans and drew a goose picture with water and ink painting materials. Due to the limited time we had and some absence towards the end of the school year, I had to help some students in their final write-up of the poem. But at least they all had a taste of how the ancient way of Chinese calligraphy gets done and created something that is both an art and a useful tool!
Last but not the least, I'm so proud for their continuous effort in trying out new things, their interest in learning Chinese, its language and culture, and all the amazing accomplishment they've made this year! I have had so much memorable and pleasant moments with this small group of kids. Thank you, thank you ALL, 谢谢你们 （xie xie ni men）！ I'll miss you in the summer and am looking forward to seeing you again next fall!
