I am back with a book update. It’s been a long time and we’ve acquired many books, so hopefully this is just part one. Today I’m focusing on four Chinese books. 章鱼先生要比赛 [Mr. Octopus’s Competition] is a story about some animal friends competing in various events, such as who is the tallest, the fastest, orContinue reading “Our favorite Chinese picture books at 3 years old”
Tag Archives: language learning
Moo, no moo.
A 15-month-old update on language acquisition for baby #2: Em has started to speak a few more two-word phrases. Many of these she has only said once, but so clearly that sometimes I feel like I’m imagining things except that the sounds she makes fit the context. Some recent phrases include: She’s also acquired 抱[toContinue reading “Moo, no moo.”
The second Bilingual Baby?
Hello. In case you missed it, we now have two kids, and that means one more datapoint. Bilingual parents know that raising younger kids bilingual is wayyy harder than with your oldest, because no matter how much the parents try to speak the target language at home, the older sibling will probably speak some EnglishContinue reading “The second Bilingual Baby?”
Journey to the West – Chapter 10.4
Around noon, the emperor ordered a concubine to bring a chessboard and invited his minister to a game of chess.1 Wei Zheng agreed, and they began to play. Move by move they set up their opening positions. It was as described in the Lanke Classics: Caution and discipline are the way of chess. The valuableContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 10.4”
The Cows on the Bus go Moo, Moo, Moo
Ro has started singing, and it wasn’t a gradual process. He has always loved listening to songs that we sing to him or play for him, both in Chinese and English, but the singing started with Baa Baa Black Sheep. They must sing this a lot at daycare because it wasn’t on our rotation atContinue reading “The Cows on the Bus go Moo, Moo, Moo”
21-Month Toddler Chinese/English Bilingual Book Review
It’s already time for another book review! We’re still loving many of the books from when Ro was 18 months, especially the CDs that come with 早安晚安 [Good Morning, Good Night] and 小雨滴 [Little Raindrop], but we have new favorites now too. I’ve heard many parents complain about having to read the same books over and over again,Continue reading “21-Month Toddler Chinese/English Bilingual Book Review”
Listening to Chinese children’s songs
In the last two months, the language explosion has continued. We have gone from “bus” and “no bus” to knowing the Chinese names for car, pickup truck, excavator, bulldozer, cement truck, fire truck, and many more. It occurred to me that unless you are learning Chinese as a child with an interest in trucks, youContinue reading “Listening to Chinese children’s songs”
New Podcast and Instagram
Hi 🙂 We started a podcast. It’s on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We’re telling the story of Journey to the West and then discussing what surprises us or what we connect with based on our Chinese American and Taiwanese American experiences. I’m still feeling it out and there are a lot of improvements that canContinue reading “New Podcast and Instagram”
Journey to the West – Chapter 9.1
We’re turning to the city of Chang’an in Shanxi Province, the capital city for many generations of emperors. Through the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, the flowers bloomed like brocade and waters flowed around the city. It really was a beautiful sight. It was the Tang Dynasty,1 and the Emperor Taizong had been on theContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 9.1”
Bus, no bus!
I was right about the language explosion. Ro is 19 months old and we are hitting that phase where more and more sounds are becoming available to him and he is starting to repeat words that we say. He is also starting to put together subject-verb phrases like 妈妈抱！(Pick me up, mama!) and 妈妈拜！(Bye mama!).Continue reading “Bus, no bus!”
Etymology Adventures 