Posts Tagged ‘Chinese’

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Free Interactive Chinese Lessons with Games!

February 23rd, 2013

Hi!  It’s Saturday, February 23, 2013 and time for Foreign Languages at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:

BBC: Real Chinese

Age Range: All (with parental supervision)

The BBC offers this free, multi-media, ten-part introduction to Mandarin Chinese. Each lesson is centered around a particular topic and includes a slideshow, pronunciation and grammar tips, cultural notes, and videoclips that demonstrate the lesson. Plus, you”ll find mini-guides and games that enhance learning!

When you get to the webiste you’ll see an introduction with a menu of the topics that include:

  1. For Starters – An introduction to Mandarin Chinese with emphasis on understanding how tones of various syllables can change the meaning of a word.
  2. Introducing Yourself
  3. Family Introductions
  4. Saying a Bit about Yourself
  5. Ordering Drinks
  6. Ordering a Meal
  7. Doing Some Shopping
  8. Asking for Directions
  9. Getting Around by Public Transportation
  10. Finding and Booking A Hotel

Each topic offers a videoclip that demonstrates the lesson. (Note: Users outside the UK are limited to shorter videoclips – but the content is still very helpful.)

Use the menu to access the free “Mini-Guides” that explain Chinese tones, Pinyin, Characters, and Useful Links to other sites that have resources for learning Chinese.

Don’t miss the Chinese Games that help you better understand and practice the tones of the language, as well as how to read and write Chinese characters.

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Free Chinese Language Games & More!

October 13th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Saturday, October 13, 2012 and time for Foreign Languages at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:

Ting – Chinese English Center

Age Range: All (Aspects of this site that will appeal to all ages. Parents should preview to determine suitability of content.)

This website offers a variety of free interactive tools including games, searchable dictionary, flashcards, and more to help you learn Chinese.

When you get to the site, don’t be deceived by its plain look. You will see a menu on the left side of your screen. Place your cursor over the items on the menu to see a drop-down list, then click to explore the resources. The main menu includes:

*Read Me – Complete instructions for using this site, including how to use Chinese characters (letters).

*Games and Stuff – Learn and/or reinforce Chinese language skills while playing concentration, doing math, exploring maps, and listening to English and Chinese (bilingual) stories. Explore a fully interactive family tree, too.

*Dictionary Search – Search for a word, sentence, or phrase in the dictionary, and you will see how it’s written, how it’s pronounced, and you can listen to a native speaker pronounce it.

*China Experience – See pictures and learn about Beijing, the Great Wall, Xian, and Shanghai. Explore Chinese art such as bronzes, calligraphy, painting, and Ming Dynasty artifacts.

You can also create a personal account on the site (free) and create your own personalized flashcards. You may also enjoy reviewing the “Bibliographies” section with links to other resources for learning about the Chinese language, culture, and history online.

This is a great way to introduce the Chinese language and culture to your children.

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Say “Happy Easter” In Every Language!

March 31st, 2012

Hi! It’s Saturday, March 31, 2012 and time for Foreign Languages at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Omniglot.com

Age Range:  All (with parental supervision)

This terrific website helps you learn to say or write “Happy Easter” in many languages of the world.

When you get to the site you’ll see a menu of languages with “Happy Easter” printed in each language. Some of those written expressions are linked to a sound file. Click on it and you can hear a native speaker say the words. Some of the languages you’ll find include:

  • Afrikaans
  • Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese)
  • French
  • German
  • Hindi
  • Italian
  • Latin
  • Persian
  • Russian
  • Spanish
  • Ukrainian
  • Welsh
  • Zulu

And many more! When you’re through learning to say “Happy Easter” check out the rest of this site that provides useful phrases, free video lessons, and songs in different languages of the world. 

 

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Fun Math Games in Many Languages!

February 6th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Monday, February 6, 2012 and time for Math at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Mothmatic

Age Range: 6-10 (About grades 1-5 with parental supervision.)

This website offers colorful, animated, interactive math games to help students practice basic math equations in a multiple choice format – and in a variety of languages including German, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Polish and more.

When you get to the site you’ll see a menu of math strands (displayed in English) that include:

  • Addition
  • Subtraction
  • Multiplication
  • Division
  • Fractions

Click on any one and a new page opens where the game begins.  Randomly generated  equations are displayed on the screen and the player selects the correct answer. If the player guesses incorrectly a message appears saying, “Wrong. Try again.” If you guess correctly, you move on to the next equation until the game runs its course.

To play in an alternate language, use the horizontal menu at the bottom of the screen to make your selection. 

Note: If you click on “Digital Dialects” on the menu bar, it will open a new page where you can play games to practice foreign languages from Afrikaans to Zazaki. We’ve featured the “Digital Dialects” website previously where students can learn phrases, numbers, conversational words, spelling, verb conjugation and alphabets in over 50 languages of the world. 

 

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Free Virtual History Textbook & Games!

January 26th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Thursday, January 26, 2012 and time for Social Sciences at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
KidsPast.com

Age Range: 8-12 (approximately, with parental supervision)

ClickScholar Renee reminded me of this website in the KidsKnowIt Network that we’ve featured previously. It offers an engaging online history textbook, history games, and interesting historical quotes.

When you get to the ad-supported site, use the menu and click on “World History” to access a sort of virtual, interactive textbook containing a variety of articles on topics including:

  • Prehistoric Humans
  • The Ancient Greeks & Romans
  • African, Indian, and Chinese Civilizations
  • The Byzantine Empire
  • Medieval Europe
  • The Renaissance
  • The Reformation
  • The American Revolution
  • The French Revolution
  • And Much More!

The articles are easy to read, interesting, and enhanced with pictures and illustrations. Note: It may take a minute or two to fully download each chapter – but your patience will pay off. :)

Once you’ve read the articles, use the menu to click on “History Games” and try playing the innovative arcade-style games that help kids retain the history facts and concepts in the articles.

You can also explore “Historical Quotes” from the menu that offers interesting comments from historical figures in every walk of life.

KidsKnowIt Network also provides fun history songs that kids may enjoy. Just click on the icon that says, “Play A Song for This Topic,” just below the menu on the left side of the screen.

 

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Learn to Speak Japanese!

October 29th, 2011

Hi! It’s Saturday, October 29, 2011, and time for Foreign Languages at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Kids Web Japan

Age Range: 4 to 12 (with parental supervision)

This website, created by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), is designed to foster appreciation of Japan among American children and introduce them to the Japanese language!

The simple artwork, the openness of each page, the soft color scheme and intuitive navigation, are all immediately attractive to young ones. And the content is top-notch! Here’s what you’ll find:

*Lessons 1-8 – Nicely illustrated formal language lessons, complete with audio examples, English and Japanese text, and pronunciation in text form. (Typical lessons contain dialog, vocabulary/grammar, and an exercise.) 

*Animated Japanese – There are 3 scenarios on this page with 3 menu choices each. The 3rd link in each scenario is the ONLY one that works – but it opens terrific interactive cartoons. Click on the numbered speech balloons sequentially (as many times as you like) to hear the dialog in Japanese and read the captions in English, Japanese, and phonetic transcription. Learn fun sentences like, “Welcome home, Master!” and “Let’s play together until our spaceship gets fixed.”

*Quick Kanji – Here you can play with a fully interactive drawing of a scene in Japan. Click on any part of the scene to watch the picture evolve into a Japanese/Chinese character. This is a winner!

*Hiragana and Katakana Charts – Japanese alphabets. Click any letter to hear it pronounced.

*Numbers – Learn to speak and read the numbers from 1 to 100.

And under Related Articles:

*Language – The older kids and adults will appreciate this clear article about the Japanese language.

*Hiragana Matching Game – Click and drag the Japanese word to the picture. If you guess correctly, you hear the word pronounced and learn to write it correctly. Even if you are just guessing wildly, you will still learn something by playing this game. (You probably won’t want to play it past level two, tho ugh, unless you already know some words and letters.)

And last but not least:

*Gesture Game – This hidden gem is listed under “Games” in the left column. Look at the gesture and try to guess what it means. These gestures are also used in Japanese Sign Langauge.

You may also wish to spend some time on the rest of this website; some additional Japanese vocabulary (origami, manga, ninja,..) is presented in the context of the culture and history of Japan. Parents, as always, should preview the site and supervise Internet use.

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