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kircharaLiving Mandarin is a curriculum expressly written for non-native Chinese speakers. The textbooks use both traditional and simplified characters. The curriculum is not text-heavy, so you would need to add at least one set of leveled readers to teach your child.
The textbooks have traditional characters, simplified characters above the traditional characters (as needed), pinyin under the Chinese characters, and zhuyin to the right of the traditional characters. Traditional characters and zhuyin are black, simplified characters are gray, and pinyin are red. In addition to zhuyin to the right, they also included an older form of romanization underneath pinyin (as needed) in green. I bought levels 3 (my kids' approximate level) to 10.
The text is written horizontally from left to right, beginning from kindergarten levels all the way to level 10. The horizontal orientation is great because most Chinese reading pens only scan horizontally.
The sets I bought did not come with music CDs* or an e-Pen. When you purchase directly from their website, the sets come with CDs. If you can read Chinese and are teaching your children yourself, the CDs and e-Pen are probably not necessary.
* not good music
Living Mandarin sets so far goes up to Level 10 instead of 12:
According to their website, levels 1 to 6 are basic (singing and grammar), levels 7 to 8 are intermediate (comprehensive reinforcement and comic strips), and levels 9 onward are advanced (practical Chinese and AP exams).
The textbooks are in full color. Half of the illustrations—their comic strips in particular—are ugly. However, this is a cheap and affordable set for a Taiwanese curriculum. The workbooks are printed in either black & blue or black & green. For levels 1 to 3, the workbooks include one-character and two-character flashcards in blue and green cardstock. The flashcards include simplified character as needed in the upper corner(s). The back of the flashcards includes zhuyin, pinyin and the English translation. Kindergarten level 3 workbook includes black-on-white flashcards with colorful pictures on the back.
At the end of the Primary level textbook, there is an index for grammar points, characters to be written (10 chapters x 5 characters), characters to be recognized (181 characters for volume 3), and a word list. After the index, levels 1 to 7 include the English translation for the main text (10 chapters x 2 passages). The translation for the most part is literal instead of conforming to English grammar.
You can look at some of the inside pages here:
Pros:
Cons:
I am pleased to find that level 3 is the correct level for my kids. I cover the pinyin with a reading ruler when they read and only uncover it when they do not know the character(s). My kids seem to automatically read the simplified characters and do not find the zhuyin distracting. My older one quickly figured out that zhuyin includes tones.
We have been doing Mandarin regularly since summer break. I am hoping this schedule will continue for a while, before things get hectic again. We rotate between Odonata (currently reviewing Book 4.4), SageBooks (reviewing Book 3.4) and XQKD (Book 3 Lesson 3). Sometimes we sing/learn a Chinese song or do a game/activity in Chinese instead.
We go over each textbook lesson in two sessions, and both workbooks in two sessions. For now, I plan on skipping up to half of the writing exercises to cut for time.
My tentative lesson map:
~~~
Session 1: Book 3 Lesson 1a
Session 2: Book 3 Lesson 1b
Session 3: Workbook 3A Lesson 1 (write 2-3 characters), W3B L1, review the textbook as necessary
Session 4: Finish W3B L1 (write 2-3 characters from W3A L1), review the textbook as necessary
B3 L2a
B3 L2b
W3A L2
W3B L2, Finish W3A L1 and L2 writing exercises <--We just did this today.
B3 L3a
B3 L3b
W3A L3
W3B L3
B3 L4a
W3A Review L1-3, W3B Review L1-3
B3 L4b
W3A L4
W3B L4
B3 L5a
B3 L5b
W3A L5
W3B L5
B3 L6a
B3 L6b
W3A L6
W3B L6
B3 L7a
B3 L7b
W3A L7
W3B L7
B3 L8a
W3A Review L4-6, W3B Review L4-6
B3 L8b
W3A L8
W3B L8
B3 L9a
B3 L9b
W3A L9
W3B L9
B3 L10a
B3 L10b
W3A L10
W3B L10
~~~
B4 L1a
W3A Review L7-10, W3B Review L7-10
B4 L1b
W4A L1
W4B L1
~~~
The textbooks have traditional characters, simplified characters above the traditional characters (as needed), pinyin under the Chinese characters, and zhuyin to the right of the traditional characters. Traditional characters and zhuyin are black, simplified characters are gray, and pinyin are red. In addition to zhuyin to the right, they also included an older form of romanization underneath pinyin (as needed) in green. I bought levels 3 (my kids' approximate level) to 10.
The text is written horizontally from left to right, beginning from kindergarten levels all the way to level 10. The horizontal orientation is great because most Chinese reading pens only scan horizontally.
The sets I bought did not come with music CDs* or an e-Pen. When you purchase directly from their website, the sets come with CDs. If you can read Chinese and are teaching your children yourself, the CDs and e-Pen are probably not necessary.
* not good music
Living Mandarin sets so far goes up to Level 10 instead of 12:
- Teaching bopomofo (1 textbook + 1 workbook)
- Kindergarten levels 1 to 3 (1 textbook + 1 workbook per level)
- Levels 1 to 10 (1 textbook + 2 workbooks per level)
According to their website, levels 1 to 6 are basic (singing and grammar), levels 7 to 8 are intermediate (comprehensive reinforcement and comic strips), and levels 9 onward are advanced (practical Chinese and AP exams).
The textbooks are in full color. Half of the illustrations—their comic strips in particular—are ugly. However, this is a cheap and affordable set for a Taiwanese curriculum. The workbooks are printed in either black & blue or black & green. For levels 1 to 3, the workbooks include one-character and two-character flashcards in blue and green cardstock. The flashcards include simplified character as needed in the upper corner(s). The back of the flashcards includes zhuyin, pinyin and the English translation. Kindergarten level 3 workbook includes black-on-white flashcards with colorful pictures on the back.
At the end of the Primary level textbook, there is an index for grammar points, characters to be written (10 chapters x 5 characters), characters to be recognized (181 characters for volume 3), and a word list. After the index, levels 1 to 7 include the English translation for the main text (10 chapters x 2 passages). The translation for the most part is literal instead of conforming to English grammar.
You can look at some of the inside pages here:
- My Instagram post
- Issuu pages on their website. Click on each book and click on the "試看試聽" (Take a look/give a listen) tab.
Pros:
- Written for non-native Chinese speakers
- Include sentence building and conversation roleplay exercises
- Have many examples and prompts to help students succeed in building their own sentences
- Include both traditional and simplified characters
- Include pinyin and zhuyin
- Pinyin is located below instead of above the Chinese characters
- Horizontal orientation; easily scanned by a reading pen
- Textbook includes useful indexes at the end
- Grammar index included in levels 1 to 10
- Primary level textbook (Level 1 to 7) includes English translation of the passages at the end of the book
- Workbook pages are not overcrowded
- Workbooks (Kindergarten Level 3 and Primary Levels 1 to 3) include flashcards
- Flashcards center traditional character with simplified character in the upper corner(s); great for those who read traditional
- Cheap for what it offers
- Paper quality is alright (Not glossy paper like Sagebooks or XQKD).
Cons:
- Ugly illustration at least half the time
- Book binding is not great
- Book cover is not sturdy, easily bent/wrinkled
- It is not text-heavy, so you need to add at least one set of leveled readers
- Flashcards are only available for Kindergarten Level 3 and Primary Levels 1 to 3
- Flashcards center traditional character with simplified character in the upper corner(s); not that useful for those who only read simplified
I am pleased to find that level 3 is the correct level for my kids. I cover the pinyin with a reading ruler when they read and only uncover it when they do not know the character(s). My kids seem to automatically read the simplified characters and do not find the zhuyin distracting. My older one quickly figured out that zhuyin includes tones.
We have been doing Mandarin regularly since summer break. I am hoping this schedule will continue for a while, before things get hectic again. We rotate between Odonata (currently reviewing Book 4.4), SageBooks (reviewing Book 3.4) and XQKD (Book 3 Lesson 3). Sometimes we sing/learn a Chinese song or do a game/activity in Chinese instead.
We go over each textbook lesson in two sessions, and both workbooks in two sessions. For now, I plan on skipping up to half of the writing exercises to cut for time.
My tentative lesson map:
~~~
Session 1: Book 3 Lesson 1a
Session 2: Book 3 Lesson 1b
Session 3: Workbook 3A Lesson 1 (write 2-3 characters), W3B L1, review the textbook as necessary
Session 4: Finish W3B L1 (write 2-3 characters from W3A L1), review the textbook as necessary
B3 L2a
B3 L2b
W3A L2
W3B L2, Finish W3A L1 and L2 writing exercises <--We just did this today.
B3 L3a
B3 L3b
W3A L3
W3B L3
B3 L4a
W3A Review L1-3, W3B Review L1-3
B3 L4b
W3A L4
W3B L4
B3 L5a
B3 L5b
W3A L5
W3B L5
B3 L6a
B3 L6b
W3A L6
W3B L6
B3 L7a
B3 L7b
W3A L7
W3B L7
B3 L8a
W3A Review L4-6, W3B Review L4-6
B3 L8b
W3A L8
W3B L8
B3 L9a
B3 L9b
W3A L9
W3B L9
B3 L10a
B3 L10b
W3A L10
W3B L10
~~~
B4 L1a
W3A Review L7-10, W3B Review L7-10
B4 L1b
W4A L1
W4B L1
~~~
