Easy Steps to Chinese, Book 3, review

We got our curriculum in the mail this past week, Easy Steps to Chinese, Book 3, by Yamin Ma and Xinying Li.  This is step 2 of the curriculum and at first glance, one can see that compared to Easy Chinese for Kids, also by Yamin Ma, this series is going to be little more intense.

Looking forward, it seems like this curriculum is aimed at children in the middle years. Compared to the first step, it requires writing and typing, and while the pinyin is present for new vocabulary, it expects you to read the rest of the characters without pinyin after the introductory dialogue.

We have not purchased the teacher's manual.  Mainly this was to avoid the extra expense, but also to force me to really learn the material.

Compared to ECFK, this curriculum has a lot of similar vocabulary, but definitely adds some more age appropriate vocabulary as well.  There are more abstract nouns and more words about things middle schoolers can relate to, such as "geography" and "bill" (as in, at a restaurant) and "manager".  There are more reading comprehension passages and many more written exercises. 

While the textbook states that the lessons are designed to take about one school year, about 3 hours per week, the lessons are not divided into daily work.  This provides flexibility for programs of study which include either daily Chinese or Chinese through the whole year.  However, there are 5 units and each unit contains a review and a unit test. 

This curriculum does not appear to be self teaching.  However, if your child has a good ear, there is an accompanying CD, and by this level, he or she should be able to hear whether their pronunciation is accurate or not by comparing with the CD.  A classroom  or tutoring situation where speaking is practiced with a person who can correct tones and speech would be ideal, however.

The curriculum does not really go into Chinese culture in great detail, aside from linguistic points, such as the fact that Chinese people name each family member separately.  A separate Chinese culture curriculum is necessary to round out Chinese studies and to prepare for the AP exam or living in China.