Thursday, September 18, 2014

Review + Giveaway! My Home – 我的家

It is hard to get books by a local author let alone local contents AND bilingual one at that too. When I first received My Home – 我的家 (set of 2 books - story and activity book) I was attracted to its bright colours and cute illustration. After ripping the shrink wrap off, I was not disappointed as I flipped through the pages on the hardcover story.


:: The story
The story is narrated by a young boy, Jason (小杰) who started out his day looking for playmates. As he roams around the house with his faithful companion Blackie (小黑)looking for unsuspecting ‘victims’ to play with him, the reader is introduced to both Chinese and English terms used in a typical home setting.

The story is told in a fun manner as we stumble upon Jason’s father in the bathroom

 To getting Jason to help Grandma out in the kitchen


To extending the concept of ‘Home’ beyond the apartment but neighbouring facilities.

 
And of course along the way, children are introduced to the various vocabulary on things in the house and outside of the house. To facilitate children in reading, Han Yu Pin Yin is included and the Chinese text is printed above the English copy too.
The font size is big and colourful (good for young readers) and in instances where the story wishes to introduce the Chinese term of the English word, it deploys the clever use of ‘colour’ to make the association.

(The word 玩 is printed in pink to correspond to the English word 'play')

:: The illustration
The illustration is bright and colourful and it certainly attracted Dumpling. What she enjoyed the most was lifting the flaps where it made the reading more ‘interactive’! It was actually quite fun for us to hunt around on each of the pages for the flaps to lift and see what lays behind.

 
 
 :: The activity book
The title also comes with an activity book and while one of my first thoughts when I received the title was that the title could be a tad too simple for a 5+ year old child, the activity book closed that gap for me.
It has a good mix of simpler activities (pasting of stickers) for younger children
 
to activities such as writing and word recognition

Games were also included towards the back of the book too:
 


Up for grabs! I am also pleased to share that I have not one but three sets of My Home worth more than a total of $90 to give away! 
Enter through Rafflecopter for your chance to win!
 


 
:: Terms and Conditions:
- Entries that do not fulfill the requirements stated will be disqualified without notice.
- Winners will be notified by email, through the email address provided.
- This giveaway is open to Singapore residents only. 
 
Disclaimer: I received this set from Read with Me Mommy in order to do a review on and give my opinion of it. No monetary compensation was received for this post.

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68 comments:

  1. Speak Mandarin with Kids everyday.

    Lee Ling
    khorleeling@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. How we can encourage bilingualism is we should start them on a second language as young as possible. Use the child favourite method to introduce the language. That means if the child loves reading, then get the language book for him. If the child is a visual person, maybe can rent videos for the child to watch.

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  3. Start talking to kids in different languages including mother tongue when they Are babies !!!

    Evelyn Lim
    Elim220380@gmail.com

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  4. Set aside speak mandarin only time daily.

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  5. Wow... I like those books.. Because nowadays is hard to get those Chinese story book with Han Yu Pin Yin some more is included English copy too. I think is good for those young kids who don't like to read Chinese story book. Actually my younger daughter also one of them. She don't like to speak mandarin and she don't like to read Chinese story book too. I hope can win this (我的家)story and activity book for her. Hope this lovely story book can help her.

    KaRen Ong
    karen_opk@yahoo.com

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  6. through song , learning a new language through song

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  7. We try to set aside speak mandarin days!
    micheleckp@gmail.com

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  8. We will speak both english & Chinese language with the kids. Like the grandparents will speak chinese language while we parents will speak english with them.

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  9. Speak mandarin daily to my kids!

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  10. For families whose predominant language medium is not Mandarin, you can role-model to your children to use Mandarin to speak to their elders (e.g. Grandparents, Great-Grandparents), to the vendors we meet when we are out (e.g. hawkers, cleaning aunties, taxi uncles etc.) and also dedicate one day a week just conversing in Mandarin. It helps! :D This series of books look very relevant to local context, thanks for sharing them with us!

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  11. 1 parent to speak English n use English while the other parent speak n use Mandarin

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  12. One parent speak English, the other speak mandarin to the child.
    Lyn
    lp8834@yahoo.com

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  13. We speak both languages & the boy likes to ask what's the vocabulary in each language

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  14. Sing nursery rhymes in different languages. It's fun for the kids and they memorize songs lyrics easily.

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  15. The best way to learn both languages is to speak them.

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  16. Speak to the children in both languages is the best way to encourage bilingualism.

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  17. Whenever I'm out with my little one, I like to ask her about the surroundings & things we seen along the way and say the word in English followed by Mandarin. Eg. Bus=巴士, pink= 粉红色

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  18. To speak both Mandarin and English to kids since they were born. As the big environment is more English speaking, so to speak Mandarin with kids at home is the best tool to master bilingual.
    Yee Ming
    leongyeeming@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. I too try my best to raise a bilingual child. Love bilingual books that can interest my kid & encourage him to love both languages.

    Eunice wee
    Nikki_wee@hotmail.com

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  20. When introducing a new object or term, I will present it in both language. & have them repeat it. Also, i speak to them in English, & daddy speaks to them in Chinese

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  21. If possible, always translate the word to the other language when speaking to your kids. eg. when we say bus, we will tell him that it is ba shi in mandarin.

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  22. We speak different type of languages to our kids. Hokkien, Mandarin & English.
    Celyn Huang
    celyn11@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. Teach some of the subjects at home in either language, eg teach maths in mandarin. Daphne Y

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  24. I expose my kids to different languages through books, songs, movies, cartoons, musicals, etc.

    Chan Xgg
    chanxgg@gmail.com

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  25. The most useful way to learn bilingualism is to use both languages a lot! Second language doesn't mean it should be used less often! I use both languages interchangeably and my kids are comfortable with both!

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  26. I make an effort to read, speak and watch cartoon with my children in the minority language.

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  27. My hubby will speak to our kids in mandarin whereas I will speak english. So that they are expose to both languages daily. Plus, my kids gets to interact with my neighbours in mandarin too.

    Serene Leow
    liaoserene@hotmail.com

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  28. I let my kids watch English & Mandarin Cartoon & Listen to English & Mandarin Nursery Rhymes.

    Kwang Hui
    annhocktpt@hotmail.com

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  29. My kids love music , so we enjoy singing same poem in different language.. while reading a book in any one language, in between we keep asking each other what is the mandarin term for it...More play more learn..

    Thanks
    Ashmika jain
    jainash1083@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  30. Translate the English word to Mandarin word to my kids.

    Ada Thong
    h208217@yahoo.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  31. Choose the song they like and build their interest and follow by reading story every day.

    Jess
    jesskoh@hotmail.com

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  32. I used to watch the then SBC/TCS Chinese drama serials by listening to the Mandarin and reading the English subtitles simultaneously. I found that it helped a lot as I could check my understanding on idioms, similes etc either way. I encourage my children to do it today!
    Shimin
    shimin_bunny@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  33. Speak to them in both proper Mandarin and English.

    Felicia
    fur_li@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  34. expose the child to both language as early as possible.

    walk_of_life(at)live(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  35. I find mine most drawn to stories and cartoons in Mandarin.

    They will sit through it although sometimes at the end of the story tell me they did not understand what I was reading -_-

    Well at least they did not reject mummy's poor narration..

    Lynn
    sohlayleng@yahoo.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  36. Besides speaking Mandarin to the child, I feel Mandarin educational TV programmes are good too. Listen more, speak more, read more.

    ReplyDelete
  37. speak to the child in Mandarin
    Cynthia Lau
    edenie98@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  38. Speak both English and Mandarin to the child as young as possible. Read storybooks that will interest them on a daily basis.

    Evelyn Ng
    evelynngst@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  39. Read their favourite English stories in Chinese to them, if available.

    Robert
    robert_sim@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  40. Introduce new vocabulary in both English and Chinese at the same time.
    Early exposure helps too... I will choose those interactive or lift the flap books to get their interest.
    evangelyncsh@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  41. Try to speak in Mandarin without using English. This will help your child to try their best to express themselves in Chinese without falling back on English.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Converse with them in both English and Mandarin.

    Karis See
    hellokaris@yahoo.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  43. I speak to my toddler in 2 languages. I repeat the words in both languages to make sure he understand it is of same meaning.

    rosemummy30@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  44. Read both English and Chinese books to the kids. We also sing both English and Chinese songs to them!

    Mag Yeow
    mail2magy[AT]gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  45. Read a lot in both languages. Have one person to speak in Mandarin, and the other one speaking in English.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Talk and read books to them in both languages
    Teo Yee Long
    trantrulla@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  47. Grandparents speak mandarin to the kids while parents speak English hope to win these for the three kids

    Kkjc88@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  48. Converse in "pure 100%" mandarin rather, just like English.

    fionacll@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  49. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  50. I always include translation of vocabulary in both English and Chinese when i speak to my boy.

    Ting
    Tinkene@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  51. Speak and read in Chinese to them everyday. Sing catchy Chinese songs with them.

    esther_tien@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  52. We try to communicate with our baby using baby sign language, English and also Mandarin. She loves to listen to baby songs on Youtube

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  53. When I teach my kids new words, I teach it in both languages. I speak English to the kid while the husband will speak Chinese. I mandate my mum and mil to speak Chinese and dialects to the kid!

    ReplyDelete
  54. we try to practice '听说读写' as much as possible.
    practice makes perfect.
    thks for the give-away!

    ReplyDelete
  55. Monday, Wednesday & Friday is a Speak Mandarin Day for us.

    ReplyDelete
  56. We make it a point to speak some Mandarin and read some Chinese books every day.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Each parent to speak in the mother tongue and EL respectively.
    And the child must know that they have to speak in that particular language to the parent when they communicate. Don't mix the two languages!

    ReplyDelete
  58. Make a conscientious effort to speak to kids in Mandarin at least 80% of the time. They get exposed to English most the time anyway.

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  59. I speak Mandarin to him since baby and I try to introduce Mandarin baby songs to him :)

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  60. Always love Bilingual books as I cannot read Mandarin. I ask my 9 year old boy to read a loud simple Chinese Story books to his younger brother ( 3 year old), he agree to do so as it will helps him to improve his Chinese and at the same time DiDi will be expose more to Chinese language too. Hope to win this giveaway as son into video blogging recently, hope his video blog will encourage other kids not to dislike Chinese language but to like them and to believe they too can do well in school like him. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  61. read both English and Chinese books daily since young.
    It will be a habit and they will enjoy :)

    ReplyDelete
  62. we repeated everything we said in both English and mandarin when my daughter was young and learning to talk. that way she understood what I meant and was used to both languages

    ReplyDelete
  63. Listen to English and Mandarin songs, read and speak in both languages.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Listen to English and Mandarin songs, read and speak in both languages.

    Winnie
    toddlymummy@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  65. We speak and read in both languages.

    Waiwai
    mami(at)peipeihaohao(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  66. reading mandarin and english books; speaking to my child in both languages, and watching videos of nursery rhymes in english and mandarin -meiyi (littledetour@hotmail.com)

    ReplyDelete

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