Category: Products

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New Book Release: Turkey Rides a Rocket

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The inspiration for this book came from one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, “Hop on Pop.” I loved how he introduced just two words and used these words to create a simple sentence–all while telling a funny story. It is more challenging than it looks. I decided to take this idea–this challenge–to create story that utilized the unique nuances of the Chinese language. I like how Chinese words are made up of components that describe the word quite literally. For example, “balloon” in Chinese is “air-ball.” “Train” in Chinese is “fire-car.” So I made a book centered around the word, “fire” and all the words that stem from it.

Hence, “Turkey Rides a Rocket” was born, and I’m excited to share it with you and your family. It follows a turkey on a dangerous adventure, one that will have you laughing.

Here are previews of some of the inside pages. You can see the book uses a big font and colorful illustrations to engage young readers. Each story also is supplemented with parent tips and a game at the end to encourage further application of the vocabulary you have just learned.

There are two other stories included in this book as well. The second story, “Where is Little Brother?” is a finding or I-spy story, where you can encourage your child to find an item in a detailed 2-spread picture. This has been very effective in teaching my daughter how to say, “Where is_____” in Chinese, even if she does not know how to say the item in Chinese, it has made that phrase useful to her.

The last story is called, “Mama’s Tea.” This one is a rhyming story, and works to reenforce reading and pronunciation. The mom in this story goes crazy after she finds that the dad has been drinking her tea. Perhaps it is how I wish I could act if I could let my emotions fly loose.

All in all, it is 66 pages of easy, useful Chinese. If you are not a Chinese speaker, you can listen to the online audio for this book and never miss a beat. Below is a video where I read the book, cover to cover.

I hope this book gets you excited to use more Chinese in the home! Let me know your thoughts and if you get the chance to review it on Amazon, that would help me to be able to produce more books for you.

Happy Learning!

Available in paperback on Amazon!

Products

New, Improved, and On Sale!

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For those of you who have not yet bought the book, now is the time to get it! The 2nd edition of Tiny Chinese Homeschool Vol. 1 has 46 more pages and is on sale for a limited time. For those of you who already have a 1st edition in your hand, check the bottom of this post!

Why make a 2nd edition?

The very first buyers of Tiny Chinese Homeschool Vol. 1 have given me great feedback. Some have said how invaluable the audio has been. Others have complimented the artwork and structure. There was one piece of feedback that really hit a chord with me, and it was from a friend with no previous Chinese experience. She said, “We tried to introduce our child to Chapter 1 today and only got to one page. The material on there is packed!” At the time, I interpreted it as the book being well worth the price because there was so much to learn on one page. As time went on, I’ve thought back and realized the density of information could make it less approachable to new learners and especially young children, the very people this book was made for.

Then, as if I had an itch to scratch, I started making simple worksheets to supplement the lessons already in the workbook. Instead of worksheets that tested both the vocabulary and dialogue phrases, I created mazes and dot-to-dots that simply reestablished one vocabulary word or one phrase. Last year, when I was creating the graphics to the book, I only had access to Illustrator on my computer, so graphic creation was slow. This year, I could create graphics on my tablet so I was able to draw in shorter but more frequent spurts–making it possible for the new worksheets to have original artwork.

After a couple weeks of feverish activity, I had the new manuscript as it was always meant to be. Please scroll through the first chapter and note some of the changes:

Some of the changes include:

  • 2-3 additional worksheets per chapter
  • colorful and simple activities for younger children
  • easier character practice sheets in EVERY chapter with pinyin practice
  • no additional vocabulary or audio (for easy integration with the previous assets)

Additionally, the review chapters are expanded to include cut-out pages that you fill in with information about yourself. After you have finished all the review chapters, you will have a book that answers the following questions about yourself: How many people are in your family? How old are you? What do you look like? What do you like to eat?

Originally, the Pinyin Playground had no worksheets because I just assumed the learner could practice on their own. I’ve since added 3 worksheet pages to that chapter to help reinforce pinyin writing and tone writing.

When I submitted the new manuscript for print, I had to raise the price of the book to compensate for the additional printing costs of a thicker volume. To my delight, Amazon has decided to discount the new book to the original sale cost of $19.99 (at no loss to me). This might be for a short time only, so for any one still thinking of trying out this book in their family, now is the time.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1723474614

What about those who already have the 1st edition?

For those of you who were the pioneers of this learning material and purchased the 1st edition, I thank you! It was your support and your interest that helped me value the book enough to make improvements.

I am offering the digital version of all of the new worksheets for free so long as you contact me with proof of purchase. Just email me through the contact form. In the comments section, type the worksheet instructions you see on page 50 of your Vol. 1 book. I will respond with a link to the newly added digital pages.

What things are on the horizon?

Vol. 2 is in the works and will continue to learn from the lessons from Vol 1. There will be more worksheets with simpler activities, repetition, and utilizing vocabulary in mini-stories. Hopefully this volume will be finished at the end of this year!

Next month is the release of another easy-reader: Turkey Rides a Rocket. Think of it as the Chinese “Hop on Pop,” where two words are introduced and then put into context–usually in a humorous way. It is fun, fresh, and there is simply nothing out there like it. I’m excited to tell you more about it next time.

Thank you to all of you and your love of learning. Never give up! You got this.

-Enge

Products

Chinese Easy Readers Launched!

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It’s official! These books are launched! To celebrate, I explain the sale and contest, show a preview of the book, and answer some FAQ in the video below! If you don’t have time to watch, check out the summary below that!

FB Live Book Launch Video

Tiny Chinese Easy Reader books strive to take original and classic stories and simplify them so there are just a few words/characters on each page. Pair this with the online audio, and this becomes a fun, no-stress way to learn some Chinese. Each book includes 3 short stories!

These books are different from the Chinese easy reader books out there because:

1. There are parent tips at the beginning to help guide the reader into just focusing on a couple characters or a couple phrases.

Tips for Parents

2. The traditional Chinese characters and pinyin are far apart from each other on the page. This is very purposeful so pinyin can be used as a pronunciation reference, but not as a crutch. Eventually, the reader can just look at the characters to read the book.

Pinyin and Traditional Chinese Characters are far apart.

3. There are games in the back of each story so the learner can review what he/she has learned. This helps take the words in the book and apply them in a different context.

Let’s Review Game

Both Tiny Chinese Easy Reader books are on sale right now from $10 to just $7.99. The sale is good for just a couple weeks, so be sure to order before March rolls around. This sale is to reward any first buyers/early birds that help these books take off!

Last time, I had a book giveaway–which helped garner excitement about the release, but didn’t have good return in getting reviews. So this time I want to do a “Most Helpful Review Contest” where you can leave a review for the book on the Amazon product page and get a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card.

What counts as a helpful review? A review that shows you have actually opened and used the book is good start. Talk about if you like the audio elements. Talk about the review games. Post a picture or two. Discuss your kid’s reaction to it (if you are doing this for a child) and what age/language level they are. Even if you have things that didn’t go well for you, write about that too so other people in a similar situation will know what to expect. This contest ends the same time the sale ends, so if you plan to participate, get the book in the first week of the sale and review it in the second week so you have enough time to form an opinion about it. The review can be for the paperback or kindle versions!

I will looks at all the reviews for both easy reader books and choose the one that is most helpful on March 4th, 2020 – I will make a post here and on the FB page to announce the winner! After I notify the winner, he/she will be emailed an e-gift card to spend on…well, whatever the winner wants! If you are buying these books anyway, please take the time to leave your thoughts on the product page. There is nothing that is more helpful to a product’s success than good, honest reviews.

Thank you, to everyone who popped in here to support the launch. It means a lot to me. I hope these books make Chinese accessible to you, and make you chuckle here and there.

Happy Learning!

-Enge

Products

You’re Invited to a Book Launch!

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Finally! It’s here! I’m so proud of these little gems that really fill a niche of encouraging children to read Chinese characters by themselves. Kids learn best through the context of stories, and these light-hearted illustrations and text make Chinese fun to listen to and READ!

So what is this book launch going to entail? First I will explain a special sale that will only run from now until the beginning of March. I will let you see the inside of the book and get an idea of how you can utilize this with your kids–whether you are a Chinese speaker or not. I have some cute video promos to share of my kids reading the book themselves. Finally, I will explain the contest/prize associated with giving the most helpful review for these books.

What should you do now? Make sure to like the Tiny Chinese Homeschool Facebook Page so you don’t miss anything and stay tuned for next Tuesday! If you like what you see, share the launch posts with your friends so more people can enjoy these books.

Happy Learning!

-Enge

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Coming Soon!

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Exciting news, Tiny Chinese Homeschoolers! Two new books are coming in a couple months! These were inspired by easy/early readers that my daughter (age 5) loves to read because they are simple enough for her to read without any help. So I gave myself the task to write stories that utilize only 15 characters or less. It is a lot harder than it seems!

After months of writing, illustrating, tweaking, kid testing, they are almost ready, Here is a sneak peek of the covers!

These books teach characters through repetition and rhyme–it’s a very naturalistic approach. There are parent tips before each story. At the end of each story, there is a word list for easy review, and an activity or a game so readers can test their knowledge. It’s really approachable and fun!

The best part is that these will be available both in paperback and Kindle-version. The Kindle-version can have audio attached, so kids can have the book read to them if they like. I’m working on the audio right now, and I’m trying to make it interactive and immersive. Maybe there will be subliminal messages playing quietly–just kidding! I think this will be a game changer and connect people to Chinese like never before.

Does this sound like something you would read to your child at night? What classic stories would you like turned into a Tiny Chinese Homeschool Easy Reader? Let me know! And I’ll keep you posted for the book launch. As always, happy learning!

Love,

Enge