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considering taking kids through china during summer holidays...

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  1. #11

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    Cara,

    Doesn't your kids (8 year old) speak some putonghua? That might be of considerable help....


  2. #12

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    they speak a very little bit... they are schooled in cantonese.


  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by carang:
    they speak a very little bit... they are schooled in cantonese.
    Well, you have 4 months before summer....how about some extra putonghua lessons for the kidos on nights and weekends, your 8 year old should be a very quick learner....give them some motivation for the big summer trip.

    Don't the public schools teach some putonghua? I have a friend whose kid is about 8 and I swear his kid speaks both canto/putonghua pretty well.

  4. #14

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    we had a choice to put him into cantonese "chinese class" or putonghua "chinese class". we chose the former. for us, it was more important that he could speak to his grandparents...

    his cantonese is not great at all.

    as for putting him in extra classes? the poor guy is already at school from 7:55-4:30. by the time he gets home, has his shower, eats his dinner and finishes up his homework, it is bedtime (7:30).

    not overly interested in him taking any more classes. but thanks for the suggestion.


  5. #15

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    I think it's quite ambitious, especially Tibet.

    Did you say Hainan? The island? Why?

    The places I recommend for it's natural beauty are Zhangjiajie, Yangshuo, Lijiang. Cultural would be Beijing, Xian, Chengdu definitely. Shanghai, not sure why really. Nothing really there except some big buildings, the old quarter and some pretty girls.

    Without Mandarin it will be a struggle. The Western parts in particular will be difficult.


  6. #16

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    Red face

    Quote Originally Posted by carang:
    his cantonese is not great at all.
    Best way to improve the canto is to get him involved in fun activities..we had great success with scouts and guides. They get to play for very small cost and learn by osmosis

  7. #17

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    Is the whole trip only about train rides or do you intend to get off the train?


  8. #18

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    We attempted similar a couple of years ago, we arranged our first train from Beijing to Xian (I think) with more luck than great preparation, however after that ride we decided to fly. Not because we have some snobbish appraoch to travel - far from it, but just beacuse the distances were so vast and that we were ever vigilant at train stations and on the train. The flights were inexpensive once and we had checked in we could relax... Our fav. place we stayed was in Yangshou - LI RIVER RESORT -an ambitious title, but a great location, lovely rooms and very relaxing. Its about a mile from town, you can hire bikes to get there - but there is no lighting at all on the road after dark so a head torch is a must. We swam in the river, made our own cocktails on the balcony, went to a "cooking school" went climbing, cormorant fishing, bamboo rafting, bike riding and so much more - a truely lovely place.

    carang likes this.

  9. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by carang:
    we had a choice to put him into cantonese "chinese class" or putonghua "chinese class". we chose the former. for us, it was more important that he could speak to his grandparents...

    his cantonese is not great at all.

    as for putting him in extra classes? the poor guy is already at school from 7:55-4:30. by the time he gets home, has his shower, eats his dinner and finishes up his homework, it is bedtime (7:30).

    not overly interested in him taking any more classes. but thanks for the suggestion.

    That is too much "school"....when does he get to play? Hopefully you take them on the trip this summer, it sounds like they could use the break from studying and their isn't that much for kids to do here in the summer.

  10. #20

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    I've done similar stuff in China so it's possible for a non speaker. But I did learn the basics from Chinesepod.com. in 4 months u could easily get enough to help given u already have some Cantonese. You, not the poor kid. It's easy to listen to with 15 min lessons for car rides. Reading also helps. Mrmin does that. Surely the kids can help here? Characters for station, east, west, numbers etc. Have fun. Sounds awesome.

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