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Parent guide · Grade 2 Mandarin · Unit 2

Lesson 2.1 家: Rooms in My Home

Written for the parent. The Read aloud parts are written to your child; read them as they are. Do this parts are for you. Answers for you are marked Listen for.

At a glance

Time
3 sessions of 15–20 minutes
Goal
Say 家, 房间, 门, 窗户, 床 and 厨房. Ask … 在哪儿? (where is…?). Answer 在 + a place.
You need
  • A shoebox or small boxes
  • Paper, crayons, tape
  • A sketchbook or plain paper, and crayons
  • A King James Bible
Print
Worksheet A · the lesson page (it also has a short video (2:00))

Steps

  1. Do this together: Take a walk through your home and name every room in English. Today we name them in Chinese!

  2. Read aloud: The story. Joshua told the people of Israel, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” A Christian home is a place where God is loved and served every day.

    Read aloud: How Chinese works. 家 means both home and family. Look at the character: a roof (宀) on top! To ask where someone is, say the name + 在zài哪nǎ儿r? Answer with 在 + the place: 在厨房 (in the kitchen).

    Read aloud: Say it out loud. jiā (jyah), fángjiān (fahng-JYEN), mén (mun), chuānghu (CHWAHNG-hoo), chuáng (chwahng), chúfáng (choo-FAHNG).

  3. Do this: Say each word clearly; your child says it back twice. Point to a picture or the real thing when you can.

    • 家 (jiā) [jyah (high)]: home; family
    • 房间 (fángjiān) [fahng-JYEN]: room
    • 门 (mén) [mun (rising)]: door
    • 窗户 (chuānghu) [CHWAHNG-hoo]: window
    • 床 (chuáng) [chwahng (rising)]: bed
    • 厨房 (chúfáng) [choo-FAHNG]: kitchen
  4. A house with a wide roof stands among tall bamboo; people sit inside at an open window, a child walks across the yard, and a small covered gate and fence lead in from the lower corner.
    Garden of the Inept Administrator (album leaf), Wen Zhengming, 1551 (Ming dynasty). Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain

    Do this: Look at the picture together for a quiet minute before anyone talks.

    Read aloud: Wen Zhengming was a painter, poet and teacher who lived about five hundred years ago in Suzhou. His friend built a garden home there, and Wen painted its houses, paths and ponds in a little album of pictures, each with a poem.

    Point and find:

    • Find the house. Who is inside?
    • Find the child in the yard.
    • Find the gate. Where is the door?
    • What plant grows all around the house?

    Ask:

    • “Would you like to live here? Why?”
    • “Which room of your home would you paint?”

  5. Show: Where is Mom? She is in the kitchen. Ask and answer.

    Say this: “Where is = 在哪儿.”

    Say this: “Kitchen = 厨房.”

    Answer: 妈妈在哪儿? 在厨房.

    Show: What does 家 mean?

    Say this: “It has two meanings.”

    Answer: Home and family.

  6. Do this: Ask out loud. Let your child try first; help only after a real try.

    Ask: Say door in Chinese.

    Listen for: 门 (mén).

    Ask: Say bed in Chinese.

    Listen for: 床 (chuáng).

    Ask: Ask where the cat is.

    Listen for: 猫在哪儿?

    1 more on the lesson page.

  7. Read aloud: Build a little house with rooms and label them in Chinese.

    Steps:

    1. Divide the box into rooms with paper walls.
    2. Draw a door (门), window (窗户) and bed (床).
    3. Label each room in Chinese.
    4. Move a toy figure around and ask … 在哪儿?

    Tips for you:

    • Answer with 在 + the room.

    Done when your child can say:

    • My house has labeled rooms.
    • I can ask and answer 在哪儿.

  8. Do this: Your child picks one or more; you write the date.

    1. Draw your house with a door and windows. Write 家 on the roof.

  9. Read aloud: In old Beijing, many families lived in a 四合院 (sìhéyuàn): four houses around a square courtyard, with grandparents, parents and children all together.

    • Saying 床 (bed) and 窗 (window) the same. 床 rises; 窗 is high and level.
    • Forgetting 在 in the answer. Say 在厨房, not just 厨房.

  11. Hide a toy. The child asks 在哪儿? and the parent gives clues in Chinese: 在厨房! 在床上! 在门后面!

  12. Say this: “Tell me what you learned today.”

    Listen for: Say 家, 房间, 门, 窗户, 床 and 厨房.; Ask … 在哪儿? (where is…?).; Answer 在 + a place.

  13. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

    Joshua 24:15 (KJV)

    In the Chinese Bible (Chinese Union Version), this verse reads: <span class="zh-block" lang="zh-Hans">至于我和我家，我们必定事奉耶和华</span><span class="py-line">Zhì yú wǒ hé wǒ jiā, wǒ men bì dìng shì fèng Yēhéhuá</span> Joshua chose to serve the Lord with his whole household. A Christian home serves God together.

Spread over the week

3 sessions of 15–20 minutes. Stop while it is still going well.

  1. Session 1. Warm-up, then read and teach the new idea and the new words. Picture study and show how.
  2. Session 2. Practice together, then start the project. Finish the project, then the sketchbook.
  3. Session 3. Narration, the game and the Scripture.