Easy Steps to Chinese for Kids is a series of Chinese textbooks
specifically designed for kids from non-Chinese backgrounds. It covers four
levels, each made up of Textbooks a and b (each with a CD), Workbooks a and b,
a set of color picture flashcards (for students) and a set of word cards (for
teachers).
This series has four characters in it, namely Ding Yi, Tian Li, Jingjing and
Lele, who are primary school students from China and abroad. Beautifully
designed illustrations, simple sentences and dialogues and lovely songs among
other means are adopted to develop the kids’ interest in learning Chinese and
help them lay a solid Chinese foundation by mastering such fundamental Chinese
knowledge as numbers, basic strokes, families and daily expressions. In each
volume, a cultural point is introduced through exquisite illustrations, concise
words and interesting color stickers.
This is Textbook 4b in the series, which is beautifully illustrated and printed
in full color. It has altogether 7 lessons encompassing such topics as weather,
clothes, actions/behaviors in progress, school facilities, school subjects and
sports, etc. As the last volume of ESC for Kids, it gives an overall review of
the pinyin, simple characters and radicals learned before. Besides, three new
radicals are taught in each lesson, more character and radical writing,
sentence-making and text-composing exercises are provided, and a specific
listening exercise is added in each lesson to further improve students’
comprehensive Chinese language skills.
Ms. Yamin Ma, with a bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature
and a master's degree in Education, is now teaching Chinese in an international
school in Hong Kong. Ms. Ma has many years' experience in teaching Chinese as a
foreign language and knows well about the AP Chinese Program in the US and the
IB Chinese Test in Europe.