Pre-Lesson 1: Learning “B P M F Song” from Peter
Students Reading:
(Show Peter’s picture with Pinyin saying: Wǒ shì Peter.)
Hey, I’m Peter. I moved up here from Taipei, Taiwan with my parents when I was 8
years old. Mom and dad insist I use Chinese at home. Thanks to them, my Chinese is still
fluent. My friend, Melissa, wants to learn Chinese from me. After giving it some thought,
I believe I can teach her my learning secret. It makes the learning of pronunciation go
faster and easier. Trust me! Once you’ve learned my two songs, you’ll be able to say
anything in Chinese as long as it is spelled out in this phonic system. You may not be
able to read Chinese characters or write them yet, but you can speak it.
Please listen to the songs first then follow me to sing. First, we’ll sing the song with ABC
tunes. I call it the “b p m f song”. After you remember this one, then we’ll sing the song
of “Compound vowels” in the melody of Little Spider song. After you remember both
songs by heart, we’ll work on how to write down these sounds in Hanyu pinyin symbols.
(Wei-Yun’s note: It is important to let students sing first then look at the symbols. Singing the song without
looking at the English letters lets students learn the sound without the influence of their English ability.)
b p m f song
b p m f
d
t
n
g k
j
q
x
z
h
c s
zh ch
yi
an
wu
sh
r
yü
a
o
e
ẹ
ai
ei
ao
ou
en
l
ang
eng
er
Women hui chang B P M F!
(We can sing B P M F!)
The second song you’re going to learn is all the compound vowels in Chinese language.
These are the combination of individual vowels you’ve learned in the first song after
simplifying the spelling. The two lines grouped together are identical in sound. The top
one is used when the sound is in the ending position. The bottom one is the same sound
used as is. Now let’s see if we can sing and write at the same time.
Compounded vowels song
ia
ya
ie iao
ye yao
iu
you
ua
wa
uo ui uai
wo wei wai
ue uan
yue yuan
ian
yan
in iang
yin yang
ing
ying
uan
wan
un uang ong
wen wang weng
un
yun
iong
yong
Women hui chang compounded vowels.
(We can sing compounded vowels.)
One thing we haven’t learned from these songs is the tonal system in Chinese language.
The tones disappeared when we sing because of the music melody. However, when you
speak Chinese language, you do need to say the sound in the correct tone otherwise
people may misunderstand you.
Tones
Chinese language has five different tones. There are written as tonal symbols on top of
the pinyin, such as: – ,ˊ,ˇ, maˋ, and˙. They tell you how the sound should be
twisted. For example, the sound for mother is māmȧ, you say the first ma with a high and
straight pitch for – symbol and the second ma with a softer lower voice. This symbol,ˊ,
indicates the sound should go up. Of course, the ˇsymbol tells you the sound should go
down first then up. Well, ˋ is going down for sure. If you have trouble hearing the tones,
try listening with your eyes closed.
(Wei-yun’s note: Have students using their right arm to show different tones. Straight out to the right as
first tone, raise up 45 degree for 2nd tone, bend the elbow to raise hand for third tone, drop down to 45
degree angle for 4th tone, and hold a fist for light tone. I prefer to use body gesture to show tones because it
is more direct information associating the twisting of sound then thinking about the numbers. )
Extra tips for pinyin system.
1. When j, q, x, z, c, s, zh, ch, sh, and r are used in the initial sound add a silent i
behind each one. It still sounds just like the original one in the song.
2. When yi and wu are used in the beginning position, only the first letter is written
with an ending sound. When yü is used as an initial sound, yu is written down. If
it is not in the beginning position, then only u is used. Notice that the dots
disappeared on top of the sound. But do not worry, not too many words with this
sound. Practice the examples in the following Table.
Pinyin
As initial sound
Yi
yā
鴨 duck
nǐ
你
you
As partial ending
sound
jiāo 教 to teach
yǒu
有 to have
bǐ
筆
pen
jiào
叫 to call
wá
娃
Bù
不
no, not
hǔo
火
wǒ
我
I, me
zhū
豬
pig
hūa 花
yùe
月
moon
xǔ
許 to permit xǔe 雪
yuán
圓
round,
circle
qù
去
Wu
Yü
doll
As ending sound
to go
xúe 學
fire
flower
snow
to learn
(Wei-yun’s note: We can keep this in the teacher’s resources instead in student’s book.)
TEACHER’S RESOURCES
1. Using CD and songs to practice basic pronunciation.
A. Sing b p m f song
Let students sing along with CD section by section but don’t let them look at the
pinyin symbols. After the song has been memorized then practice the writing of
symbols.
Little tricks to help students with problem:
To remember bpmf dtnl – Boy pours more flour down to new lamp
To remember gkh jqx – Girl kisses her jumping Chihuahua Xiong
Show student how you can make a Q from Ch
To remember zcs – Zack cuts silk
Remind student to say c as the ts sound in cuts
To remember zh ch sh r – Review how to say z, c, s, first, then teach student to
curl the tongue and say z, c, s again. The h added in each one is to remind them to
curl their tongue. The r sound is just the sound of air pushing through a curing
tongue.
To remember the difference between e and ẹ - The e looks like an arm goes
around someone’s neck. Ask students to make a chocking sound. The little dot
under the e represents a little lam. Ask the student to make the animal sound for ẹ.
Remind students the little lam may run away and disappear later in pinyin, but
still using the lam sound for those words.
b. Sing Compounded vowel song
Make sure students master the first song before you teach this one.
You can teach this song with the pinyin symbols at the same time. Make sure
students understand the two lines sound the same but the top one is as ending
sound, while the bottom on is used as the initial sound. Lead students to repeat the
song in different ways to reinforce memory.
2. Practice tones with gestures using right arm.
It is important to ask students to use right arm to practice because tones will be
written down this way. Vietnamese students tend to write 2nd and 4th tones the
opposite way because of Vietnamese language. It is easier for students to
understand if you refer 1st tone as high flat tone, 2nd tone as up tone, 3rd tone as
check mark tone and 4th tone as down tone. Make a fist to indicate the dot for the
light tone.
3. Use TPR to practice pronunciation and learn verbs:
Start with 4 verbs as a group. Show students the pinyin and action. It is even
better if you ask students to suggest the action. Be dramatic and fun! Practice the
tones at the same time. Say verbs in slow motion with action. After mastery of
one group then add on another group.
There are many ways you can do the practice in games. You can say student’s
name and see if that person act correctly. Or do the reverse way, have the students
do the action and you act. Purposely make mistake to have a laugh! Hangman will
be good to practice spelling with pinyin and tones.
Extension activity: Teach students the sound of 不 with all the verbs. Even add
the way to ask question by using verb 不 verb.
Verbs
b (比) p (跑)
m (摸)
f (分)
d (打)
t (聽) n (拿) l (來)
g (給) k (哭)
h (喝)
j (教) q (去) x (笑)
z (坐) c (猜)
s (算)
zh (站) ch (吃) sh (說) r (扔)
yi (要) wu (玩) yü (願)
a (爬) o (剝)
e (咳)
ai (愛) ei (背) ao (叫)
ẹ (捏)
ou (有)
an (看) en (摁) ang (唱 ) eng (碰)
4. Use pinyin cards with picture or real objects to practice the following terms.
Practice a few people terms and a few object terms each day. Combine with the
verb terms learned before to create simple sentences. Use family pictures to
practice people terms. Only show students pinyin cards. This is not the time to
show Chinese characters.
(Wei-yun’s note: Make cards for teachers and make a pinyin sheet of the following terms for
student’s material.)
Rén hé dìfāng (People and places)
我
你
他
我們
你們
他們
爸爸
媽媽
哥哥
弟弟
姐姐
妹妹
家人
老師
校長
家
學校
教室
公園
遊樂場
飯廳
運動場
圖書館
禮堂
Dōngxī (Objects)
校車
汽車
鉛筆
色筆
紙
尺
粘膠
剪刀
橡皮
板擦
白板
鐘
書
書包
電話
電腦
電視
電燈
門
窗
桌子
椅子
功課
光碟
5. Extension activity:
a. 在! 不在!
在不在?
在嗎?
If students absorb places terms quickly, add these learning immediately.
b. 是! 不是! 是不是?
是嗎?
If students absorb people terms quickly, add these learning immediately.
c. 有! 沒有!
有沒有?
有嗎?
If students absorb object terms quickly, add these learning immediately.
6. Games with cards:
1. Matching of cards. (A set of cards with picture to match with the other set with
pinyin.)
2. Bingo.
3. Snatching the cards. (Display all cards in front of students. Students take turns to
say one sentence that contain different cards. For example: I have book. They
need to say it out loud before taking the cards. Verb is not displayed. So it is good
to review some verbs before doing this game. Assign different points to cards and
have them add the total points at the end of the game to win a prize.)