Students at Li Sing Tai Hang Primary School are using specially written storybooks that promote independent Chinese reading.
The collection of 20 storybooks feature original stories and beautiful illustrations were created by students at Chinese International School (CIS).
The story is written on one page. On the opposite page, there is a list of key vocabulary with Jyutping romanisation and an English translation.
In some classroom textbooks the romanisation is written directly above each Chinese character. This means the eye is drawn to the romanisation and the child may miss an opportunity to 'read' the Chinese character. In these story books, the romanisation is available for key words, but is deliberately kept separate from the main text. Similarly, the English translations are for key words only, not for the whole story.
Reading Chinese books helps children reinforce the vocabulary they have learnt in class and gives much needed extra exposure to Chinese - expanding their vocabulary and helping them get used to the differences between the conventions of standard written Chinese, as opposed to Spoken Cantonese.
Reading in Chinese is not easy, especially if you don't have a Chinese speaking parent at home to help out. These books help make independent reading of Chinese books a real possibility for children from non-Chinese literate families.
The books can also be watched on YouTube here:
Many thanks to the talented team at CIS’s Hong Kong Reading Project for creating this wonderful resource.