by Hanifa K. Cook | Mar 15, 2009 | Environment
10 weeks ago, I was still in Australia enjoying summer vacation. When I arrived back home, I received a phone call from my daughter’s Mandarin tutor. She spoke to me in English with a very heavy Mandarin accent, “Hello! Is your daughter coming to register...
by Hanifa K. Cook | Feb 16, 2009 | Childhood, Language, Learning Skills, Personal Blog
People who love children are usually intrigued by the new tricks that kids can do as they grow. At what age does the child learn to sit, walk, laugh or grip on an object? For me, there is nothing more fascinating and magical than the child who learns to speak before...
by Hanifa K. Cook | Jan 25, 2009 | Chinese, Language
If you turn to any page in a Chinese dictionary for names in Mandarin, you may not come across a name like Sugiarto or Gunawan. Honestly, it may not even matter to you now because you will never come across them in your part of the world, say the United States of...
by Hanifa K. Cook | Nov 7, 2008 | Language, Learning Skills, Montessori
Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the following questions Have you attended a court hearing, listened to a proceeding and disagreed with the verdict? Have you been served the wrong menu at a restaurant, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut or even taken to wrong destination on a London cab?...
by Hanifa K. Cook | Nov 2, 2008 | Montessori
I dug through my notes and discovered a book called Montessori Read and Write by Lynn Lawrence. I stumbled upon some interesting comments about learning principles which I have summarised here. I included my own for your lifelong language learning experience....