As the cicadas hum in the background, the exciting and fulfilling journey of our first-grade Chinese learners is drawing to a close. This group of little champions, fresh to the world of knowledge, has not only built a solid foundation in the language but has also shown remarkable growth through fun and engaging challenges.

On 26 May, the primary school held the 'Pinyin Kingdom Grand Challenge' event for all grades. The first-grade students performed excellently in this activity! Whether it was the similar sounds of 'ui' and 'iu', or the closely resembling 'ie' and 'ei', most of the children were able to distinguish them accurately. Even the most challenging sounds 'b', 'd', 'p', and 'q' could be recognised by the children with their sharp eyes. After continuous practice, over 80% of the children were able to read fluently and accurately using Pinyin!

From the careful crafting of each stroke to building a rich vocabulary, the children's progress is clear. During the intense 'Word Dictation Grand Challenge,' they evolved from feeling nervous to brimming with confidence. Whether it was dictating words from each lesson or tackling the comprehensive assessments at the end of each unit, most of the children flowed the Chinese characters and Pinyin onto paper with the finesse of skilled artisans, earning bright 'B's that symbolised perfect scores.

This year, they have progressed from listening to picture book stories to independently reading fairy tales with the help of Pinyin, gradually stepping into a broader world. In the 'Whole Book Reading' activity, these little bookworms learned to travel with the words, feel the warmth of the stories, and explore the wonders of imagination. The seeds of reading have quietly taken root in the children's hearts.

Pinyin is the compass guiding their exploration, words are the bricks building their thoughts, and reading whole books gives wings to their souls. This year, the children have been crowned in the Pinyin Kingdom, gathered treasures from the ocean of words, and scaled the peaks of book mountains. Through their hard work and passion, they’ve crafted a remarkable chapter in their journey of learning Chinese!