用算术进行英语启蒙

当学而立(新浪博客)

(欢迎转载，请尊重原创，注明出处)

(本文已被《今晚报家庭育儿》录用)

　　由于我对儿子当当的英语启蒙较晚，遇到了不少困难，我把算术作为英语启蒙的方法之一。本文谈相关的理由，也列出一些常用的算术英语。

一、用算术进行英语启蒙的理由

　　1.当当很喜欢算术

　　呵呵，这是最根本的理由。与学珠心算的孩子相比，当当的口算能力或许略有差距，但由于我之前很强调学习的乐趣，当当是很喜欢算术，而且他对自己的算术很有信心，对伪装成数学问题的话题，就很容易接受。（参见《历险后快乐学数学》等系列博文）

　　2.让当当自以为学懂英语，从而增强信心

　　算术是很直观的，当当在开始时并不需要懂多少英语，就能猜到我的陈述或提问。例如，我伸出左手两个手指，说two,停顿，说and，伸出右手3个手指，说three，双手靠近，说is five。即Two and three is five.稍加训练后，问当当What's two and two? 当当能回答：“four”。

　　3.句型重复有利于学习

　　妻得知我打算从算术入手，开始时有点惊讶，“啊？数学英语，以后很久都用不上啊？”其实，除了plus、minus等个别词，这些并非数学专用的，相关的陈述或提问，都是常用的句型。“There are……、What is ……、How much……”等句型的高频出现，有利于孩子的学习。

　　4.与数相关的英语，本身就值得学习

　　其实，很多孩子懂one to ten，但对英语数并不敏感，听到ten之后是先想到“十”或“10”的形或音，再想到10的“表象”（表象是心理学名词），这样就慢了。必须在音（或单词的形）与表象之间建立直接联系。当年的大学英语听力中，有很多就是考数字的；在日常生活中，也常常要记录电话号码等数字。

二、一些常用的算术英语

　　开始时，我试图让当当读Harcourt math，它是纯英文的数学图书，有声PDF，方便使用。但由于当当快6岁了，他不想看低幼的书，而书中的算术对他也没用，他一眼就把数字给看了，直接说出答案，said bye bye。

　　于是，我想到要掌握一些与算术相关的常用英语，直接给当当做算术，收到了一定的效果。

　　当然，我自己要把这些相关单词句子的音读准。如果让孩子学的是“好毒有毒（How do you do！）、爸死（bus)”的英语，就得不偿失了。

　　以下的一些句子，主要摘自Harcourt math，我作了校对，改了个别的数量或具体名词。

1.数数（counting)

 （From 《Counting in the city》）

  I count 2 city buses on the street.
  I see ten children playing.
  Count the taxis. How many taxis are there?
  How many chairs are in your room? (容易误加上there)

  Draw 7 apples. Write the number of apples next to your picture.

2.比较

　（From 《My counting trip to the zoo》）
　We saw 8 turtles. We saw 11 bats. I know 11 is greater than 8.
　There were more bats than turtles.

  Next we saw 9 fish.
  I know 9 is less than 14.
  We saw fewer fish than ducks.

  There are 6 penguins. There are 14 turtles.
  Are there more penguins or more turtles?
  Are there fewer penguins or fewer turtles?

  Is 18 less than 20 or more than 20?

  How many boys (girls) are in your class?

  Are there more boys or more girls in your class? How do you know?

3.加法

　(From《Math club》)

  She draws 2 more circles.
  Now there are 3 circles.

    (顺便把形状也列在这: triangle, square, circle, rectangle，ellipse)

  Jack has 4 cubes on the table.
  He gets 2 more cubes.
  Now he has 6 cubes in all.

  2 plus 3 equals 5. (注: plus可用and替代，equals 可用 is代替） 

  7 children count cubes. 5 more children count cubes.
  How many children count cubes in all?

  There are 4 children in the room. 6 more children come in.
  How many children are there in all?

4.减法

  (From《Math club》)
  He takes away 2 counters.
  Now he has just(only) 10 counters.

  9 minus 6 equals 3.
  Sam has 12 tiles. He puts away 3 tiles. How many tiles does Sam have left?

  (from《the class party》)
  There are 9 paintbrushes for painting.  They take 5 paintbrushes from the table.
  How many paintbrushes are left?
  There are 4 paintbrushes left on the table.

　There are 7 muffins on the table. 3 children take muffins.
　How many muffins are left?

5.乘法

　  (from《Our lemonade stand》)
　　How much do two 25c cups of lemonade cost?

    关于乘法、除法，我就不在Harcourt里找了，只在“有道字典”里抄几句简单的，以后看到再补充进来。

　　Two times four is eight.

　　2 multiplied by 3 is equal to 6.

　　What do you get if you multiply six by nine?

6.除法

　　If you divide 9 by 4, you have 1 left over.