In the classroom teaching process, teachers can apply all kinds of methods to increase students’ learning interest and improve their Chinese language skills. For example, teachers can choose a poem with only the tones which are indicated by numbers like 2, 4, 1, 1, and 4. And then the students are supposed to read them with “a”. Since the tones of this game come from the classic poem in ancient China, it will produce a kind of beauty in rhythm no matter you read it in any kind of syllable.

The first step of processing such kind of game is to start from the tones and phonology so that the students can feel the beauty of the tones in Chinese language, and then the students can change from reading the tones into reading the poem. With this preparation, the foreign students who are learning Mandarin Chinese will have better understanding on the music rhythm of Chinese poem. To play this game, we can use both the sound in the Initial Consonants Tablet and any sound you like such as the crying of cats and dogs.

You may think it is bad to use the cats and dogs‘ crying to read the ancient Chinese poem but it has the function of activating the classroom atmosphere so that the students can learn in the relaxing and interesting atmosphere. If the students often read such kind of tones, it will produce a kind of memory of this rhythm in their minds naturally. When it reaches a certain degree, the learners will feel it is much easier to understand the classic Chinese poem after filling the Chinese characters into the rhythm and giving proper explanation.

It is just like the way of the children recited the poem in ancient China that the teachers demanded them to recite but did not explain the meanings. They would understand naturally after a long time repeat and reciting. Of course, teachers in volunteer programs in China may also teach you with the help of the numbers. All students know the Arabic numerals from 0 to 9 and endless numbers. The students are supposed to know the relevant characters in Chinese from 一to十.

Then, teachers can write down certain Arabic numerals on the blackboard, for instance, 22, and students need to write the relevant numbers expressed in Chinese language, which should be 二十二. If the teachers write 十一, students should know the number is 11.