Magic Chinese
各位老師：
這只是故事的大綱，每課的內容還是能彈性修改，只要人物特質和故事大致情節沒有太大的改變，不一定完全按照這個故事。
玉雪
Book I Storyline /Narration
Main characters:
Melissa is a good natured, enthusiastic, extravert, pretty and generous girl, and she was always curios of Asian matters. She has 4 good friends. They are Peter, Tom, Reggie and Linda.
Peter is an American Chinese boy whose parents came from Taipei. He is very intelligent, nerdy, offbeat, tall and thin (possibly wearing spectacles).
Reggie is a lovely boy and is a sincere and enthusiastic person, but he is extremely timid. He is thin, small and humorous. (In certain lessons, he is allowed to overcome something/someone that he is afraid of.)
Tom is a sassy individual, afraid of nothing, enormously bold, but he often ends up making himself look ridiculous
Linda was adopted from HK by Californian parents, and she is Melissa’s best friend.
The story…
The ‘Magic Chinese’ journey started when Melissa and her family went to a flea market and bought a ‘compass’. Apart from an old face in it, outside with dials there were another 3 circles, with many keys on them, which can be twisted and pressed. Although Melissa loves this compass, she didn’t realise that the compass is going to change her life and that of her friends.
Lesson One (Numbers, Time, Dates, Ages)
On the day after she bought the compass, Melissa, as always, got together with her four good friends in Peter’s garage. Melissa showed everyone the compass, Peter at once said that he could understand ‘dials’, Tom barged his way in and wildly pressing here there and everywhere. Several incomprehensible instructions appeared, everybody was astonished and delighted so they were yelling and laughing.
They asked Peter at once what on earth these instructions meant. Peter explained they were times and dates in Chinese, so Melissa suggested that everybody should have a go. Then something strange happened. When Reggie pushed an upper left key, the compass screen promptly displayed English language. It had changed into a modern screen. At the point it seems to be a translating gadget.
Lesson Two (What is your name?)
After the previous experience, Peter’s garage became the fixed place where they amused themselves with the compass. One day, Melissa unintentionally keyed in her date of birth, and turned the outermost circle of the compass to the left. The screen emitted a strong light, so strong none of them could keep their eyes open. After few seconds the strong light disappeared. When they opened their eyes they discovered Peter’s garage has vanished. And what had replaced it was a small bustling Taipei morning open market.
The people in that market were all Eastern who looked rather like Peter and Linda. They all looked curiously at Melissa and her friends. There was an old lady who came up and asked who they were. Peter knew what the old lady spoke which was Chinese and that his friends certainly wouldn’t understand it, so he began to introduce himself. The strange thing was though that none of the others understood Chinese before but now all of them are able to understand it and even have the ability to speak it.
Lesson Three (Family)
From the previous ‘teleporting’ experience, they all realised that the outer part of the compass had the ‘space altering’ function. When it was altered, their language ability also came into effect along with it. The compass also has other wonderful features that they hadn’t imagined.
That day when Tom turned the outer circle of the compass to the right, the light reappeared. They have gradually got used to it, so they closed their eyes waiting for its rays of light to disappear. But this time there was no change when they opened their eyes. They were still in the garage. What had happened was that they had been transported forward in time 25 years, still in their garage. The garage that they were in now belongs to Peter and his future family. They have arrived in the future and have seen Peter’s future family members.
Lesson 4 (Colours/fruits)
When they saw Peter’s future they all felt incredible. Whenever they had any spare time they would go and enjoy themselves in Peter’s home. One day, everybody discovered the magical compass could also change its colours, and according to which colour you chose all sorts of fruit would appear. With the colour red, you could find apples, …(could be some conflicts here – some people love particular fruits, and some people hate some…)
Lesson 5 (Journey to china)
One time when everybody went to Peter’s home they discovered there were a lot of red coloured decorations. Only then did they realise that the Chinese New Year was approaching. Among the decorations there were a lot of ornamental ‘mice’. Peter explained that the mouse was one of 12 signs of the zodiac. Everybody wanted to know if the compass could take them to China, so they entered the word ‘panda’. It turned out as a result that they were taken to the zoo in HK, where sure of enough there were 2 lovable pandas.
Lesson 6 (Body parts/Clothes shoes)
Everybody really enjoyed themselves in HK zoo. They began to talk about how lovable the pandas’ plump hand and plump feet were. But the children coming from California all began to feel hot. In fact the clothes they were wearing were only suitable for California’s winters, so they all rushed to the Stanley Market and shopped for clothes and shoes. Linda didn’t actually say it but she thought to herself this was where she came from. She felt very curious but didn’t tell the others what she was thinking. Only her best friend knew what she was thinking.
Lesson 7 (Weather)
When they were in HK, they heard about ‘Ice festival’ in Harbin and made the decision to go to Harbin in China. It was snowing heavily in Harbin just then but they haven’t prepared enough wither clothes. Nevertheless, they were very excited playing snow balling and making a snowman.
Afterwards Tom said that he was very homesick. He said that Harbin was too cold, and it was always snowing. Tom found that unbearable. However, Reggie thought that California’s weather was always warm, with clear skies, and that was so boring. Finally, everybody felt since they have been out for a whole day, their family might worry so they decide to return.
Lesson 8 (Food)
As soon as they returned to America, they couldn't wait to have a meal of hamburgers, coke, and fries. They also ate ice cream and drank fizzy drinks. Melissa was longing for the night market. Only a few days later when they all met she suggested everybody should go to Singapore. This time, the compass took them to a night market, and they were especially curious about the Chinese food that they hadn’t seen before. Tom also got into some funny situations.
Lesson 9 (Hobbies)
That time in Singapore they met a crowd of students from Taipei. They very quickly got chatting, and talked about why they liked or disliked certain activities. Melissa felt a desire to get to know more about the various places and people, but they have been away for a long time and should return now. But in her heart, she felt deeply that next time she would definitely try to find another opportunity to come back to Asia.
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