Dim Sum Warriors » dswadmin

MOCCA Fest this weekend!

dswadmin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:48:56 +0000

Come and see amazing comics, comic artists, and bring the starving artists some food this weekend at the MoCCA Arts Festival (organized by the Society of Illustrators and the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art).

Date: Sat April 6th and Sun April 7th

Venue: 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington between 25th and 26th

Time: 11am-6pm

Sharing our table will be the amazingly thoughtful and talented Nick Sousanis, who is crazy enough to write his dissertation in comic form; and Adam McGovern, the comics critic and writer.

Dim Sum Warriors from an almost 4 year-old

dswadmin — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 13:02:03 +0000

One of the fascinating things about making Dim Sum Warriors is how much it is a part of Yakuza Baby’s cultural diet. Here’s her latest artwork (pencil on canvas) of Xiajiao, Porky, and Shaomai, the lead characters of Dim Sum Warriors. And they are on an iPad, and her hand and fingers are stretched out to swipe to the next page. She’s now almost four.

NEW EDUCATION RESOURCES!

dswadmin — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:14:03 +0000

Enhance your language-learning experience with our new bilingual vocabulary lists!

Hey, teachers, parents and language learners! In response to reader requests, we’ve created a resource to enhance the educational value of our app and comic - free downloadable word lists to help you improve your Chinese and English vocabulary!

We’re starting with Dim Sum Warriors Issue 1, with the other issues to follow.

You can download the word list in PDF or as an Excel spreadsheet.

You can download the whole word list or just the Beginners, Intermediate or Advanced Level list.

The words are listed in the sequence they appear on each page of the comic. You can refer to the bilingual comic on your iPad or the English-only print comic or eComic.

Here are the links:

DSW #1 All-levels Word List (Excel spreadsheet) (including sheets for Beginners/Intermediate/Advanced level learners)
DSW #1 All-levels Word List (PDF)
DSW #1 Beginners-level Word List (PDF)
DSW #1 Intermediate-level Word List (PDF)
DSW #1 Advanced-level Word List (PDF)

Download the word list and use it together with:

the Dim Sum Warriors interactive bilingual (English-Chinese) app from the App Store for your iPad or
use it together with the Dim Sum Warriors (English-only) print book that you can buy from Amazon USA or from major book stores like Kinokuniya and Books Actually if you’re in Singapore. The (English-only) eComic is also available on iBooks and Kindle.

How you can use the word lists:

You can chose the relevant words for pre-reading where you introduce the vocabulary, use the list to activate prior knowledge and to predict how they might be used.

For post-reading, you can cut and paste the relevant words for worked examples; mix up the sequence of the words and create simple quizzes where students match the pronunciation to the characters or match the English and Chinese words; highlight the words for learners to use as they write journals or diaries from the perspective of the characters; or use the words to role-play the characters in the story.

For individual study, just print out the PDF word lists and review at your convenience. When you return to reading the comic, see if you can read it in the target language without help from the translation boxes (if you’re using the iPad app).

Email yenyen@dimsumwarriors.com to let us know what you think of these word lists!

For updates about these lists and other Dim Sum Warriors news, subscribe to our mailing list!

This Chinese New Year, Give Hongbaos with Real Baos On Them!

dswadmin — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 22:18:14 +0000

Give a Red Packet to Remember with Our Printable Dim Sum Warrior Hongbaos!
by Colin Goh

So… because our nanny suddenly got sick, I spent the past 2 days at home taking care of Yakuza Baby (our rambunctious nearly-four year-old daughter, so nicknamed because she was born while the Wife and I were watching a Japanese gangster movie).

It was a little nerve-wracking since I had a heap of deadlines to meet, especially before the Chinese New Year holidays. So I got a little crafty – literally! – and came up with a single solution for all three issues: (1) doing something Dim Sum Warriors-related so I didn’t feel like I was loafing; (2) commemorating Chinese New Year; and most important of all, (3) keeping Yakuza Baby occupied with something other than Sailor Moon reruns!

And now we’re sharing it with all of you! Thanks to the brilliant suggestion of Simon Siah, here are our awesomely auspicious DIM SUM WARRIOR DIY CHINESE NEW YEAR HONGBAOS* (with an actual BAO** on it)!

Click on the thumbnail of the image of your choice to open a large, printable template.
Right-click to download the template
Print out in colour (grey packets are not so auspicious)
Cut, fold and glue according to the guidelines
Give your loved ones a unique red packet they’ll remember for a long time!
Don’t forget to add money! (Empty hongbaos guarantee ill-will for many years)

*During Chinese New Year, it’s customary to give loved ones, particularly kids or seniors, a little red envelope containing money called “hóngbāo 红包”, which literally means “red packet”. Tip: do not give an amount involving the number ’4′ since the Chinese word for ‘four’ (sì 四) sounds an awful lot like the Chinese word for ‘death’ (sǐ 死). Amounts involving the number ‘eight’ (bā八), however, are considered lucky because it sounds like “fā发”, which is short for “fā cái发财” (‘prosperity’ or ‘good fortune’).

**Of course, the word “bāo 包” can also mean “dumpling”, like Prince Roastpork Bao 叉烧包太子, the chubby protagonist of Dim Sum Warriors.

Dim Sum Warriors on PRI’s The World!

dswadmin — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:16:11 +0000

Patrick Cox of The World (a joint venture between the BBC, Public Radio International and WGBH Boston) does an absolutely wonderful piece on Dim Sum Warriors. Click here to listen to it and also read the transcript!

Dim Sum Warriors Volume 1 is now on Amazon!

dswadmin — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:59:30 +0000

Dim Sum Warriors Volume 1 is now in print! Yes! And you can now get your own copy on Amazon!

What does visual literacy mean for preschoolers?

dswadmin — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 01:24:02 +0000

I have been thinking a lot about what visual literacy means for pre-schoolers and my three and a half year old Yakuza Baby has been teaching me a thing or two.

It means decoding and coding visual cues

For example, what does it mean when the black in the eye is looking in one direction or another? Or how is femininity typically communicated (for her, the eye lashes and lips indicate this)? This also provides me with the opportunity to understand stereotypes she’s developing and talk through those (for example, I have been trying to tell her that it’s perfectly ok for men to wear skirts).

It means understanding how visuals work with words and using both together

In the first picture, she writes “mommy” inside a heart as her valentine.

It means telling a story or describing a situation

In the second piece, she tells me me that that’s her wearing her Rapunzel nightgown with her tiara hanging out with her nanny who is knitting an orange dress for herself. Her nanny is, by the way, drawn wearing a house dress with a butterfly on it, which is what she often wears.

It means experiencing the joy and power of creating and giving in a form she knows intuitively

For example, in the picture at the top, she very excitedly told me that that’s a a valentine that she made for mommy (that’s me!!!) with a present of chocolate Yakuza Babies. Awwwww…

-Yen Yen

Thank You Party for Kickstarter Backers at Yakun – The Kaya Toast Place in Singapore!

dswadmin — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:32:32 +0000

We had a blast hanging out with you, our Kickstarter Backers in Singapore! Great start for the new year with way too much kaya toast…

Date: Sunday, January 6th, 2013

Location: Yakun Kaya Toast, Orchard Central

Kaya Toast Thank You Party in Singapore for Kickstarter Backers

Dim Sum Warriors Reviewed by Publishers Weekly!

dswadmin — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:47:12 +0000

Yay! A positive review from Publishers’ Weekly ahead of our launch!

Here’s an excerpt:

“With Lee’s delightful illustrations and Goh and Woo’s engaging narrative, the characters could have been ingredients in a Waldorf salad and still been interesting.”

Dim Sum Warriors mentioned on Fast Company’s List of the 10 coolest original digital comics of 2012

dswadmin — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:09:45 +0000

HOLY BAO! Dim Sum Warriors is #5 on Fast Company’s list of the 10 coolest original digital comics of 2012, alongside giants like Insufferable, Avengers vs X-Men, and xkcd!!!

And here’s the blurb:

“This bilingual English-Mandarin digital manga is that rarest of creative triumphs: an educational comic that’s actually fun to read. Developed as an iPad app to teach language skills to kids (co-creator Yen Yen Woo is a professor of education at Long Island University), Dim Sum Warriors puts story and characters first, while maximizing the interactive potential of the iPad as a learning platform.”

Thanks for the love, Rob Salkowitz!