It's pretty unusual to say "harmonious family" in English. I think, personally, I'm most used to seeing "harmonious" in connection with people in a literary setting, and it usually has some very ominous political undertones. It's perfectly acceptable, however, to say "happy family."

I don't think native English speakers of any age write, "I have a harmonious family." It sounds very foreign to the English language, but - and that is a big "but" - there is a school of thought that says English written by Africans should sound African and English written by the Chinese should sound Chinese. What Hilary said about "cultural imperative" stems from her politeness, her recognition that there is a certain cultural and political atmosphere in your country and no doubt her awareness of this school of thought. What we - your friend Sue, Hilary and I - are all saying is the same: it does not sound "native". So you need to explain this to your pupils. I think it is easier if you go through some essays about the family written by native speakers and show them what vocabulary native speakers use. You may even wish to point out certain classic "native " expressions, such as "I have a happy family". In short, teach them to write "I have a happy family" and not "I have a harmonious family". The long term solution is this: 1. Teach them to think in English. 2. Do not use Chinese in your English class. 3. Make them read English books and write reading reports. 4. Teach them that translating from Chinese when writing English ruins their English.

It depends - what age are these students? It may be a cultural imperative to declare that your family is harmonious, as it would be considered inappropriate to air private family issues publicly. It sounds like it is common where you come from. Sue obviously comes from somewhere else? The English equivalent of that would be to say "we have a happy family'.

Like the others said, it's not natural to use harmonious. Just use happy family. If you let them use 'harmonious family', it is a dead giveaway that the writer is from China. Any native speaker of English (who doesn't know China) will wonder how anybody let them it is acceptable to use harmonious in this context. Of course, if you do a direct reverse translation of English into the Chinese, it will be non-native Chinese. This happens to me all the time ;-)

Helen - you have now had plenty of advice which basically says that this is a most peculiar expression which an English speaking child would never use. That is absolutely correct. As for how would such a child write about their family - I hope you find some examples. But I would suggest that generally, if asked to write about their family they would DESCRIBE their family members and not go into family relationships so much. My Dad works in a factory; Mum is a doctor; my big brother is in college. We live in a house near the river; we live with our grandparents. Mum always makes me clean my room before i am allowed to go to the movies etc. Hope that helps.