Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

好久不见 (hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn, Long Time, No See)

by a Jose Ortega parent

At the close of the school year, SFUSD’s Mandarin Immersion program first graders from Starr King and Jose Ortega schools gathered at a San Francisco playground to play, picnic, and solve a little mystery. This was a special day because they were meeting their 笔友 (bĭ yŏu, pen pals) face-to-face for the first time and they were curious to see who they’ve been writing to throughout the school year.

While kindergartners learn to write approximately 70 characters, they master writing some 200 Chinese characters (汉字, Hànzì) by the close of the first grade. They are capable of recognizing many more characters than this. Writing complete sentences in Chinese, maintaining journals, and composing letters are all a part of what they learn at this level.

According to one of the teachers, writing to a local pen pal was a fun way to start writing “with a purpose.” This project was so successful that Mandarin Immersion teachers will launch it again with next year’s incoming first graders and plan to continue this exchange through fifth grade.

For more information about the 笔友 program, please contact miparentscouncil.