EUGENE, Ore. — In China, party hosts still have about two weeks to prepare for New Year celebrations, but students 9,000 miles across the globe in Eugene are already celebrating by singing a traditional New Year song in Mandarin.
Oak Hill School in Eugene offers Mandarin immersion courses beginning in Kindergarten and ending in 8th grade.
By the fifth grade, students like 10-year-old Maya Ordway can understand the building blocks of writing and speaking that will eventually allow them to become fluent.
“I think [the program] is going really well,” said Ordway. “Mandarin is so much different from English and so it’s just really fun.”
Ordway said she was adopted from China and that her mother suggested she study Mandarin, but that’s not why Ordway likes it.
“It gives me a connection to China,” said Ordway. “But it’s really challenging. It’s really hard to memorize all the characters, but once you memorize it it’s really easy.”
Read more here.
Mandarin Immersion Parents Council 
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