Author: Elizabeth Weise

Why Teach Chinese through Song? By Hong Zhang Language and song, speech and music are aspects of a single act. That act is communication. Song is the highest form of speech. Because song “ups the ante” by emphasizing the color, pronunciation and intonation of every syllable, it is a valuable tool for improving students’ spoken language…

To the editor: Thank you, Karin deJonge-Kannan, for your excellent, informative letter (“Monolingualism can be cured,” May 16) about Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs in Utah schools, where participating students learn academic content in another language in addition to English. A year ago, I visited Uintah Elementary School in Ogden with a couple of Chinese-American…

First Greenery Arts school in the U.S. opening in American Fork By Michelle Garrett, Deseret News Published: Friday, May 18 2012 12:08 p.m. MDT Michelle Wong, president of the Greenery Arts company, hopes to encourage peace by teaching the Chinese language culture to American students. Greenery Arts View 3 photos » Summary Greenery Arts, a company…

More than a decade after the state urged that students start learning a foreign language in the early grades, many local elementary schools are losing ground. Immersion programs, in which children study all of their subjects in the second language, are thriving in a few communities. But traditional foreign language classes, often for a few…

MINNETONKA, Minn. – Fifth-grade students murmer to each other as they read through their text at Scenic Heights Elementary. Bend in a little closer and you will hear they are speaking Mandarin Chinese.  Scenic Heights and Excelsior each host Chinese immersion programs in the Minnetonka School District and now these students are ready to move…

Principal Bryan Bordelon tries to reassure parents taking a chance on his new school: Don’t panic when you can’t understand your 4-year-old’s assignments. Your child may even tell secrets in a language you don’t understand, he says. That’s a good thing. It means the students are learning. Bordelon is leading a new public elementary school in Bellaire that will…

It’s adieu to the French language at schools as experts advise a shift of focus from European languages LAURA SPERANZA  The Sunday Telegraph  May 13, 2012 12:00AM Rouse Hill Public School’s Chloe Van Der Houen, Alessandra Valle, Keenan Davis and Joel Wright learn Mandarin. Picture: Rohan Kelly Source: The Daily Telegraph TO get ahead, children should learn Mandarin:…