Author: Elizabeth Weise

Bilingual and struggling A bilingual parent tries to keep a native tongue alive at home, a problem faced by many immigrants. By Fariba Nawa, / contributor / October 18, 2011 Anna Hsu, 5 (second from r.) mimics teacher Kennis Wong as children sing a Chinese song at Broadway Elementary in Los Angeles, one of two English- Mandarin immersion…

By PERRI KLASS, M.D. Published: October 10, 2011 Once, experts feared that young children exposed to more than one language would suffer “language confusion,” which might delay their speech development. Today, parents often are urged to capitalize on that early knack for acquiring language. Upscale schools market themselves with promises of deep immersion in Spanish…

By Elizabeth Weise Germany’s first Mandarin immersion program launched last month in Berlin, and to the surprise of the founding families it’s as popular with German families as it is with Chinese. The program, the Deutsch-Chinesischen Grundschule, was launched last month at the Planetarium Elementary School in Berlin. When the school’s director, Günter Urban, held…

Chinese immersion program draws questions, then converts By Mila Koumpilova mkoumpilova@pioneerpress.com Updated: 10/09/2011 11:53:28 PM CDT Browse more photo galleries »    Watch local video »    Watch national video » Stephen Lee, attorney and involved dad, gave folks at St. Paul Public Schools a thorough grilling about the district’s new Mandarin Chinese immersion program. Over the phone, on email…

Why Black People Are Learning Chinese A growing number recognize that it will be a crucial skill for competing in the global marketplace. By: Abdul Ali | Posted: October 7, 2011 at 12:01 AM Damon Woods (top row, third from left) with colleagues (Courtesy of Damon Woods) When Zuri Patterson, a second-grader, entered her new classroom the first…

The UCLA Confucius Institute inaugurates opening of three Mandarin immersion programs By BASHEER ALAS Published October 4, 2011, 1:01 am in News Christina Sun Christina Sun  The UCLA Confucius Institute held a ceremony Monday night to formally inaugurate three new Mandarin immersion programs in schools in Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Known as Confucius Classrooms, the programs aid in the institute’s…

My high school German is pretty rusty, but it looks like the first Mandarin immersion school has opened at a public school in Berlin. It appears to be atPlanetarium Elementary School, on  Ella-Kay Street 47, 10405 Berlin. The school  goes by the name Der Deutsch-Chinesischen Grundschule. The school is being created in two phases. In…