Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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Author: Elizabeth Weise

  • The Latest Research on Mandarin immersion

    Marie Ciepela, a mom with two sons in Mandarin immersion at Starr King Elementary school in San Francisco, sends these notes from a talk last week. Probably the most important take-home message for families with kids in Mandarin immersion is that our English book-filled homes are deserts when it comes to Chinese language materials. Without…

  • Fremont (Calif.) enrolls its first Mandarin immersion class

    Participants in the newly-created Chinese Immersion Program at Azevada Elementary School in Fremont, Calif were selected by lottery 0n  Wednesday, June 23. Students will be placed based on their lottery number and the established priorities. Per Board agreement, Azevada school students will have first priority. The District staff drew the names of 28 applicants in…

  • Australia’s only Mandarin immersion program expanding

    Coast immersion stands up to the test Thomas Chamberlin   |  June 24th, 2010 Varsity Lakes College student Taylor Cassar learns in Mandarin Picture: DAVID CLARK STUDENTS in the Chinese immersion program at Varsity College (in Queensland, Australia) are outperforming English-speaking classes in national literacy and numeracy tests. The popularity of the school’s courses has prompted moves…

  • MIPC meeting with San Francisco Public Library about Mandarin materials

    A report from the Mandarin Immersion Parents Council library task force: June 2010 As students in the Mandarin immersion program reach higher grades, finding them books to read and videos to watch becomes more of an issue. The MIPC held a meeting towards the end of school this year with Carla Kozak, Children and Youth…

  • Columnist: Oregon needs more Mandarin immersion

    The Oregonian, June 23, 2010 By Dave Porter Some local school districts, boards and administrators are holding back development of foreign language immersion programs necessary for Oregon’s economic future. There are two current examples: the West Linn-Wilsonville School Board recently canceled tits 1-year-old Spanish immersion program, while Portland Public Schools failed again this year to…

  • Thursday workshop on 2nd language acquisition at SF State University

    This free, all day lecture is being sponsored by the San Francisco State University’s STARTALK project. STARTALK is a Presidential Initiative to Fund Summer Programs in Critical Languages including Chinese. The Fundamentals: Second Language Acquisition June 24, 2010 9:30am– 3:30pm Sponsored by STARTALK at San Francisco State University Title III ELL Professional Development Project Presenter: …

  • Kindergartners learn quickly in Vancouver schools’ new Mandarin immersion program

    (and one of the best lede paragraphs I’ve seen on a story about Mandarin immersion) Photo by Steven Lane Teacher Hsin-yi Hu works with kindergarten students in Franklin Elementary’s first-year Chinese immersion program. She teaches Mandarin full-time to 24 pupils who will continue with her through first grade, while two more kindergarten sections are added…