The ACTFL conference is one of the big language learning conferences of the year and there are lots of workshops focused on immersion. It’s in San Diego this year, so if your schools is nearby, hopefully someone’s going. 2015 ANNUAL CONVENTION AND WORLD LANGUAGES EXPO November 20-22, 2015 San Diego, California (Pre-convention workshops, November 19) INSPIRE.…

Sixth International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education: Connecting Research and Practice Across Contexts October 20–22, 2016 Hyatt Regency Hotel Minneapolis, MN, USA Immersion and dual language education continue to evolve as highly effective program models for launching students on the road to bi- and multilingualism and intercultural competence. School-based immersion, bilingual, and dual language programs…

Children of immigrants who can speak, read and write in both English and the language spoken at home have an advantage in the labor market, a new report released Tuesday finds. The report by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA and the Educational Testing Service, a nonprofit testing organization, shows that individuals with immigrant backgrounds who only speak English and…

Openings in SFUSD’s Mandarin Immersion Program San Francisco Unified School District’s Mandarin Immersion program is a unique opportunity for students to not only learn Mandarin, but learn in Mandarin.  SFUSD’s Mandarin Immersion program launched in 2006 with two kindergarten classes at Starr King Elementary School, and a year later, a third kindergarten class was added at Jose…

A nice essay by a Mandarin-speaking parent (with a great blog!) on the issues around choosing between Traditional and Simplified characters. For most people it’s a moot point because you basically go with whatever your local Mandarin immersion school teaches and that’s the end of it, At this point, about 75% teach simplified, the rest Traditional.…

Study: Portland Immersion Students Become Better Readers, English Speakers by Rob Manning OPB | Nov. 6, 2015 12:59 p.m. | Updated: Nov. 6, 2015 4:10 p.m. | Portland Students in Portland’s language immersion programs become better readers than their counterparts in other schools, according to a new study called “Study of Dual-Language Immersion in the Portland Public Schools.”The RAND Corporation…

PARENTS SOUND OFF ABOUT HISD BOND BUDGET SHORTFALL Voters passed the nearly $2 billion bond, but now the district says they’ll need millions of dollars more to build what they promised and parents aren’t happy about it. By Kaitlin McCulley Tuesday, October 27, 2015 06:35PM HOUSTON (KTRK) — The team of experts Houston ISD assembled in…