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Calgary school board recruiters head to Spain on hiring spree French, Spanish and Mandarin teachers in demand BY RICHARD CUTHBERTSON, CALGARY HERALD APRIL 9, 2012   University of Calgary Education student Gabrielle Lyons will finish her French immersion teaching degree in the coming weeks at the University of Calgary. She has already secured a job…

April 13, 2012  plenary at the 5th annual National Chinese Language Conference in D.C. “The State of the Field: Proficiency, Sustainability and Beyond” The discussion was moderated by Martha Abbott, executive director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Chinese is “one of the fastest growing educational movements in the United States,”…

 Over 1,200 people filled a ballroom in Washington D.C. Thursday evening to open the 5th Annual National Chinese Language Conference. Gov. Gaston Caperton, former governor of West Virginia and now the president of the College Board, told the teachers and administrators that AP Chinese is the fastest growing AP class in the country. Today there…

Whither (not “Wither”) Japanese? By Anthony Jackson on February 7, 2012 5:44 AM Global economic trends have far-reaching effects. For instance, the language learning decisions made by students and their families often have to do with perceptions of future employability. I’ve asked one of Asia Society’s resident polyglots, Chris Livaccari, to reflect on this trend and put it in…

Wait for the punch line….

Ten months ago I sat down to quickly write up some thoughts I’d had about the differing motivations parents had for choosing Mandarin immersion, with the idea that  understanding those motivations might lessen some tensions we felt in our program. That quick email grew into the 7,000 word essay I’m posting here. It’s also launched…

On Bilingualism and Mandarin in Minnetonka, Minnesota Pacific Memories and Visions April 6, 2012 – Ray Tsuchiyama Read comments | Post a comment  I had no choice in being exposed to bilingualism, since my parents spoke both Japanese and English. Although I don’t remember, my first language was most likely Japanese, as my late mother spoke to…