This morning I walked my daughters into school so I could pick up an order of homemade tamales that were part of one of our school’s fundraising programs. As I walked back out across the playground, I was contemplating the great dinner that I knew was coming tonight. And then I stopped for a moment…

Speaking the language BY BARBARA BALFOUR, CALGARY HERALD FEBRUARY 23, 2012 Sometimes, wine is cheaper than water, bread is served with every meal no matter what the cuisine – even Chinese – and the number of kisses offered in a greeting depends on what city and region you’re in. Those are just a few of the…

Reading Makes Language Relevant By Kurt Hamm What teacher would not like to hear a student say “Even though Chinese was hard, my teacher made it interesting – so interesting that I studied with passion. If it wasn’t for my Chinese teacher I would never have made it this far.”? If your students took a tour…

Let’s invest in immersion schoolsBy Alex Runner Feb. 20, 2012 |(4) COMMENTS People talk a lot about China. It seems as though its economy has been steadily gaining steam longer than Justin Bieber has been alive. But here’s something else that is increasing significantly in China: widespread interest in the French language and culture. “Chinese students’ interest…

Chinese spoken at Meridian elementary school By CYNTHIA SEWELL — cmsewell@idahostatesman.com Posted: 12:00am on Feb 21, 2012; Modified: 9:22am on Feb 21, 2012 First-grader Keirstan Knutson, 6, a student at Gateway Elementary, uses an interactive smart board to show a math equation she hears in Chinese. DARIN OSWALD / IDAHO STATESMAN Related Links LinkWatch a video of…

CALGARY — Six-year-old Adam Liu patiently practises his Chinese characters every day — after all, there are thousands to learn. And he’s already speaking Mandarin better than his father. It’s a family reality that’s expected to become even more entrenched when Adam’s little sister, Laura, starts kindergarten next year in the same Mandarin-bilingual program at…