Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • New York City added 29 immersion programs this year

    New York City is going all-out on the immersion front to attract more families into the public school system, while simultaneously serving the needs of English language learners. I added four new NYC schools to the full Mandarin immersion list today. Note that Dual Language programs mean immersion programs where there are equal numbers of students who speak both English and the ‘target language’ – in our case Mandarin. These are also sometimes called two-way programs, as opposed to one-way programs meant for English-speaking students.

    29 new dual language programs to open

    by Anna Schneider
    Monday, 17 June 2013 18:09
    Spanish is the most common of the dual language programs in New York City schools, including this one at PS 249 in Brooklyn.Spanish is the most common of the dual language programs in New York City schools, including this one at PS 249 in Brooklyn.Photo by Pamela Wheaton

    The city plans to open 29 new dual language programs in elementary, middle and high schools in September, according to alist of new programs released by the Department of Education. New York City’s public school students speak over 185 languages at home, as reported in the city’s recent Internal Budget Office audit of city schools, and there are dual language programs in at least a half-dozen of those languages.

    Please see more here.

    Dual language programs offer English speakers the opportunity to learn a second language alongside native speakers of another language who become proficient in both English and their native tongue. Ten percent of the city’s more than 150,000 English language learners were in dual language programs in 2011, according to the IBO.

  • How Cantonese immersion resurrected a public school in San Francisco

    How to resurrect a public school in SF

    By 

    click to enlargeHsieh family

    • JOEL ENGARDIO/SPECIAL TO THE S.F. EXAMINER
    • Hsieh family left to right: Jack, Nicole, Tom, Emma

    Elementary school graduations are cute, yet they hardly match the hat tossing euphoria of the U.S. Naval Academy or the pomp of an Ivy League procession. But don’t tell that to the first-ever fifth-grade class graduating from the Chinese Immersion School at De Avila Elementary this month.

     With the mythological phoenix as their mascot, they deserve a celebration fit for rising from the ashes of public education in San Francisco.

    De Avila is in the heart of the Haight-Ashbury and it symbolized the vicious cycle that destroys a school: low test scores, a lackluster PTA, a rough neighborhood that scares prospective families away. Eventually De Avila closed and became a shuttered eyesore.

    Please read more here.

     

  • Live from the National Chinese Language Conference in Los Angeles!

    Screen Shot 2014-05-10 at 7.27.03 AM

    Two parents from the Broadway Elementary Mandarin immersion program in Los Angeles, Calif. (Venice, Calif. really)  are attending the National Chinese Language Conference in Los Angeles this weekend.

    You can read about the conference here.

    Natasha Heller and Jennifer Li will be writing up the workshops they visit which I’ll post here.

    While they’re at the conference, they are tweeting to@MandarinProgram.

    Los Angeles has such a vibrant and committed Mandarin immersion parent community, thanks to Natasha and Jennifer for sharing what they’re learning!

    Beth

  • Dutchtown, Ga.’s Mandarin immersion program finishes its first year

    Dual language immersion program completes first year

    By Johnny Jackson
    jjackson@henryherald.com

    Friday, May 9, 2014 
    © Copyright 2014 Henry Herald

    Students are learning science in Mandarin Chinese in Dutchtown Elementary’s dual immersion program. Kindergartner Karissa Abney was a helper in this classroom exercise. (Staff Photo: Johnny Jackson)

    Students are learning science in Mandarin Chinese in Dutchtown Elementary’s dual immersion program. Kindergartner Karissa Abney was a helper in this classroom exercise. (Staff Photo: Johnny Jackson)

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    Kindergartners in Dutchtown Elementary dual language immersion program are learning math and science in a a completely different language. (Staff Photo: Johnny Jackson)

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    Students interact with their teacher Mai Cantrell, who teaches math and science in Dutchtown Elementary’s dual language immersion program. (Staff Photo: Johnny Jackson)

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    Dutchtown Elementary kindergartner Karissa Abney helps her classmates through a less in identifying denominations of currency in Mandarin Chinese this week during a visit from state officials and language consultants. (Staff Photo: Johnny Jackson)

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    Dutchtown Elementary students sing out numbers in Mandarin Chinese as their classmate Karissa Abney points them out on a chart during a verbal counting exercise this week. (Staff Photo: Johnny Jackson)

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    Mei Cantrell’s kindergarten class is learning math and science in Mandarin Chinese as part of Dutchtown Elementary’s inaugural year with a dual language immersion program. (Staff Photo: Johnny Jackson)

    HAMPTON — Dutchtown Elementary is wrapping up its inaugural year of dual language immersion into Mandarin Chinese.

    Kindergarten teacher Mei Cantrell and paraprofessional Fei Fei Zhang speak to their students entirely in the foreign language. They teach 43 kindergartners in math and science, splitting half the day with a teacher and paraprofessional who focus on English/language arts, reading and social studies in English.

    The school’s dual language immersion program received its fourth and final visit of the school year from state officials and foreign language consultants Monday.

    Greg Barfield represented Georgia Department of Education’s World Languages and Global Initiatives Unit. He is the department’s programs specialist for international affairs.

    He was joined by fellow world languages programs specialist, Michaela Clas-Nix, and contracted language consultants Myriam Met and Greg Duncan.

    Please read more here.

  • St. Cloud, Minn. gets new Confucius Institute

    SCSU’s new Confucius Institute brings the East to West

    David Unze, dunze@stcloudtimes.com9:11 p.m. CDT May 6, 2014

    The Confucius Institute will work with statewide Chinese immersion programs, Chinese second-language programs, businesses and cross-cultural partnerships for all of China and Minnesota.

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    St. Cloud State University opened the doors Tuesday on its Confucius Institute, a partnership with China intended to teach the next generation of language immersion teachers and educate St. Cloud students from kindergarten through college about that country’s culture and global connectedness.

    The institute is a partnership with the Jilin Provincial Education Department in Changchun, China, and is in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Education and the Ministry of Education in China.

    The institute will focus on the licensing and professional development of teachers, especially those involved with Chinese language immersion programs. St. Cloud’s Madison Elementary is home to one of seven Chinese full-immersion programs (where all instruction is in the target language) in Minnesota; a delegation of Chinese education officials toured the building Tuesday as part of the institute’s grand opening.

    Please read more here.

  • What Mandarin immersion looks like in Hong Kong

    It looks like they send their students to live for a year in Hangzhou. Now, that’s immersion!

     


     

    http://www.cis.edu.hk/community/phoenix-soaring鳳凰展翅/index.aspx

  • 放开手 – “Let it go” in Chinese!

    FrozenCheck out this great site where your kids can learn 放开手, Let It Go in Chinese.

    For those of us who are being subjected to endless renditions of it at home, make them sing it in Mandarin!

    The version sung in 25 different language is also very cool and worth watching.

    Here’s the video


     

    and then here’s a video of each of the 25 singers singing her line which is pretty fascinating to watch.