Does it Matter if Jon Huntsman is ‘Fluent’ in Mandarin Chinese?

November 2nd, 2011 by Chris Livaccari

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Jon Huntsman (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Jon Huntsman, former Utah Governor and U.S. Ambassador to China — and current Republican candidate for president — is at the center of a discussion that reveals our assumptions about language perhaps better than any other: the idea of “fluency.”

In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Huntsman, often referred to as a “fluent” speaker of Mandarin Chinese, drew headlines when he used Mandarin to jokingly ask Colbert to be his running mate in the election. While his remark was not completely unintelligible to a Chinese speaker, it was not particularly grammatical by most standards (and he clearly misplaced the word “vice” in his sentence).Some commentators then jumped in to debate whether or not Huntsman was actually “fluent” in Chinese, perhaps ultimately missing the real point of the matter.

Please read more here.

Coming full circle on bilingualism
After rejecting her parents’ native Mandarin as a youngster, she’s come to value the connection to her roots. And she’s finding plenty of company among other young Asian Americans.

Children and adults listen to the reading of “The Giant Glowing Dragon” during the Mandarin story hour at the Crowell Public Library in San Marino. (Katie Falkenberg, Los Angeles Times / February 9, 2013)

By Cindy Chang, Los Angeles Times
March 16, 2013, 4:35 p.m.
Mandarin was my first language, but once I started school, I refused to speak it. As the only Asian kid in my class, I felt alien enough. I wasn’t about to bust out in another tongue, even in the privacy of my own home.

My parents were too laissez-faire to enforce a Chinese-only regimen, as my uncle did with my cousins. We soon switched to English instead of Chinese, forks instead of chopsticks. My mom made spaghetti for my brother and me, stir-fries and soups for my dad.

The one time I went to Saturday Chinese school, I told my parents I hated it and I wasn’t going back. That was the end of it. They never brought it up again.

Educators discuss the Chinese immersion program.
Kindergarteners go global

Chinese immersion program at McIlvaine Early Childhood Center

10:19 a.m., March 15, 2013–The world is getting smaller for five year olds in Delaware’s Caesar Rodney School District.

Students in other countries often learn world languages beginning in the early years. In order to prepare the state’s workforce for a global economy in the decades to come, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell has launched the World Language Initiative (WLI) program with the goal of students mastering another language before entering high school.

Global Stories
This school year, 100 kindergarteners attending the J. Ralph McIlvaine Early Childhood Center in Magnolia, Del., entered the state’s only Chinese language immersion program. Kindergarteners spend half their day learning literacy, math, science and social studies in Chinese and the other half in English speaking classes.

The program was successfully launched thanks to the efforts of several University of Delaware alumni and the support of UD’s Confucius Institute.

Kevin Fitzgerald, superintendent of the Caesar Rodney School District, whose district has embraced the concept of preparing students for a global economy by offering six languages in high school, jumped at the opportunity to provide kindergarten students with the advantage of learning Chinese. Fitzgerald earned his doctorate degree from UD’s College of Education and Human Development.

Please read more here.

Agence France-Presse

March 16, 2013 00:45
Chinese teaching growing in US, helped by Beijing

Susan Wang couldn’t speak English when she arrived in California from Taiwan, aged 16.

Now 49, she heads a school offering US children a similar experience, plunging them into a Chinese world.

And her establishment is part of a rapid expansion of “immersion” Mandarin language programs in the United States, helped notably by Beijing providing low-cost native-speaker teachers to cash-strapped US schools.

Pupils as young as five at her Broadway Elementary School in Venice, west of Los Angeles, take classes entirely in Chinese, in a project so successful that it is having to move to a new campus.

“The single most exciting thing has to be watching the kids learn, and how they learn, and how fast they pick up another language, it’s just amazing,” she told AFP, in a pause from her busy day at the bustling local school.

“I didn’t speak English when I came, so when it comes to dual language and language learning … it’s something close to my heart,” she added.

Chinese immersion programs are not new in American schools. But China’s rapidly expanding world role has fueled growing demand for Mandarin language skills, mirroring Washington’s diplomatic pivot across the Pacific.

Mandarin teaching has expanded nationwide over the last decade, in contrast to other foreign languages which have steadily decreased, according to data compiled by the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL).

“Mandarin is really taking off … Chinese was one of the few languages that increased, most other language offerings decreased, including French, German, and Japanese,” Nancy Rhodes of the Washingtonp DC-based CAL told AFP.

Please read more here.

Here’s the family’s blog.

Not only is our 10 year old daughter the only American at her new Mandarin school but also the youngest, smallest, and only Caucasian at this five star high school with 1000 students! Last week was her first day.

This is the Mandarin-speaking introduction that she prepared for her class and she volunteered that first day to be class ” Monitor”,( not knowing before hand what that meant) so she gets the special tie, badge and tie pin and always leads the female students when they get in lines to go to assemblies and such with a Mandarin command. Monitors get green ties, Prefects get blue ties and the rest don’t have any. She was so proud to surprise us with this news that first day!

Please read more here.

Bamboo Shoots is a private Mandarin immersion preschool in Westfield, NJ which is expanding into an elementary school beginning next year, 2013-2014.

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欢迎您，朋友。, or “welcome friends” as many of us are more accustomed to, is the warm greeting students receive each morning at Bamboo Shoots. In fact, this independent, full Mandarin immersion, day school in Westfield, provides children with education in Mandarin, Chinese, for over 90% of each day. Their innovative curriculum implements full immersion of the target language across all subjects: Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Character Development, Art, Music, and Physical Education. In addition students participate in a daily English class conducted by a

As they move into their third successful year, Bamboo Shoots is once again geared up for expansion. Originally offering programs for children three to six years in age, Bamboo Shoots welcomed it’s first class of Preschool students last fall. With a child’s ability to acquire language skills significantly higher earlier in age, this impressive school sought to introduce biliteracy in toddlers as young as two-years-old. Bamboo Shoots’ formidable curriculum content is enabling students to reach impressive proficiency levels in both Chinese and English. Although astonished parents marvel at their children’s feats, concern arose when considering where their children could find similar education upon graduation. To meet the high demand and increased parent requests, Bamboo Shoots is proud to continue growing their programs.

For the 2013-2014 school year Bamboo Shoots will now be offering first and second grade classes. Continuing with a rigorous Chinese and English academic syllabus, implemented in a creative and supportive environment, students will gain the confidence, scholastic preparation and cognitive development essential to succeeding in the 21st century. But the benefits of such schooling are not purely academic, children at Bamboo Shoots become part of a diverse and multilingual community that grants them the opportunity to see the world through new lenses and gain a better understanding of themselves and the world around them.

Please read more here.

Here’s the school‘s website.

Parents in Utah have started the Utah Mandarin Immersion Parents Council to support teachers, families and students across the entire state’s Mandarin immersion program, the nation’s largest. They’ve got a nice blog going, be sure to check it out. Families in other school district have also started groups, there’s a Fremont Mandarin Immersion Parents Council in California and a Houston Mandarin Immersion Parents Council.  Any others?

By Kami McMaster, Ridgecrest Elementary Council Representative

Recently, members of the Utah Mandarin Immersion Parent Council (UMIC) board met with officials from Canyons School District, the Utah State Office of Education and the Confucius Institute at the University of Utah. We were educated in detail about the guest teacher program and the state’s vision for language immersion. We will share details about the guest teacher program in a separate post. Meanwhile, here’s why I left thinking: our children are privileged to be part of something great.

Please read more here.