Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Letter to the Editor: Immersion makes a school district stand out

    Immersion decisions a concern

    BY MARTIN L. JACOBS

    , Feb 23, 2012 (2 Reader comments)

     

    I am writing this because I am concerned about the Lake Oswego School Board’s decisions about language immersion programs in the Lake Oswego schools.

    We moved to Oregon in 1965 with four small children. When we came to the area we spent time searching for a home. Concerned about good education and learning that the Lake Oswego school system was considered the best in the area, we bought our home on Glen Eagles road. We paid about 20 percent more than if we had bought a house elsewhere, but education was important to us.

    All four children went to Uplands, Lake Oswego Junior High and Lake Oswego High schools, receiving excellent educations, going on to Brown University, Boston University, College of the Pacific and OHSU School of Nursing.

    I have interviewed students for college admission and worked with Brown admissions officers for many years. I know their respect for L.O.H.S. and how that influences their decisions. It would be unfortunate if that advantage were lost to our graduates.

    My concern is that the Lake Oswego schools could be losing their reputation as the best in the state. Other nearby school systems are now offering immersion programs, while we dither and delay. First “we don’t have the time,” then “we don’t have the funds.” These are excuses. As a businessman, I know that you make time to do important things. No excuses! After vacillating, the school board has now approved a Spanish immersion program. They found the time and money to do that. A good decision.

     

    Please read more here.

  • Chinese Language opportunities

    From the  Chinese Language Initiatives Team
    Asia Society

    News and Opportunities from the Field

    2012 National Chinese Language Conference: The program and speaker line-up is now online! This year’s NCLC will be packed with expert and helpful sessions on immersion and early Chinese language learning, technology and innovation in language education, arts and culture, plus networking opportunities and a very special performance by I SING BEIJING. Don’t miss out on the popular school visits and preconference workshops – they’re filling up fast! > Visit: www.AsiaSociety.org/NCLC

     

    The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) 2012 Summer Institutes: Online registration is now open for the CARLA summer institutes for immersion teachers and for language teachers. > Learn more.

     

    Call for Proposals: The Fourth International Immersion Conference, “Bridging Contexts for a Multilingual World,” will be held in St. Paul, MN, October 18–20, 2012. CARLA is currently seeking proposals for papers, discussion sessions, and symposia on aspects of language immersion education related to four conference themes: Immersion Pedagogy and Assessment; Culture, Identity, and Community; Program Design, Leadership, and Evaluation; Policy, Advocacy, and Communications. The deadline for submissions is March 2, 2012. > Learn more.

     

    Intensive Summer Language Institutes (ISLI) provides fellowships for U.S. classroom teachers to spend six weeks overseas studying intermediate and advanced-level Chinese in Changchun, China. Current K–12 teachers, community college instructors of Mandarin Chinese, and students enrolled in education programs who intend to teach Chinese can apply. All travel and study-related costs are fully covered. Application Deadline: March 2, 2012 > Learn more.

     

    Technology and Chinese Language Teaching (TCLT7) Call for Papers: Co-sponsored with Hamilton College, the National Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) and the National Resource Center East Asia (NRCEA) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa will host the 7th International Conference and Workshops on Technology and Chinese Language Teaching in the 21st Century (TCLT7) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Conference dates: May 25–27, 2012 > Learn more.

     

    Call for Abstracts: The first Maryland International Conference on Chinese as a Second Language will be held at the University of Maryland, College Park, November 11–12, 2012. Any papers related to the learning and teaching of Chinese as a second language are welcome. Abstracts due May 31, 2012. > Learn more.

     

    Summer Study in China: China Institute is pleased to announce that its SSC program will offer two sessions this year: SSC-Beijing and SSC-Shanghai. Both sessions, in addition to employing an intensive language-learning curriculum that covers the equivalent of at least one year of high school-level Mandarin, seek to provide students with the tools necessary to fully contextualize their diverse experiences abroad. The programs will run for 4–5 weeks between the dates of July 5 and August 11. > Learn more.

     

    Workshops for Language Educators. Online registration is now open for the 2012 Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research (CALPER) workshops at Penn State. Workshop dates: July 16–25, 2012 > Learn more.

     

    Landon-in-China, a four-week cultural and linguistic immersion program, is built upon the long relationship between the Landon School (Bethesda, MD) and its three sister schools in Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai. The program is open to students in rising 9th grade and above and will take place July 20 to August 17, 2012. No prior knowledge of Chinese is required. > To learn more, visit Landon-in-China or e-mail Dr. Dali Tan: dali_tan@landon.net

     

    
In the Media

    Back to School for U.S. and China VPs

    U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited Asia Society’s International Studies Learning Center in Los Angeles on the last day of the Chinese official’s U.S. tour. Read more about their visit and the so-called ‘knowledge imbalance’ between the U.S. and China.

     

    Taking the World by Linstorm (or, 林风暴)

    English speakers aren’t the only ones obsessed with punning on NY Knicks player Jeremy Lin. See the top 5 Jeremy Lin puns in China and Taiwan.

     

    OMG! What an Opportunity!

    Have you heard of Jessica Beinecke, also known as Bai Jie, also known as the peppy, Mandarin-fluent host of Voice of America’s “OMG! 美语”? If not, head on over to The Atlantic to learn more about her career path – from studying Chinese at Ohio University, Middlebury College, and in China, to hosting a monthly travel show which became a popular daily online show – as well as her tips for students learning Chinese. In this short video, she explains how “OMG! 美语” is a platform for encouraging cross-cultural conversation.

     

  • Dr. Myriam Met speaks on Mandarin immersion in SF

  • Come work in Sunny San Francisco!

    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 and looked at our playground. It was full of happy kids playing soccer, four-square, jumping rope and playing a little football. There were plenty of school staff overseeing the games, and knots of parents stopping to chat here and there. The sun was warm, there was Aretha Franklin streaming off the sound system and I just had a total California moment – what a wonderful school community we have!

    Our San Francisco Mandarin immersion program exists in three schools, Starr King Elementary, Jose Ortega Elementary and Aptos Middle School. We’ll be hiring at all three schools next year. So if you, too, want a part of our California Dream, consider attending the San Francisco Unified School District’s networking night next month.

    Beth Weise

     

    Upcoming Career Events

    SFUSD Bilingual Assessment & Networking Night

    Thursday, March 15, 2012 from 3pm-6pm

    If you currently hold or are in pursuit of BCLAD certification in Cantonese, Mandarin, or Spanish, we invite you to attend the Bilingual Assessment and Networking Night.  This event is a wonderful opportunity to set you up for success in obtaining a position in bilingual education for the 2012-13 school year.  You will be able to:

    • Hear from our English Learner Support Services Department about our District’s Language Pathways and opportunities for teaching;
    • Demonstrate your language proficiency through a written and oral assessment;
    • Meet SFUSD school site administrators and discuss potential vacancies at their schools; and
    • Speak with Human Resources staff who will be on hand to answer questions about our application and hiring process.

    Important please note: we expect every attendee to have begun an application for employment with the District at www.sfusd.edu/jobs.

    To attend, RSVP here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BilingualEvent .

    For more information about our various language pathways, please see our program guide at http://www.sfusd.edu/en/programs/english-language-learners/overview.html.

  • Calgary: Immersion involves more than just becoming fluent – there are numerous other aspects, say experts

    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 observations Aidan Fridman has made during a year-long university exchange to Avignon, France, where half of her classes are in Spanish and the rest in French.

    It’s an experience the 20-year-old University of Victoria student likely wouldn’t have had if not for the extensive language immersion she had in her childhood.

    After attending French immersion in elementary school at the Lycée Louis Pasteur, Fridman enrolled in Webber Academy in Grade 4, where she learned Mandarin, continued her French and became fluent in Spanish.

    Read more:http://www.calgaryherald.com/Speaking+language/6196042/story.html#ixzz1nDujUD00

  • Making Mandarin reading relevant

    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 of Beijing and returned to tell the class about it, what do you think they would talk about the most? Would it be the Great Wall and the countless museums, temples and shops that the average tour guide takes everyone to, or would it be that great evening when they got lost in a 胡同 and ended up having a great conversation with a guy everyone called 老板 in a little restaurant that had a seating capacity of about 25 people?

    It is time to get your students off the tour bus and into that restaurant (without ever leaving the classroom). Reading will accomplish this. People who can’t read are limited in several ways. When people meet socially the conversations are usually about hobbies, interests and current events. That sort of communication is fun but it isn’t a great way to expand a student’s vocabulary. Words that don’t occur in common conversation far outnumber the word list of “daily activities” lessons.

    I propose two kinds of reading to get students excited about taking their Chinese to a new level. First, reading story books enhances fluency, increases vocabulary and helps students develop a sense of the culture. Second, create a real cultural element in your class by using internet articles and blogs. Reading will make the language relevant to students’ lives and create enthusiasm for advancing their language level.

    Please read more at The Mandarin Center here.

  • Milwaukee’s excellent immersion programs face severe budget cuts

    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 in France is growing dramatically,” Anthony Chaumuzeau, cultural counselor of the French embassy in China, told Beijing Today last year. “They go there to study not only history and language but also for an understanding of what’s happening economically and politically.” Chaumuzeau estimated that the number of Chinese students in France would likely exceed 50,000 by 2015.

    Chinese students aren’t just learning French. The number who are coming to the United States and gaining fluency in English is also skyrocketing. (Nearly 160,000 Chinese students enrolled in U.S. colleges in 2010, an all-time high, up 23% from the year before.)

    One thing is clear. China recognizes that we are all competing in a global economy. But do we recognize it? Forget about the rest of the nation for a moment. What have we done in Milwaukee to ensure that children from Washington Heights to Walker’s Point are armed with a foreign language arsenal? Or, at the very least, an international perspective?

     Please read more here.