Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • NJ Mandarin charter not giving up – Gov. says charters (and Mandarin?) only for urban needy districts.

    Montclair Charter Founders Move On; Maplewood Charter Founders Give Up

    Quest founder says she needs feedback from the community

    PHOTOS (1)
    Acting NJ Commissioner of Education Christopher Cerf.
    VIDEOS (1)
    Montclair resident Stan Karp speaking at Friday's anti-charter rally in Maplewood

    Although the media has reported that the founders of the Hua Mei Charter School in Maplewood have decided not to apply a third time to the state for approval, a founder of the Quest Academy Charter High School in Montclair said Thursday that she has not yet given up on the idea.

    The founders of Hua Mei had proposed a K-5 Mandarin-immersion charter school that would draw mainly from the South Orange-Maplewood and West Orange school districts — although spots could have been available for students outside of those districts if space allowed. The school would have opened as a K-2 school in 2012 and expanded thereafter.

    Please read more here.

  • Lake Oswego eyes K-5 Spanish now, Mandarin later

    BY REBECCA RANDALL

    The Lake Oswego Review, Feb 2, 2012

    Lake Oswego School Superintendent Bill Korach suggested planning for a K-5 Spanish immersion program to begin in the fall while keeping an expansion of the school district’s Mandarin immersion program on deck for now.

    “We are not positioned right now to do two languages,” Korach told the school board Monday evening. “I am not in any way suggesting that going for a Mandarin program is off the table, but it is more complex and has more challenges. Spanish language we can address and do it well.”

    “These two languages are quite different. The needs are similar in some ways but also quite different,” added Jonnie Shobaki, elementary education director.

    The board is scheduled to vote on the program on Monday, Feb. 13, along with a list of other changes, such as middle level schedule (see story this page), north side boundary adjustments, out-of-district transfer policy and school starting and ending times.

    Please read this.

  • Mandarin for Future Mandarin Teachers (MFMT) July 2nd – August 10th, 2012

    Mandarin for Future Mandarin Teachers (MFMT)

    July 2nd – August 10th, 2012

    Mandarin for Future Mandarin Teachers (MFMT) was established in 2006 through CI@CI, a partnership between China Institute and East China Normal University (ECNU). This summer program provides scholarships for a select group of pre-service and in-service Chinese language teachers to take professional development courses taught by distinguished ECNU professors who are leading scholars in their respective fields.

    The MFMT program offers:

    • • 4 Graduate-level Courses* ( 3 credits each)
    • • Chinese Cultural Immersion Excursions
    • • Chinese Classroom Visit/Observation
    • • Collaborative Cross-disciplinary Activities

    FREE Tuition and Accommodation

     

    Program Length: 6 weeks, July 2nd through August 10th, 2012

    Program Location: ECNU, Shanghai, China

    Early-bird registration**: by February 29th, 2012

    
Application deadline: by April 16th, 2012

    Registration Fee (non-refundable): $20

    Program Fee: $300

    For more information please contact confucius@chinainstitute.org or call 212.744.8181, ext. 115.

    *Chinese Phonology, Chinese Script, Chinese Grammar and Chinese Classical Literature

    **$20 registration fee is waived for early-bird applicants

     

    http://www.chinainstitute.org/education/for-educators/chinese-language-teachers/certification-program-confucius-institute/

     

     

     

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  • Santa Clara, Calif: Chinese Langauge Teaching Workshop

    Chinese Language Education and Research Center                                           

      加州中文教学研究中心
    2012 CLERC   Seminar & Workshop Series I 
    When  ­    时间

    Saturday

    February 25 ,  2012

    2:00pm – 4:00pm

    Where­­­­­­     地点

    CLERC Lecture Hall

    3000 Lakeside Drive,

    Santa Clara, CA 95054

    Contact   联系人

    Jessy Li

          Tel: (408)380-8088       

    Fax:  (408)380-8089

    jessy.li@nanhai.com

    http://www.nanhai.com
    主题：利用五件必要科技工具教中文

     Topic:    Five Essential Tools in Teaching Chinese 

     

    嘉宾学校：Moreau Catholic High School

    Guest school:      Moreau Catholic High School

     

    主讲人：  陈姮良

             中文数位教师协会会长 

    Guest Speaker: Henny Chen

    President of the Chinese Language Digital Teaching Association

     

    适合年龄：各层次的中文教师

    Audience:    Chinese Teachers of All Levels

     内容提要：

    来自旧金山湾区Moreau Catholic高中的陈姮良老师，多年致力于现代教育技术在中文教学中的应用研究，现在担任中文数位教师协会会长的职务。在本次讲座中她将着眼于迅猛发达的科技手段在中文教学中的普及运用，深入浅出地介绍五件必要且基本的科技工具在中文教学中的灵活应用，让与会的老师可以直接上手，快速掌握，并能设计出符合ACTFL World Language 21st Century Skills Map的教学应用课件，直接在中文课堂上使用。讲座内容实用性强，形式开放，是了解教育技术应用的好机会。

    本次讲座也将是CLERC搬迁到Santa Clara新址后举办的首场讲座。CLERC的新办公楼位置方便，装修雅致，设施现代。新的讲座大厅功能齐全，能容纳一百多位听众。

    欢迎对本次讲座内容感兴趣的老师来CLERC的新家参加讲座！

    讲座对公众免费开放。颁发培训证书。

    请点击下载 报名表 (Registration Form)

    报名截止日期：2012年2月22日

    Free Registration. Certificate of Attendance will be issued.

    Registration Deadline:  February 22th, 2012
    .

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  • Call for proposals: Immersion 2012: Bridging Contexts for a Multilingual World

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    University of Minnesota
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    Conference AnnouncementPlease Post/Distribute
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    Call for Proposals

    Fourth International Immersion Conference

    Immersion 2012:
    Bridging Contexts for a Multilingual World

    October 18-20, 2012
    Crowne Plaza St. Paul-Riverfront
    St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

    Featured Plenary Speakers

    Donna Christian, Senior Fellow, Center for Applied Linguistics, USA 
    Esther de Jong, Associate Professor, University of Florida, USA
    Tīmoti Kāretu, Executive Director, Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, New Zealand
    Roy Lyster, Professor, McGill University, Canada 
    Merrill Swain, Professor Emerita, University of Toronto, Canada

    Conference Description

    Language immersion education continues to evolve as a highly effective program model for launching students on the road to bi- and multilingualism and intercultural competence. School-based immersion programs commit to a minimum of 50% subject-matter schooling through a second, world, heritage, or indigenous language at the preschool and elementary levels with varying amounts of subject-based language learning support throughout secondary and post-secondary education. Program models include one-way world language immersion, two-way bilingual immersion, and indigenous/heritage immersion for language and culture revitalization. While each model targets distinct sociocultural contexts and educational needs, all embrace language, literacy and culture development through subject matter learning.

    Under the leadership of the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota (CARLA), the fourth international conference on immersion education brings these models together to engage in research-informed dialogue and professional exchange across languages, levels, learner audiences, and sociopolitical contexts.

    CARLA is currently seeking proposals for papers, discussion sessions, and symposia on aspects of language immersion education related to four conference themes:

    Theme 1:  Immersion Pedagogy and Assessment
    Theme 2:  Culture, Identity, and Community
    Theme 3:  Program Design, Leadership, and Evaluation
    Theme 4:  Policy, Advocacy, and Communications

    In addition to basic, applied, and evaluation research, conference organizers welcome a range of practitioner perspectives including immersion teachers, administrators, curriculum coordinators, parents, and specialists who work in immersion programs. Papers, presentations, discussion sessions, and symposia may report on data-based research, theoretical and conceptual analyses, or best practices in language immersion classrooms.

    Proposal Submission

    The deadline for submissions is March 2, 2012.

    For submission details see: http://www.carla.umn.edu/conferences/immersion2012/call.html
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    The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota houses one of several Title VI Language Resource Centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education to improve the nation’s capacity to teach and learn foreign languages effectively. CARLA supports a number of coordinated programs of research, training, development and dissemination of information relating to second language teaching and learning.

    CARLA emails are designed to give second language teachers and researchers current information on the programs and projects currently operating under the auspices of CARLA. You are also invited to visit the CARLA website athttp://www.carla.umn.edu/. For more information about all the Title VI Language Resource Centers, visit our joint site athttp://nflrc.msu.edu/.

    We hope that you enjoy receiving periodic updates from CARLA. We encourage you to share this email with colleagues who may be interested.  Anyone can sign up to receive updates from CARLA at http://www.carla.umn.edu/about/mlist.html.If you would like us to take you off the list, please e-mail the center at carla@umn.edu.

    Elaine Tarone, CARLA Director
    Karin Larson, Coordinator
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    Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA)
    140 University International Center • 331 17th Ave SE • Minneapolis, MN 55414
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    The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer
    Last modified: Friday, 27-January-2012.
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  • Utah leads the nation in Mandarin immersion programs

    Language immersion classrooms: Programs are popular, diligence translates to performance

    Published: Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 11:04 p.m. MST

    By Mercedes White, Deseret News

    Ms Alisa Wu’s third grade class in Sandy looks like any other classroom in the country. The desks are lined in neat rows. Brightly colored pictures of letters and vocabulary words decorate the walls. The students read aloud a story from a primer. When they finish, they are lead in a music lesson by their teacher.

    But this is no ordinary class.

    The letters that cover the walls are Chinese characters. The story the class reads, entirely in Mandarin, is about an important Chinese holiday. And the song the eight-year olds are singing is a Chinese translation of a “Party Rock Anthem,” a popular American song. Ms. Wu’s class is not completing a unit on China, nor is their interest in Chinese language and culture a passing phase. They are part of a Mandarin language immersion program at Lone Peak Elementary.

    Tanner Isom listens to first-grade teacher Yu-Pei Tan during Chinese immersion class at Lone Peak Elementary School.

    Tanner Isom listens to first-grade teacher Yu-Pei Tan during Chinese immersion class at Lone Peak Elementary School.
    Story graphics

    Wu’s class is part of a growing trend of language immersion classrooms. In 1981 there were fewer than 30 immersion programs in the country, today there are 448, according to a 2011 report released by the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), a non-profit organization that advocates for foreign language instruction. States like Minnesota and Utah are leading the way with 52 and 58 schools offering language immersion options. American students are being educated in Spanish, French, Mandarin, Japanese, German, Arabic, and Norwegian.

    Please read more here.

  • Oakland, CA. – New Mandarin-Immersion School Attracts Families from Albany and Beyond

    New Mandarin-Immersion School Attracts Families from Albany and Beyond

    At Yu Ming, 90 percent of the instruction is taught in Mandarin. A number of studies have shown that immersion is an effective model for language acquisition with benefits that extend beyond bilingualism, including improvements in subjects such as math an

    [Editor’s Note: Sarah Yang is an Albany resident who shared this story with Albany Patch. Her daughter, Alex, attends kindergarten at Yu Ming.] 

    School mornings for Albany resident Erin Coyne begin by cajoling her 6-year-old out of bed at 6 a.m. to get her in the shower, dressed, fed and to the San Pablo Avenue bus stop by 7:15 a.m. to catch the 72R to downtown Oakland.

    Coyne’s daughter, Myra, is a first-grader at a new public K-8 Mandarin-immersion school in Oakland Chinatown called Yu Ming Charter School, which begins its day at 8:15 and runs until 2:45 p.m.

    Had Coyne, a UC Berkeley Ph.D. student in Slavic languages and literatures, chosen to leave Myra in one of Albany’s highly regarded public schools, she could have gotten an extra hour of sleep. Yet Coyne and other Yu Ming families – including five from Albany – say they have chosen to make the trek because no other public school in northern Alameda County provides the opportunity to immerse their children in Chinese throughout the school day.

    Please read more here.