Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Orange County to get its first Mandarin immersion school

    District to Develop County’s First Public School Mandarin Language Immersion Program

    Trustees Approve Proposal to Offer World’s Most Spoken Language

    Students in the Capistrano Unified School District will be able to learn the most spoken language on the planet, the Board of Trustees decided at its meeting on Monday night.

    District staff will create a Mandarin Chinese immersion program, the first in an Orange County public school system, and one of about 80 nationwide, in time for the 2012-2013 school year.

    “A challenging economic environment is no excuse for not being able to offer new and innovative educational programs requested by our community,” Board Clerk John M. Alpay said. “There is intense demand for this language, and in an era of school choice and competition, our ability to offer this program to our families reaffirms this District’s status as an innovative provider of quality education. Again, Capistrano Unified is demonstrating that it is capable of providing the education necessary for its students to succeed in a global marketplace.”

    While English is the language spoken by academics, businesspeople, aviators, and other global professionals and is the world’s third most popular language, Mandarin is the world’s most spoken language with more than one billion speakers. The program has proven to be welcomed by parents countywide, with 165 families having committed their students to attend the program.

    “The third pillar of the District’s strategic plan is academic achievement and enrichment. Adding this program fits right into the vision for helping student become successful in both college and career,” Trustee Anna Bryson said. “Allowing students this intense language focus will ensure that they are bilingual and biliterate when they graduate, which gives them an advantage over many of their peers who will not have this opportunity.”

    Students who choose to attend the program would begin in kindergarten or first grade with 80 percent of instruction taking place in Mandarin. The program will be phased in with kindergarten, and, if feasible, first grade. The program will be placed at an existing school site, and utilize the same open enrollment policies currently in place for the District’s highly successful Spanish two-way immersion programs.

    For more information on the Mandarin immersion program, please contact Amy Bryant, director of curriculum and instructional support, at (949) 234-9254.

  • The Mandarin Institute’s latest newsletter

  • 2011 Chinese Language Education Forum, Nov 12-13, San Francisco

    Chinese Language Education & Research Center
    Chinese Language Education and Research Center                                           

      加州中文教学研究中心
    2011Chinese Language Education Forum

     ( CLEF ) 
     

     

     
                            November 12 – 13

                Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport

                            http://www. go-clef.org

    It is time to Register!
     Don’t miss your chance to network with Chinese teachers from all over the world! 

    You are invited join us NOW for the 2011 Chinese Language Education Forum.

    This year’s conference saw an unprecedented number of proposals resulting in some of the selection of an exceptionally strong slate of presentations representing the latest innovations in Chinese Language Education. After receiving more than 400% more proposals than one year ago, our agenda is exciting and timely, representing broad perspectives from Mainland China, the US, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Europe, Africa, and South America. With such expertise to draw from, we feel it is not hyperbole to say this should be an event not to be missed by those wishing to learn from and network with some of the most renowned leaders in the field.

    The registration deadline is fast approaching! Early Bird registration for 2011 CLEF will end on September 30th. You can register NOW for only half the price of regular registration.

    About CLEF

    Chinese Language Education Forum (CLEF) is the continuation and development of the previous biennial Conference on Chinese Language Education in the US West Coast. The past 14 years since the inception of conference in 1997 have witnessed rapid expansion both in terms of academic quality and scale, reaching far beyond the geographical boundary of the US West Coast. Therefore, starting from 2010, the biennial conference will be changed into an annual event to be held on the 2nd weekend of November under the new name of Chinese Language Education Forum.

    The Forum is to build up an exchange platform for policymakers, educational administrators, K-16 teachers, heritage language instructors, and product and service providers in the field of Chinese language education. The Forum will also highlight a comprehensive Chinese Language Materials Expo.

    Hosts & Collaborating Organizations

    Chinese Language Education and Research Center (CLERC)

    The Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University

    UC Berkeley STARTALK Teacher Program & National Center for K-16 Chinese Language Pedagogy

    Thanks to the following collaborating organizations for their participation and support of CLEF 2011

     

    Alameda County Office of Education

    Association for Modernization of Chinese Language Education Beijing Language and Culture University

    Beijing Normal University

    Chinese Language Teachers’ Association of Southern California (CLTA-SC)

    Confucius Institute at San Diego State University

    Cupertino Language Immersion Program ( CLIP )

    Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD)

    Hayward Unified School District

    Jinan University

    Peking University

    San Francisco Unified School District

    Confucius Institute at Portland State University

    Chinese School Association in the United States

    Keynote Speaker

    Professor B. Kumaravadivelu       San Jose State University

    Guest Speakers

     

    Feng, Shengli      冯胜利  The Chinese University of Hong Kong

    Han, Zhaohong    韩照红  Columbia University

    Hsin, Shih-Chang  信世昌  National Taiwan Normal University

    Lu， Jane            杨静悦  Confucius Institute in Chicago

    Zhang, Hesheng   张和生  Beijing Normal University

    Zhang,Ying         张英     Peking University

    Registration Fees

    Early Bird   (by 09/30/2011)               $60.00

    Regular      (after 09/30/2011)            $120.00

    Registration instruction and policy

     

    Registrations may be submitted online, by fax or by mail. Register Online: http://www.go-clef.org/en/register-online.php  Register by Fax: (650) 259-2108 Register by Mail: CLEF Registration, 510 Broadway Suite 200, Millbrae, CA94030

    Join us for the Second Chinese Language Education Forum, November 12-13, 2011, San Francisco, CA.  To learn more information, please check the website: http://www.go-clef.org

    Contact         Iona Zhang

    510 Broadway, Suite 200,

    Millbrae, CA 94030

    Tel: (650)259-2100

    Fax: (650)259-2108

    Email: ionazhang@nanhai.com

  • MIPC meeting: Wed. Sept. 21, 6:00 – 8:00

  • NJ Mandarin charter asked to clarify academics

    Charter Schools Clarify Academics

    State asks key questions to proposed Mandarin-immersion schools; decision expected in Sept.

     Charter schools were asked to clarify their applications in several key areas over the summer as they await a decision by the state Department of Education.

    The state’s charter school office has before it 55 applications for new charters, including two Mandarin-immersion schools that would recruit students from Livingston and neighboring districts. The decision is expected later this month.

    The proposed local charter schools were required to resubmit their financial statements and expand how they will assess academic success, according to addendas to their application posted on the Livingston Public Schools website. (See charter school informationhere).

    The questions are in line with new directions coming from acting education commissioner Chris Cerf, who last week detailed steps that are intended to improve the oversight of new and existing schools. (NJ Spotlight has that story here). The rules spell out what’s expected for charter schools in the areas of student performance and state tests.

    “We are committed to supporting the expansion of high-quality charter schools that serve unmet needs across the state,” Cerf says in the letter to charter leaders. “In return, we will require charter schools to demonstrate continuous academic achievement and a commitment to equal access.”

    Questions aimed at doing just that were asked of Hanyu International Charter School and Hua Mai Charter School, the two applicants who propose to open schools locally next year.

    Among the questions, Hua Mai is asked to clarify how it will measure proficiency for Mandarin language, and to clarify student progression grade by grade. Hanyu is asked how it will meet state standards in combination with Chinese instructions and evaluate teachers.

    Please read more here.

  • South Carolina’s first public Mandarin immersion school

    Does Your Child Speak Chinese? Maybe They Should…

    3:54 PM, Sep 15, 2011  |   

    Cayce, SC (WLTX) –  The relationship betweenChina and the United States continues to grow.

    According to the South Carolina Department of Commerce, in 2009 China bought about $869 million in goods from our state, making them one of the top five export markets for South Carolina.  The United States also competes with China for business. So what better way to work as friends or competitors than to know them?

    East Point Academy in Cayce is the first in South Carolina to offer a Chinese-language immersion program.

    Inside the school well-known songs, such as “It’s a Small World,” sound a little bit different because these kids are singing it in Mandarin.

    “We have students from all races, cultural backgrounds,” said director and founding principal Renee Mathews, “and it’s just a beautiful montage of children.”

    Mandarin is a form of Chinese and is spoken by more than 700 million people around the world.

    More of the story, and a video, here.

  • Tennessee may get Mandarin immersion school

    Williamson County schools set sights on developing bilingual kids

    School district considers K-12 language program

    1:17 AM, Sep. 12, 2011  |
    Maria Giordano | The Tennessean
    Kindergartners in Williamson County could soon be on their way to becoming fluent in a second language.

    It’s only a goal for now, but school officials in the district are working toward the idea and have narrowed down the language choice to Mandarin Chinese, German, Spanish or French. Ultimately, whatever is selected would be taught to students from kindergarten through 12th grade, much like students around the world are taught English as a second language.

    “We’re one of the only countries in the world where students don’t walk away from their school experience knowing a second language,” said Director of Schools Mike Looney. “We want to make sure our graduates are globally competitive.”

    The idea that high school graduates should be fluent in a second language was born out of several community meetings held last school year. Thousands of parents turned out for brainstorming sessions to create the district’s seven-year strategic plan.

    Time and time again, parents said they thought their children should be fluent in a second language, said Pat Anderson, school board chairwoman.

    But achieving the goal is turning out to be tricky. What language should they teach? How will it be implemented into the school day? What programs should they use? Anderson said there is a committee researching all the options, and Looney says it wouldn’t start until the 2013-14 school year.

    read more here.