Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • iPad Mandarin story apps

    For parents with iPads:

    There’s an app that will read stories in Mandarin, with either simplified or traditional character subtitles. The apps are between $2.99 and 99 cents each. Great for car rides and a guilt-free way to let your kids get on the computer — they’re working on their Mandarin…

    They’re from Taiwanese educational software company 5Q Channel.

    To find them, type “5qchannel” in iTunes store to search them.

    There are two icon colors, blue is for apps using traditional Chinese characters, red for simplified characters.

    You can also find them at:

    http://www.5qchannel.com/ipad/indexs.htm

    or on Facebook(english) :

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chinese-Reading-Apps-on-iPad/134328633285931?v=wall

    Here are the simplified apps:

    1. Chinese Reading – Generous Grandmother and Evil Grandmother 善惡婆婆 :
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin) & traditional Chinese(with bopomofo)
    Release Date : Nov 14, 2010
    Price : $1.99

    2. Chinese Reading – The Tortoise and the Hare 龟兔赛跑
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin) & traditional Chinese(with bopomofo)
    Release Date : Nov 18, 2010
    Price : $0.99

    3. Chinese Reading – Frog and Sea Turtle 井蛙和大海龜 :
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin) & traditional Chinese(with bopomofo)
    Release Date : Nov 18, 2010
    Price : $1.99

    4. Chinese Reading – Bird Lifts the Sky 小鳥舉天
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin) & traditional Chinese(with bopomofo)
    Release Date : Dec 6, 2010
    Price : $0.99

    5. Chinese Reading – The Snake Deity 蛇神
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin) & traditional Chinese(with bopomofo)
    Release Date : Dec 6, 2010
    Price : $0.99

    6. Chinese Reading – Dragon Borrows Horns from Rooster 龙向鸡借角
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin)
    Release Date : Dec 23, 2010
    Price : $0.99

    7. Chinese Reading – Fox Borrowing the Awe of Tiger 狐假虎威
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin)
    Release Date : Dec 23, 2010
    Price : $0.99

    8. Chinese Reading – The Lamp Keeper 灯猴
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin)
    Release Date : Dec 23, 2010
    Price : $0.99

    9. Chinese Reading – Chinese Fables 1 寓言1：鹬蚌相争 + 没水的鱼
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin)
    Release Date : Jan 2, 2011
    Price : $0.99

    10. Chinese Reading – Nian is Coming 年来了
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin)
    Release Date : Jan 2, 2011
    Price : $0.99

    11. Chinese Reading – Peach Wood Charms 桃符
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin)
    Release Date : Jan 10, 2011
    Price : $0.99

    12. Chinese Reading – The Legend of the Lantern Festival 元宵节传说
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin)
    Release Date : Jan 10, 2011
    Price : $0.99

    13. Chinese Reading – The Timid Hare 胆小的兔子
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin)
    Release Date : Jan 10, 2011
    Price : $0.99

    14. Chinese Reading – To Stand by a Tree Stump Waiting for a Hare 守株待兔
    Language : simplified Chinese(with pinyin)
    Release Date : Jan 10, 2011
    Price : $0.99

    15. 中文动画书 － 六个新年动画故事 Six Stories of Chinese New Year
    Language : simplified Chinese
    Release Date : Jan 16, 2011
    Price : $2.99

    5Q Channel plans to have an iPhone app out in March.

  • Speaking 2 languages may delay getting Alzheimer’s

    Updated Feb 18, 2011 3:27 PM |

    Mastering a second language can pump up your brain in ways that seem to delay getting Alzheimer’s disease later on, scientists said Friday.

    Never learned to habla or parlez? While the new research focuses mostly on the truly long-term bilingual, scientists say even people who tackle a new language later in life stand to gain.

    The more proficient you become, the better, but “every little bit helps,” said Ellen Bialystok, a psychology professor at York University in Toronto.

    Much of the study of bilingualism has centered on babies, as scientists wondered why simply speaking to infants in two languages allows them to learn both in the time it takes most babies to learn one. Their brains seem to become more flexible, better able to multitask. As they grow up, their brains show better “executive control,” a system key to higher functioning — as Bialystok puts it, “the most important part of your mind.”

    But does that mental juggling while you’re young translate into protection against cognitive decline when you’re old?

    Bialystok studied 450 Alzheimer’s patients, all of whom showed the same degree of impairment at the time of diagnosis. Half are bilingual — they’ve spoken two languages regularly for most of their lives. The rest are monolingual.

    The bilingual patients had Alzheimer’s symptoms and were diagnosed between four and five years later than the patients who spoke only one language, she told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

    Being bilingual does nothing to prevent Alzheimer’s disease from striking. But once the disease does begin its silent attack, those years of robust executive control provide a buffer so that symptoms don’t become apparent as quickly, Bialystok said.

    “They’ve been able to cope with the disease,” she said.

    Her work supports an earlier study from other researchers that also found a protective effect.

    Form USA Today

  • MIPC meeting

    Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

    Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011

    6:00 – 8:00

    At Starr King Elementary School, 1215 Carolina Street, San Francisco

    Summer Camps 6:00 – 6:45:  Mandarin language summer camp information and presentation.

    Chinese 101 6:45 – 7:30: A little background for non-Chinese speakers to help understand the language our kids are learning.

    Committee Updates & Questions: 7:30 – 8:00

    – Middle School

    – Spring Chinese banquet

    – 5th grade China trip in 2012

    Come meet other parents from the Mandarin immersion program at Starr King and Jose Ortega, learn more about the program and the language and get involved.

    Paid child care & snack available: $10 per child. Email weise@well.com to sign up.

  • This is what science looks like in Mandarin

    2nd grade science project – volcanic rock types

    This is what my 2nd grader brought home from school today. It’s volcanic rock types from their science lesson. We figured out lava, tuff and what we think is igneous, but aren’t positive.

    What does your child’s homework look like? Send it in and we’ll post it!

     

     

  • Mandarin immersion – 7 new schools next year

    Mandarin immersion schools are popping up everywhere. Next year we know of new ones opening in the cities below. Are they all happening? Any others we don’t know about?

    Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)
    Cambridge, Mass.
    Alameda, Calif.
    Lake Forest, Ill.
    Barrington, Ill.
    Boston, Mass. (possible.)
    Burlingame, Calif (possible)

  • Double the number of students that can fit sign up for Mandarin in Vancouver

    High interest in Mandarin classes in Vancouver (UPDATED)

     

    By Janet Steffenhagen 16 Feb 2011 COMMENTS(5) Report Card

    Vancouver’s new Mandarin bilingual program has attracted almost twice as many students as it can accommodate.

    The program received 112 applications for 68 spaces – 22 in kindergarten, 22 in a K-1 split and 24 in Grade 1.

    Associate superintendent Val Overgaard told the Vancouver Courier the district expected a lot of interest. “We knew going into registration time that there were many interested parents as they had been calling to ask when the program would start,” she’s quoted as saying. “It’s good news to have such a large group of interested parents, and bad news that we will have to turn some away.”

    The program is expected to open in September at John Norquay elementary, where the district intends to add one grade each year. The only similar program is in Coquitlam, and demand there has also outstripped supply.

    For details on the alternative programs offered in Vancouver schools, go to the agenda for a Wednesday committee meeting and click on the District Specified Alternative Programs link. There are 23 such programs in secondary schools and six in elementary schools – not counting French immersion. Only Kitsilano secondary and University Hill secondary do not have district programs, although Kits has French immersion and University Hill offers a program in conjunction with UBC called University Transition.

    Read more here.

     

  • Get involved: Burlingame, CA Mandarin immersion program possible

    Dear parents and immersion advocates,

    I wanted to make sure you are aware that the school district in Burlingame, CA is actively considering implementing a Mandarin immersion program. The district recently started a Spanish immersion program that is thriving. This is the time to speak up in support of a new program. Some information is below.

    For continued updates and to connect with other families and advocates in the area, I recommend joining the Yahoo! group “burlingameimmersion.” I am the moderator, so just make a note that you saw this message, and I will approve your membership. (I will note that I no longer live in Burlingame – though I may move back for a program like this! – so I can’t answer questions directly, but there are people on that mailing list who can.)

    1. Burlingame School District will be opening a new school, probably in 2014-15. As the school board determines what type of school it will be, they are considering various possibilities including starting a second immersion program in Burlingame (Mandarin).

    2. The board welcomes input from the community on what type of school or what types of programs people would like in Burlingame.

    3. For those interested in or supportive of a second immersion program (Mandarin), this is the time to express their opinions by:

    (1) attending board meetings where Hoover/2220 Summit Dr. is being discussed – now through early to late March

    (seehttp://bit.ly/gyIZNp for meeting agendas);

    (2) contacting the District Office and/or Board members to express opinions (e-mail/letter is the easiest to share).

    Contact information can be found here:

    http://bit.ly/f5VEIY

    Xie xie,

    Julie