One of the things I love about having kids in Mandarin immersion is that for us non-Chinese parents, our lives are deeply enriched by being welcomed into a world that we otherwise never would have been a part of, broadening our gaze in wonderful ways. My daughters did poetry recitation contests all through school, certainly not something I’d ever encountered growing up and yet an important part of Chinese culture. This story about YingHua students Melanie Tan and Malana Young gives a taste of that. Congrats to them!

KINGSTON NJ – YingHua International School (YHIS) elementary students Melanie Tan and Malana Young, both received 1^st place for two different events at the 45^th annual Association of Chinese Schools (ACS) conference.  The competition drew students of Chinese heritage from all over the northeast of America, from New England area to as far as Maryland and North Carolina.

Ms. Young proudly brought home the 1^st place prize for middle age student individual speech contest.  Ms. Young, 14 years old from Skillman, New Jersey was born into an English-speaking family with a diverse background.  Ms. Young started learning Chinese when she was four and joined YHIS, a Chinese-Immersion school, in second grade.  YingHua’s education has helped her learn to speak the language like a native.  To ensure her speech, “The secret of the statue”, was fluent with words pronounced clearly and smoothly, she practiced for weeks working closely with teachers at YingHua.

Please read more here.

 

 

I realize my only knowledge of Prince Edward Island comes from reading all the Anne of Green Gables books as a child (not a bad way to know a place, really.) I had no idea that it has had a huge influx of Buddhist monks and nuns. Now they’re opening an immersion school. That will give us five religious Mandarin immersion schools in North America, two Catholic – All Souls in Los Angeles and Maryknoll in Honolulu and two non-denominational – Reid Temple Christian Academy in Maryland and Zeeland Christian School in Michigan.  

Beth

New Chinese-English school planned for P.E.I.

Leader of P.E.I. monks, nuns behind new school launching next fall

The latest venture of the P.E.I. monks’ religious leader is a new, private school in which students will learn in both Mandarin and English, planned to open next fall.

Buddhist monks on P.E.I. have built extensive facilities on the Island, while at the same time an influx of Chinese immigrants to P.E.I. in the last few years means Mandarin is the main immigrant language spoken on P.E.I., as it is in the rest of Canada.

“If you’re interested in being a global citizen, it would be a language that would be very beneficial to you,” said Derek McEwen, the CEO of HOPE International Education Foundation, who will also be the school’s principal. McEwen worked as a teacher and principal for years and was director of English curriculum for P.E.I.’s Department of Education.

Please read more here.

For those of us not lucky enough to speak a language other than English, we must turn to immersion programs to have our children grow up bilingual. When I hear my daughters chattering away in Mandarin, I feel a wave of relief that all those nights arguing and crying at the dining room table over stroke-order homework were worth it.

This is a poignant essay about the silliness in this nation that we don’t encourage and enthuse over those who are naturally, effortlessly (at least on the part of the kids, the parents work hard at it!) bilingual or in this luck girl’s case, trilingual. And she appears to be in French immersion as well.

I hope it was only that the woman who confronted this mom was working from the old, now-disproved notion that speaking a language at home that isn’t the dominate language of the country somehow harms children.

It’s worth noting that the underlying studies that caused generations of teachers, doctors and experts to believe so were based on false premises. They come from work done in the United Kingdom in the early part of the last century.

Researchers tested children coming from homes where children spoke Welsh and Irish at home and English at school. They found that those students had less well-rounded vocabularies, and drew the conclusion that speaking another language at home harmed their language development.

What they were actually studying was poverty, though they didn’t think about it. Welsh families who still spoke Welsh and Irish families that still spoke Irish tended to come from poorer, less developed parts of the country (and we won’t even get into the history of that…) So the children came from poorer homes, worse schools and generally had fewer opportunities.

They didn’t think to do a similar study with English aristocrats who hired French- and German-speaking nannies for their children so they would speak those languages, which were tied to upper class culture and science.

For decades afterwards, social scientists believed that growing up bilingual was harmful. They were wrong. But it appears not everyone had gotten the update.

From the Los Angeles Times

 

 

 

DEBBIE BLANK

THE HERALD-TRIBUNE

Apr 14, 2018

The line was out of the gym doors for the first Mandarin Dual Language Immersion Family and Community Night April 12 at Batesville Primary School.

The event was planned by the parents of students enrolled in the program, now in kindergarten and first grade. Janie Linkel-Owens, a mother of two DLI students, explained, “We want to network and support each other as students, families, schools, companies and community.”

The evening opened with a few announcements. Linkel-Owens encouraged the families to attend an Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis Chinese Language and Culture Fair April 14. She pointed out students will get to practice their new language at a local business soon. Izzy’s at Hillcrest co-owner Adam Israel told her he will offer a menu in Chinese “as soon as the weather turns nice and he can open the patio. He’s planning on doing sushi.”

A parents’ directory was being created that night so they can communicate about homework, resources and other topics their children have in common.

Representatives of four area companies briefly discussed their dealings with China.

Hillenbrand director of communications and public affairs Tory Flynn reported the company has a major presence in China. “As we operate in a globally dynamic market, it’s really important” to have language skills. She supports the BPS program “based on our manufacturing footprint.” After visiting about seven activity stations, Hillenbrand global learning and development manager Ashley Glaub said, “This is fantastic. I think about my daughter’s future and what a wonderful opportunity for her.” Addison will start the program in the fall.

Please read more here.

Note that District 214 only offers regular language classes (i.e. an hour a day, teaching the language, not in the language) rather than immersion. In nearby Barrington, the immersion program has a waiting list.

District 214 schools move to end Mandarin language program, bucking national trend

 

The Northwest Chinese Academy is a K – 8 private Mandarin immersion school that until this year has been located in Beaverton, Ore. just outside of Portland, Ore. Beginning next year it will move to a new, expanded campus in nearby Aloha, Ore. Founded in 2008, the school’s move will allow it to double in size.

I’ve heard excellent things about the program, but some of the statements in the press release issued by the school about the move are perhaps due to excessive love on the part of the school community and might not be meant to be taken literally.

The Northwest Chinese Academy is not “a life changing education education not offered anywhere else in the nation,” if by that means the school offers a K – 8 Mandarin immersion program. There are at least 50 such schools in the United States. In fact, there are another eight that are  K – 12.

The release also states that it is “the only school in the nation to provide the highest level of Mandarin Chinese immersion…”

I don’t know what their scores are, but I’d wager that some of the more rigorous K – 8 Mandarin immersion programs nationwide are very likely in the same range, if not higher given that some are much older. For example, the Chinese American International School in San Francisco has been at it for more than 30 years.

No disrespect meant to a fine program but the language in the release might have been a tad overstated. But hey, having a school and parent community who love and treasure their program this much is indeed a gift beyond measure. That said, perhaps this is a bit of 画蛇添足 or gilding the lily.

From the local Beaverton Patch blog:

From Northwest Chinese Academy: The only school in the nation to provide the highest level of Mandarin Chinese immersion is moving to Aloha in July 2018 and expanding the number of entry slots available in preschool
and kindergarten.

Learn more about the school and meet parents, teachers and students at a end-of-school-year carnival, June 23, 2018, 11 am – 1 pm.

Northwest Chinese Academy (NWCA) purchased the current Faith Bible School campus in Aloha, Oregon. NWCA will be moving to the new campus this July 2018.

Located off of SW 170th and Tualatin Valley Highway at 16860 SW Blanton Street, Aloha, OR, the expansion has been a 10-year dream finally fulfilled.

“We are so excited to find our forever home. We love that our 3-acre campus is clustered near other schools like the International School of Beaverton and Aloha-Huber. The move westward will allow us to offer a Mandarin immersion education to the growing communities of Aloha and Hillsboro, while remaining very accessible to our Beaverton families,” says preschool parent and Advisory Board member Amber Guillory Richardson.

This move enables NWCA to double its capacity and provide up to 200 children with a life changing education not offered anywhere else in the nation.

More here.

A really nice video from Gwinnett County in Georgia about its dual language immersion programs (and thanks to Gregg Roberts of Utah for bringing it to my attention.)

The languages taught there are Spanish and French, no Mandarin (yet.) But it gives a nice feel of how it works. And in fact, it might help in convincing conflicted family members who can understand those language because seeing the students speak them is a little more accessible than Mandarin.

They’ve got one French immersion program, seven Spanish immersion programs and one Korean immersion school coming online next year.

Enjoy!