Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Drop-off in students studying Chinese in colleges

       Not to cast a pall over parents with young children in immersion programs, but it’s interesting to see what’s happening ten years down the academic line.
       That said, the world our children will find themselves is likely to be very different. If you have a first grader in Mandarin immersion today, they will graduate from college in in 2033 – and everything about today’s geo-security situation and economy will be different.
       And of course as we always say, there are multiple reasons why it’s a great thing to have bilingual children, even if they don’t ever work in China. So take this with a grain of salt but also realize that things change.
       – Beth
    April 15, 2017 11:00 am JST

    American students lose interest in China studies

    From: The Nikkei Asian Review

    Concerns about pollution, work opportunities take toll on enrollment

    PAUL MOONEY, Contributing writer

    Some observers say that study abroad programs in China need to address student demand for internships and work opportunities, not just focus on language and culture.(Courtesy CET Academic Programs)

    BERKELEY, U.S. – Early in his presidency, Barack Obama set a goal to vastly increase the number of Americans studying Chinese and taking part in academic programs in China.

    Eight years later, Obama is gone and so is much of the academic momentum. Though China looms ever larger in U.S. economic and security concerns, American universities are experiencing a decline in the enrollment in Chinese language courses and study abroad programs. The growing sense that work opportunities in China are harder to come by is compounding worries about pollution and other living conditions.

    Stanford University announced in January it would indefinitely suspend its undergraduate program in Beijing as of May. The school’s student newspaper reported that enrollment had fallen by around two-thirds from 2004 to just eight last year. The university had earlier merged its Chinese and Japanese language degree programs into a single East Asian studies course.

    Please read more here.

  • Principal named for new SF Bay area Mandarin immersion school

    Mr. Peterson reached out to me about how to find families and get them involved in the new school they’re creating in Contra Costa County (just north of Berkeley for you non-San Francisco Bay area folks.) I was quite impressed with his enthusiasm and awareness of the issues. It sounds like it’s going to be a good school. And again, kudos to the district for creating a whole school and not just a strand. That’s such a huge leg

    WCCUSD’s new Mandarin language school gets first principal

    March 30, 2017

    WCCUSD's new Mandarin language school gets first principal
    Eric Peterson, new principal of West County Mandarin School.

    Eric Peterson has been named principal of the West Contra Costa Unified School District’s (WCCUSD) new Mandarin language school that is set to open in August.

    Peterson currently serves as the WCCUSD Director of Special Education. Before that, he was the principal at Dover Elementary School in San Pablo.

    He is an award-winning educator with “a long history with the Mandarin language” and has experience building and sustaining bilingual programs, according to Superintendent Matthew Duffy.

    In 2011, Peterson was honored in a White House ceremony as a National Board Certified Teacher and is active in several professional organizations, including the California Association for Bilingual Education, the district said.

    Please read more here.

  • Workshops for teachers this summer

    There are several in Minnesota through CARLA, the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition.

    Make sure your administrators know about these. Link is here.

    Here’s CARLA’s general website for immersion programs.

     Summer Institutes for Language Teachers

    The CARLA summer institutes listed below are primarily targeted at K–12 and post-secondary foreign language and ESL teachers. They are not designed to meet the unique needs of immersion teachers. Please refer to the bottom of each page for specific information about the target audience. Please see the section below for immersion-specific institutes.

     July 10–August 13, 2017

    Location 
    Using the Web
    for Communicative Language Learning
       This is a 5-week ONLINE ONLY institute    		 " " Register Now! " " Online Only!

     July 10–14, 2017

    Location 
    Developing Assessments
    for the Second Language Classroom    		 " " Register Now! " " YMCA 3rd Floor
    1801 Univ Ave SE
    " "
    Teaching Heritage Languages
    and Learners    		 " " Register Now! " " Northrop
    Crosby Room
    " "
    Creativity in the Classroom

     

    		 " " Register Now! " " Nolte 140

     July 17–21, 2017

    Location 
    Using Technology
    in Second Language Teaching    		 " " Register Now! " " Jones 35
    Online option!
    " "
    Improving Language Learning:
    Styles- and Strategies-Based Instruction    		 " " Register Now! " " Nolte 140
    " "
    Teaching Language
    Through the Lens of Social Justice    		 " " Register Now! " " YMCA 3rd Floor
    1801 Univ Ave SE
    " "
    Using Authentic Materials to
    Develop 21st Century Literacies    —NEW!    		 " " Register Now! " " Nicholson 115

     July 24–28, 2017

    Location 
    Content-Based Language Instruction
    and Curriculum Development    		 " " Register Now! " " Nolte 140
    " "
    Culture as the Core
    in the Second Language Classroom    		 " " Register Now! " " YMCA 3rd Floor
    1801 Univ Ave SE
    " "
    Growing Learner Language:
    A Hands-On Approach    		 " " Register Now! " " Nicholson 115
    " "

     

  • The state of Mandarin Immersion in 2017

    By Elizabeth Weise

    Mandarin immersion programs in the United States continue to expand, with nine new programs scheduled to launch in the fall of 2017 for the 2017-2018 school year. For the coming school year, there will be at least 235 Mandarin immersion programs in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

    Here’s an update for the current State of Mandarin Immersion, based on the database of programs I maintain here. I have tried to keep it as up to date and accurate as possible, but if you find errors, please send me an email so I can correct them

    March 2017 Numbers

    Total schools as of the 2017-2018 school year          235

    New schools for 2017-2018

    Crest Elementary School Eugene OR
    Northern Hills High School Grand Rapids MI
    PUC International Preparatory Academy Los Angeles CA
    Fred Newhart Middle Schoo Mission Viejo CA
    Elementary 23 Overland Park KS
    Serra campus Richmond CA
    South Fork Elementary Rigby ID
    Desert Canyon Elementary Scottsdale AZ
    Mesa Elementary School West Covina CA

    School type

    Public                                                  170      72.3%

    Charter                                                25       10.6%

    Private                                                 40       17.0%

    What grades

    K – 5 or 6         149                  63.4%

    K – 8                38                    16.1%

    Middle school 35                    14.8%

    K – 12               5                      2.1%

    High School     7                      2.9%

    Middle + High School  1          0.4%

    TOTAL             235

    Percent Time in Mandarin 

    50/50                                      125      64.7%

    More than 60%                       65        33.6%

    80 and above                         59        30.5%

    Strand versus whole school

    Strand             164      84.9%

    Whole             29        15.0%

     

    Simplified/Traditional

    Simplified       162      83.5%

    Traditional      32        16.4%

    Programs by State:

    Of total, California is 24.6%, Utah is 19.1%

    CA 58
    UT 45
    NY 12
    AZ 10
    MI 10
    MN 10
    NC 9
    OR 9
    CO 8
    GA 8
    IL 8
    MD 7
    WA 7
    SC 5
    DE 4
    TX 4
    NJ 3
    DC 2
    IN 2
    MA 2
    OK 2
    AK 1
    FL 1
    ID 1
    KS 1
    LA 1
    MO 1
    OH 1
    RI 1
    WI 1
    WY 1

  • A nice news piece on Utah’s immersion program

    This highlights how immersion students end up with college language credit in high school – not bad for 15-year-olds!

  • Michigan Mandarin immersion program lets students earn Chinese minor

    Forest Hills Schools, WMU, agreement allows students to earn Chinese minor

    Monica Scott | mscott2@mlive.comBy Monica Scott 

    March 02, 2017

     

    GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Forest Hills Public Schools and Western Michigan University Extended University Programs entered into an agreement Thursday, March 2, that allows students to earn a full Chinese language minor along with their diploma.

    Officials say the “Collegiate Pathways” program launching the 2017-18 school year is the first of its kind. The dual-enrollment program will be at Forest Hills Northern High School.

    “This partnership with Forest Hills provides a model we hope will be used to deliver similar programs for other districts,” said Dawn Gaymer, associate provost for WMU’s Extended University Programs.

    Please read more here.

  • Some age-appropriate book recommendations in Chinese

    From our friends at PandaTree

    click here.

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