Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • Traditional versus simplified characters?

    A nice essay by a Mandarin-speaking parent (with a great blog!) on the issues around choosing between Traditional and Simplified characters.

    For most people it’s a moot point because you basically go with whatever your local Mandarin immersion school teaches and that’s the end of it, At this point, about 75% teach simplified, the rest Traditional.

    But useful for the non-Chinese speakers among us to have a sense of the broader issues, because it’s sure to come up at a PTA meeting at some point. Someone will raise their hand and say, “I just wondered if we could revisit how our school came to teach (insert Traditional or Simplified here) characters and whether we’d like to appoint a committee to further discuss the matter.”

    At that point, you should run screaming from the room…

    ===

    Screen Shot 2015-11-13 at 2.12.58 PM

    For those of you who do not know, there is a raging debate within the Chinese community about whether Traditional or Simplified characters are better and why. Some of it is due to political ideology, some based on preference, and some based on practicality. If you are really curious, may I suggest to you this link.

    It will be no surprise to many of you that I preferred Traditional Characters – and staunchly. However, as much as I personally prefer Traditional characters, that doesn’t necessarily follow that I think your child should learn Traditional. (Of course, it would benefit me if more folks chose Traditional because then there would be more materials easily available in the US, but that is an entirely different topic and not altogether germane to this particular discussion.)

    In true fact, my opinion on what people should choose has changed greatly. I find that the further along I am on this journey of teaching my kids to be literate in Chinese, the more nuanced and pragmatic my opinion becomes.

    Please read more here.

  • Portland study: Kids in immersion about a year ahead of non-immersion students

    Study: Portland Immersion Students Become Better Readers, English Speakers

    by  OPB | Nov. 6, 2015 12:59 p.m. | Updated: Nov. 6, 2015 4:10 p.m. | Portland

    Students in Portland’s language immersion programs become better readers than their counterparts in other schools, according to a new study called “Study of Dual-Language Immersion in the Portland Public Schools.”The RAND Corporation and the American Councils for International Education compared language immersion students with other Portland students from 2004 through 2014.

    Key Finding No. 1:  Students randomly assigned to immersion outperformed their peers in English reading by about seven months in fifth grade and nine months in eighth grade.

    Ten percent of students in Portland Public Schools are in language immersion programs. The programs are in a quarter of district schools, with potentially more on the way.

    Michael Bacon, assistant director of Portland’s dual-language programs, said the data show a statistically significant advantage in reading by fifth grade for students in language immersion programs.

    “Conservatively, it’s almost nine months – like a full school year of increased outcomes for kids,” Bacon said. “It’s across the board, whether if you’re an English-only kid, or a Spanish speaker, or a speaker of the partner language.”

    Please click here to read, and listen, to the story.

  • Houston, Texas Mandarin school won’t be a nice as promised

    PARENTS SOUND OFF ABOUT HISD BOND BUDGET SHORTFALL

    Parents sound off about HISD bond budget shortfall
    Voters passed the nearly $2 billion bond, but now the district says they’ll need millions of dollars more to build what they promised and parents aren’t happy about it.
    By 
    Tuesday, October 27, 2015 06:35PM
    HOUSTON (KTRK) —

    The team of experts Houston ISD assembled in 2012 to oversee the school bond program underestimated the cost of building new schools.

    HISD released documents Tuesday predicting a $212 million shortfall. HISD parents are worried they will not be getting the exact schools they were promised.

    Leslie Culhane has a son who attends HISD’s Mandarin Chinese Immersion Magnet School.

    “We chose the school because we thought it would be an amazing opportunity for him,” Culhane said.

    Now, she’s worried.

    Please read more here.

  • Austin, Texas Mandarin immersion going strong

    Note: A better translation of what the student says (加油!) would be “Give it the gas!”

    18,000 Central Texas children learn in dual-language classrooms

    Posted: 12:00 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015

    By Julie Chang – American-Statesman Staff

    About 20 first-grade students at Northwest Austin’s Doss Elementary School cheered their classmate in Chinese on Monday as he tried to remember Sunday’s date.

    “Add oil, Ben G.!” chimed the children in Chinese, using the common Chinese idiom to encourage him.

    +18,000 Central Texas children learn in dual-language classrooms photo
    RALPH BARRERA

    First-grade teacher Connie Soong begins a new school year at Doss Elementary with a Chinese immersion program for her students. The … Read More

    As the boy pointed to the 23rd on the calendar, students congratulated him, “Fei chang hao!”

    Although they went all summer without the intensive Chinese language training they had been receiving at Doss, students were barely rusty. They listened to their teacher Connie Soong speak only in Mandarin and easily answered her questions in the language.

    Doss, which expanded the dual language program into the fourth grade this year, reflects the growing emphasis of dual language programs across Central Texas. The Austin school district has 13,000 dual language students, and the rest of the region has about 5,000 more, with most of the growth happening over the past five years.

    Please read more here.

  • A more in-depth list of Mandarin immersion programs

    The great folks at CELIN, the Chinese Early Language and Immersion Network, have created a searchable listing of Mandarin immersion programs based on my spreadsheet and I wanted to make sure parents and programs were aware of this resource.

    CELIN is a project of The Asia Society and they’ve got a super helpful website.

    Their Directory of Programs is available here and includes information I don’t collect, such as the number of students and information about the curriculum. I encourage programs to visit the site and update their information there.

    CELIN was established to strengthen and expand Chinese language education in early childhood, primary grades, and immersion programs. With a focus on Chinese language education, we convene and work together with practitioners, researchers, policy makers, parents, and advocates for language learning across the United States and beyond.

  • 20 years in, a look at how students in Spanish immersion have done

    I realize this isn’t Mandarin, but as Mandarin programs are so new we don’t have a lot of long-term data. Spanish is more built out so we have a better sense of how it works. And it does work.

    -Beth

    ===

    Fri, Aug 21, 2015, 7:30 am

    Spanish immersion program marks 20th year

    Two decades later, first students reflect on how the Palo Alto elementary school program changed their lives

    by Elena Kadvany / Palo Alto Weekly

    First-grade teacher Angelina Rodriguez reads to her students in Spanish in their Spanish immersion classroom at Escondido Elementary School on Aug. 19. Lessons are taught 90 percent in Spanish and 10 percent in English in first grade at the school. Photo by Veronica Weber.

    One works on climate change in the White House. Another started a new job this week as an elementary school dual-immersion teacher. Another is a journalist; another is heading to Chile this fall for a physical therapy internship; and one now serves as program director for DreamCatchers, a local nonprofit that provides after-school tutoring and mentoring to low-income Palo Alto students.

    The common thread in these seemingly disparate career choices is Palo Alto Unified School District’s Spanish immersion program, from which all of these people graduated from many years ago.

    The program, which has been housed at Escondido Elementary School since the late 1990s, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this weekend. Students and families from the earliest cohorts of the program are returning from elsewhere in the state and country to attend the celebration, a testament to the deep impact and close ties the immersion program produced.

    The program’s earliest students, now in their mid-20s, all describe the program as having a lasting impact on their lives that went far beyond simply being able to speak a second language. It developed in all of them an appreciation of language, education and cultural differences that has played out in each of their lives in compelling ways.

    Please read more here.

  • Indiana to get first public Mandarin immersion program in 2016-2017

    BATESVILLE COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION RECEIVES GRANT FOR NEW DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PILOT PROGRAM

    Posted on: October 7th, 2015  by Batesville Schools

    BCSC is first ever Indiana public school district to offer students classroom immersion program in Mandarin

    Batesville Community School Corporation has been awarded just over $87,000 in grant funds to create a new dual language immersion pilot program focused on English and Mandarin Chinese. The district will be the first public school system in Indiana to create a curriculum that immerses students in the Mandarin and English languages.

    The grant, awarded by the Indiana Department of Education, enables BCSC to research and develop the pilot, dual-language immersion curriculum during this school year. It will be implemented in fall 2016 with kindergarteners at Batesville Primary School.

    The program enhances the district’s focus on Mandarin, a language growing in popularity in schools across the country. A course was added to the curriculum at Batesville Middle School in fall 2012 and to Batesville High School in fall 2014. Members of BCSC staff traveled to China over the past two years and hosted educators and students from the country as part of a “sister school” partnership program.

    “This is great news for our district, as it is part of our 2020 Vision to have all students learn a second language,” said Jim Roberts, BCSC superintendent. “We may be located in rural Indiana, but we are always thinking globally for our students. We believe it’s important to introduce diverse cultures to our students as we prepare them for a global workforce. The earlier we introduce foreign language to our students, the greater the impact it will have in their overall academic development.”

    The benefits of starting a dual language Immersion program for BCSC students go beyond just learning a second language, said Melissa Burton, BCSC director of student learning.

    “Students who learn a second language before adolescence have increased cognitive abilities in many areas including creative, divergent, and logical thinking, as well as improved overall verbal skills,” Burton said. “Students in a dual language immersion program develop a greater understanding of other cultures and approach issues from multiple perspectives.”

    Heather Haunert, principal at Batesville Primary, said the immersion program offers unique opportunities for students and the district. “We are hopeful this will be the start of an ongoing interest by our youngest students to learn a new language and our district can be a pioneer in the development of a curriculum in which other Indiana schools can utilize in the future,” Haunert said.

    The mission of Batesville Community School Corporation to educate all students in a tradition of academic excellence, preparing them for productive and responsible citizenship in a global community. For more information about BCSC, please visit our website: http://bcsc.batesvilleinschools.com/

    http://batesvilleinschools.com/news/batesville-community-school-corporation-receives-grant-for-new-dual-language-immersion-pilot-program/