Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • 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/

  • Tucson Mandarin immersion school update

    VAIL – Students at Mesquite Elementary in the Vail School District are not just learning a new language, they’re being immersed in it. Every day, these K-2 children are being taught Mandarin, and learning about Chinese culture.

    “You can hear them count from one to a hundred in Chinese, without even a pause,” said Buni Becker, one of the Mandarin teachers at Mesquite Elementary.

    This is the second year of the immersion program at the elementary school, but funding could be a problem.

    “We’ve had to get creative on how to continue this. If we continue to have funding cut, the program will no longer exist,” said Diane Samorano, the principal at Mesquite Elementary.

    The kids in the program are even taught math and science in Mandarin.

    “It’s like fun because we get to learn about shapes and the calendar. Most of the days it was almost all Chinese,” said Zach Yiger, a first grader in the program.

    Please read more here.

  • Education Week: Dual language programs becoming popular

    Districts Diversify Languages Offered in Dual-Immersion

    Arabic, Vietnamese are latest offerings

    By 
    As demand for dual-language-programs surges around the country, school districts are beginning to offer students a broader array of target languages to learn.

    School leaders in New York City, the nation’s largest district, are expanding their dual-language offerings beyond Spanish and Mandarin to include Russian, Hebrew, Japanese, and Haitian Creole.

    The Houston school district opened an Arabic-language school this year, in part because the metropolitan region has seen its Arabic-speaking population spike in recent years.

    And in the Westminster, Calif., schools, the state’s first Vietnamese dual-language program opened in Little Saigon, a Vietnamese enclave in Orange County.

    For decades, a desire to preserve native languages has driven demand for programs. Economics also play a sizable role, with a growing number of states seeing foreign language as the key to accessing the global economy.

    Please read more here.

  • TV news segment on Wyoming Mandarin immersion program

    Paradise Valley Elementary students have begun their third year in the Mandarin dual language immersion program. Students who began in kindergarten knowing nothing, are now in second grade having conversations with each other in their new language.
    The number one rule in the classroom, no English allowed. Students only speak Mandarin as long as they’re in the program. If someone does speak English, students will say in Mandarin “No English, Chinese, go, go, go.”

    Please read and watch here.

  • Mandarin immersion programs aren’t the only ones that face push-back

    In some places, parents who want their district to open a Mandarin immersion program get push-back from residents who suggest it’s all being controlled by China or that Americans should only learn English or that it’s all part of some nefarious plot.

    I get a surprising amount of hate emails about how I must be a Chinese spy or in the pay of the Chinese (would that someone paid me for this work! It’s all just a labor of love) or simply hate America.

    Oddly, no one ever says these things about French immersion programs.

    Anyway, it’s instructive to remember that Mandarin isn’t the only language that seems to evoke hatred among some people. Best wishes to our friends-in-immersion at Houston’s new Arabic Immersion school.

    Beth

    Houston Independent School District opens new Arabic Immersion Magnet School

    HOUSTON — When you first walk into a classroom at the Houston Independent School District’s newest campus, it seems like any other classroom on the first day of school. But look and listen more closely, and you’ll realize this one is in a class of its own.

    “Parents are here because they chose to be here,” said Terry Grier, HISD’s superintendent.

    Grier was on hand for the Monday opening of HISD’s new Arabic Immersion Magnet School (AIMS), the nation’s first public immersion school for the Arabic language.

    District officials say 132 Pre-K and Kindergarten students from many different ethnic backgrounds were chosen through a competitive admissions process. They’ll spend half their day learning in English, the other half in Arabic, a language Grier hopes can eventually give students a competitive advantage in a global city and job market.

    Please read more here.