A nice info graphic.

I speak Swedish, which is in the easy category. Oh well.

See the story and graphic here.

Encourage your principal/teachers to fill out the survey listed below. It’s crazy that so many of our programs struggle to reinvent the wheel so sharing curriculum that’s been developed for Chinese and Common Core only makes sense.

Though those of you from schools that are part of the national Flagship-Chinese Acquisition Pipeline are ahead of the game here and don’t need to, F-CAP is already doing that sharing and it’s a beautiful thing.

The Chinese Early Language and Immersion Network CELIN and F-CAP both support immersion programs and are huge helps as we move forward. Encourage your teachers and staff to find out about what these networks offer and make use of their expertise!

–Beth

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CELIN Connection

• Important resources on early Chinese language learning and immersion programs.
• Four presentations given at the 2014 ACTFL Convention and World Languages Expo in San Antonio, November 21–23. Presenters discuss key issues in the field of Chinese language education: lessons learned by experts in the field, the vitality and sustainability of Chinese heritage language schools, and uses of digital technologies and selection of instructional materials to promote student engagement and learning.

Also take a look at the Study Abroad pages in Ask the Experts, where you’ll find detail-rich student and teacher testimonials, and inspiring photographs (such as this image to the right—courtesy of the Chinese American International School in San Francisco).

CELIN has received numerous requests for information about curricula used in Chinese language education. Therefore, we decided that this will be one area of our focus this year. We’re conducting a survey of curricula that are used in Chinese language education and that educators need. Can you please take five minutes to complete this survey? This is an ongoing project, and we will be sending out information as we proceed. Stay tuned to find out what we are learning!  –Shuhan Wang and Joy Peyton

Utah language immersion teachers in short supply
WEDNESDAY , JANUARY 28, 2015 – 1:45 PM
“Elise Taylor and Jake Beus, from the U.S. Institute of languages, pack software into boxes for…

By Dana Rimington

Standard-Examiner correspondent

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It is no easy task getting dual immersion teachers for the Spanish, Chinese, or French programs for the 11 elementary schools in Davis School District, four elementary schools in Weber School District, and two elementary schools in Ogden School District with immersion programs.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there says Davis School District Elementary World Language Supervisor Rita Stevenson as immersion programs across the state vie for the few teachers who do graduate from local universities with majors in Spanish, French, or Chinese, or education graduates who are native speakers of those languages.

“It is nice when we can find them, but the biggest problem is that local universities are not producing enough teachers through the education program to fill our needs,” Stevenson said, so they find guest teachers from host countries through the state office of Education.

However, for teachers coming from other countries, it is a long process. Nereida Lõpez, who is from Spain teaching kindergarten dual immersion at Lincoln Elementary, began the process a year before she began working in the U.S. in the fall of 2013. Lõpez had to go through a series of paperwork and interviews with her host country, all using her own funds.

Please read more here.

A new study out finds that kids being read aloud to helps their reading overall. Sometimes parents with kids in immersion worry that their teachers shouldn’t sell be reading aloud to kids in upper grades. But it turns out getting read it helps reading overall. A key quote:

But reading aloud through elementary school seemed to be connected to a love of reading generally. According to the report, 41 percent of frequent readers ages 6 to 10 were read aloud to at home, while only 13 percent of infrequent readers were being read to.

Study Finds Reading to Children of All Ages Grooms Them to Read More on Their Own

Cue the hand-wringing about digital distraction: Fewer children are reading books frequently for fun, according to a new report released Thursday by Scholastic, the children’s book publisher.

In a 2014 survey of just over 1,000 children ages 6 to 17, only 31 percent said they read a book for fun almost daily, down from 37 percent four years ago.

There were some consistent patterns among the heavier readers: For the younger children — ages 6 to 11 — being read aloud to regularly and having restricted online time were correlated with frequent reading; for the older children — ages 12 to 17 — one of the largest predictors was whether they had time to read on their own during the school day.

Please read more here.