We know how successful and pioneering CAIS is in bringing Mandarin education to San Francisco, but the first Mandarin Immersion offered by SF's own School District at Starr King Elementary two years ago is also considered a raging success, as reported by the Chronicle. It not only helps prevented Starr King from closure, but also succeeded in bringing Mandarin to non-ethnic Chinese families.
And, with just three days left of first grade, the students are jaw-droppingly proficient in Mandarin - reading and writing characters, speaking and listening during long conversations with their teacher, and giggling over jokes incomprehensible to non-Chinese speakers.
College bound juniors and seniors! We have good news for you. President Bush signed into law the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which will increase the Pell Grants for rigorous high school programs of study, or who are majoring in math, science, engineering, or, you guessed it, critical foreign languages (that means Chinese, Arabic and Korean).
From the White House Website:
Today, President Bush signed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, which will make college more affordable for low-income students by increasing funding for Federal Pell Grants by more than $11 billion. The Pell Grant program helps ensure low-income students have access to higher education by providing need-based grants to help students meet education costs. The bill the President signed today will expand this program by increasing funding for Pell Grants by $11.4 billion over the next five years and allowing the maximum Pell award to increase from $4,310 in 2007 to $5,400 by 2012.
The College Board actually has a sample 2-semester syllabus of a Chinese program free for download on its website, which is probably helpful for you to construct your own curriculum. We're happy to point out that two China Books publications are referenced in it. Jeannette Faurot's Gateway to the Chinese Classics, and Carol Stepanchuk and Charles Wong's Mooncakes and Hungry Ghosts: Festivals of China. We also carry some of the other titles mentioned, such as Common Knowledge about Chinese Culture.
See, China Books takes care of you and your students and their grades.
I'm a children's librarian at a public library. I have a fair amount of Chinese language patrons who want there children to read classic Chinese literature in Chinese. I'm having a very difficult time finding such books rather than English storybooks that are translated into Chinese. Can you recommend any Chinese language books that are considered classics?
-Sarah, Cranton MI
Recently, to help guide educators, librarians and parents to exactly the books they want for their children, China Books has coded all of our books by age level, Chinese reading level and whether a book is in English only, Chinese only or is Bilingual. All of these logos are on the description of the book (an explanation of all the logos are here if you feel confused).
We have several offerings of children’s books telling traditional Chinese stories (more will be available in a few months, so keep checking back), I’m referencing the most popular book in the series, the rest can be seen by scrolling down to the bottom of the page.
As for books that are all in Chinese which would be great library resources, all of our Chinese only books can be seen here. I would particularly recommend the books below for their universal appeal, uniqueness and high quality. (China Books is constantly looking for new books like these, so if any of you teachers/librarians are in China and you find something fabulous, please email teachers@chinabooks.com and let us know what they are, so we can source them for other people.)
What's all the FLAP about? That's right, FLAP (Foreign Language Assistance Program). It's new federal funding, that offers three year grants to K-12 public schools if they are establishing new language programs or expanding existing language programs.
The focus is on establishing teaching standards and state requirements for particular languages. For more information, please click on the link above.
The Asia Society has just launched a website to bring Asian content to all American kids. There are games, stories, geographical exploration, arts and Asian language learning sections all geared for the half-pints among us. Fun fun fun!
A cute story about a cute little kid learning Mandarin in an immersion program from SF's Starr King Elementary. Increasingly people from ethnicities other than Chinese and white are taking Mandarin classes as they too can see how they can leverage the knowledge and prepare for the future.
The STARTALK 2007, a National Security Language Initiative administered by the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland, will provide summer programs in Arabic and Chinese for high school students, and professional development programs for prospective and current teachers in K-12 public and private schools, heritage language schools, and community college and university faculty members. Thirty-four institutions from twenty-two states and the District of Columbia will host these programs. Here is a complete list of the Chinese Summer Programs. These programs vary in content, format, venue, admissions requirements, and cost. Many of them will enable participants to earn academic credit.
In light of the increasing number of area Chinese families that originated from mainland and higher demand from parents who want their children to learn the writing system that is used in China, Pomona Valley Chinese School, which has been teaching Chinese using the Traditional system until now, is switching over to the Simplified system this year. This definitely shows where the market is going, and the article covers a few different areas of consideration when schools start a new Chinese program.
"'In my conversations with a lot of school administrators in California, when we talk about Chinese language programs, in their head they think about Chinese students... They think of Chinese as a home language ... but not necessarily as an additional offering in the world language curriculum.'"
Massachusetts approved the establishment of the state's first Chinese immersion charter school last month, soon joining the list of 12 public and private schools across the country. All told, there are at least 27 states offering Chinese classes in various school levels.
Students of Chinese programs hosted a Chinese New Year parade for other students and parents at a Philadelphia school, complete with lion and dragon dance, songs and drums, banners and clothings and decorations. Sounds so much fun. It is definitely a very exciting way to motivate students to learn not only about the language but also the culture and other traditions. And the students can show what they have learned.
While this article adequately covers the news that teachers from China have been sent to teach Chinese classes in Maryland schools among other areas, it has also successfully listed most of the reasons why some people are against the inclusion of a Chinese language program. Introducing a new language is never a simple thing, huh?
If the Asiapac books we carry are any indication, Singapore is the most enthusiastic place in learning Chinese outside of greater China. In fact, many Singaporeans I know speak perfect Mandarin and Cantonese (and Malay and English). Their Chinese education program must be doing something right. Reading theater, interactive classroom atmosphere, and using pop songs in teaching? Makes me almost want to go back to school. Almost.
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