Alice Boucher Elementary School offers Mandarin Chinese

Being bilingual will give children a better understanding of linguistics, give them a more worldly view in a changing international world and allow them to receive better jobs in the future, the panelists said.

"The benefits of immersion are great. Our immersion students usually do as well - but mostly better - than regular (education) students on standardized tests,"

About two dozen parents interested in enrolling their children in French, Spanish and the new Mandarin Chinese immersion programs attended the informational session Thursday at the Clifton Chenier Center.

Starting next year, Alice Boucher Elementary School will start offering Mandarin Chinese Immersion, which experts said could put children at a strong advantage in the future as China emerges as an economic leader.

Chinese for children features in North Carolina Innovation Day

Schools participate in Innovation Day
Three schools in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district will take part in a statewide Innovation Day program on Tuesday.

Carrboro Elementary School will be showcasing its Spanish Dual Language Program. Glenwood Elementary School will showcase its Mandarin Chinese Dual Language Program. McDougle Elementary School will highlight its SWIM approach to Positive Behavior Support.

Crescent School Okalhoma starts after school program for kids learning Chinese

18 November 2008
NEWS OK Oklahoman

With an eye cast toward the future, Crescent School officials hope a new program started this year will give their children the skills they need to compete in the 21st century.

The district has started an after-school program to teach first-grade students how to read and speak Chinese.

Three days each week, a teacher from the University of Oklahoma comes to Crescent to teach the children basic expressions — hello, goodbye — and other familiar words such as mother and father.

Eric Wood, a first-grade teacher at Crescent Elementary, assists during the afternoon programs. Wood said the young students have picked up the language with ease.

Garrison Sullivan, 6, said he likes the courses because he gets to "learn a new language.”

When asked whether learning Chinese was hard, his eyebrows furrowed as he thought about a response.

"No,” Garrison said. "It’s easy.”

Learning Early, Career Advancement, Teacher Scarcity, Mandarin across the World

English Dethroned as World Language?
By Laura Robertson
CBN News Reporter
November 6, 2008

CBNNews.com - English is the most spoken language worldwide, but it might not be for long.

Millions are calling Mandarin Chinese the language of the future.

One group of pre-kindergarten students in Washington, D.C. take the same classes as thousands of other students nationwide.

CHINA CONNECTION:
Learning Chinese from the Comfort of Your Computer
The big difference? When the boys and girls at the at the Yu Ying Public Charter School finish eighth grade, they will be fluent in Mandarin Chinese as well as English.

"One day they're learning everything through English," Sarah Harris, the school's principal said. "One day they're learning everything in Chinese, so it's a very compelling model for a lot of parents."

Learning Early

Harris said there are many advantages to learning Chinese at an early age.

"Children really do soak up languages when they're young," she explained. "They don't have a lot of preconceived ideas about language, so they really come to it in an open way. We've seen children just soaking up the language and applying it in more and more contexts."

According to school founder Mary Shaffner, it's not just the students who want to learn Chinese.

"We are going to start Chinese classes for our parents, which many, many parents have been chomping at the bit for," she said.

With China's expanding global influence, millions are eager to learn the language. In 2004, only about five thousand U.S. students between kindergarten and twelfth grade took Chinese. Last year that number had grown to nearly 50,000.

Mandarin Worldwide

It's not just happening in the nation's capital. By 2010, it's estimated more than 100 million people worldwide will be studying Chinese as a second language.

Many are learning at one of the more than 200 Confucius Institutes established by the Chinese government. The Insitutes are now in 66 countries advancing the goal of spreading the Chinese language and culture.

In Manila at the Ateneo de Manila University, Director Dr. Ellen Palanca said she believes the popularity of these institutes is a sign of China's development.

"Once a country becomes more developed then it tries to promote its culture and language through such an arm," Palanca explained.

More than 2,000 students have gone through the program since it started two years ago.

Former student Pia Lim Castillo uses Chinese in her job as a food and travel writer. She said the learning experience helped her connect with her Chinese heritage.

"It's my identity. I have to find my identity, not only as a person, but the culture I belong to," he said.

Career Advancer

Many believe the ability to speak Chinese will advance their careers.

"I see value in being able to converse in Mandarin with Chinese clients," Attorney Kenneth Chua said. "Since more and more Chinese have been coming to the Philippines, I see more of a market for a lawyer who can speak Chinese."

Paula Leal, a reporter for Spanish News Agency in Manila attributes the growth of Chinese language learning to China's growing economic opportunities and global significance.

"It is the country of the future," she said. "Because of that it is so important to learn Chinese, because a lot of people are talking' Chinese right now."

Thirteen-year-old Pearl Parel started learning the language when she was just eight years old while on a business trip with her father in Taiwan.

"He didn't have an interpreter so he asked me if I could study so I could be his interpreter," she said.

She and many of her classmates at the Quezon City Christian Academy in Manila say that knowing Chinese will be essential after they graduate.

"Learning Chinese will help me in my future career, because my father wants me to be an interpreter and I want to learn more about Chinese culture," Parel said.

Fifteen-year old Ardenne Chuat agrees.

"Learning Chinese right now would be a good opportunity for applying for jobs here in the Philippines," Chuat explained.:China is now expanding and people would want to have employees who know how to speak the main language of China.

Teaching Mandarin

Half way around the world in Panama, one legislator even proposed mandating Mandarin Chinese in public schools. But Fermin Tomas Chan, head of theSun Yat-Sen School where all students study Chinese, doesn't think the legislation will pass.

"It's so hard to get teachers to teach Chinese outside of China," Chan said. "If you want to make it nationwide, it's going to be almost impossible to teach. We have problems with English in Panama. What about Chinese?"

Despite the difficulty finding qualified teachers, the school has a long wait list because so many Panamanians want to learn Chinese.

Chan and many of his colleagues say that "in 10 years, Mandarin will be as important worldwide as English."

Others doubt that Chinese speakers will outnumber English speakers any time soon.

Dr. Palanca said she believes Chinese could possibly replace English "in the far future, maybe 50 years from now."

But she admitted that it's more likely that Chinese "will most likely not replace English, but there's a possibility that it can be on par with the English language as an international language."

Whether or not Chinese does become the main international language, people worldwide are excited to learn.

New International Immersion School in Atlanta

East Point may soon boast the greatest proportion of multi-lingual youngsters in the Atlanta area, once the Little Linguists International Preschool opens in the south side city.

Jackie Ubiles, the school’s founder and business manager, told GlobalAtlanta it will offer Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese classes to children under 6 years old when it opens Nov. 3.

It will operate as a full-time preschool, accepting infants as young as four weeks old. The school opens at 6:30 a.m. and will remain open until 6 p.m. to accommodate working parents.

Ms. Ubiles decided to open the school after she sent her 3-year-old to a traditional preschool and found he was reluctant to speak both English and Spanish, which her family uses at home, after school.

She added that studies show it is easier for people to learn different languages when they are very young, and some parents of the 20 children currently enrolled are happy to have a solid preschool option.

“I want my child to be multi-lingual, but the programs for children under the age of 3 are few and far between, especially full-time programs,” Ms. Ubiles said. “It’s hard just to have a quality preschool program, for many of our parents it’s an added plus that it’s multi-lingual.”

Secondary school was awarded for its outstanding work in languages including Chinese.

School is recognised for reaching across borders

24 October 2008
Miltoncross School in Portsmouth has received the International School Award at a high-profile ceremony in London, presented by broadcaster and journalist George Alagiah, pictured.
The secondary school was awarded for its outstanding work in bringing the world into the classroom though international projects.

Each tutor group is assigned a country and throughout the year undertake research on their country culminating in a school-wide competition and International Sports Day.

Other activities include work on music and art from other cultures, the International Food Club, Portsmouth Languages Festival, International Week, themed language days for French, German, Spanish and Mandarin, the Chinese Summer Fair and many trips overseas with aims linked to the curriculum.

Head teacher Niel McLeod said: 'We are very proud. We use our links with schools across the world to expand students' horizons. Our students quickly realise that their talents and skills have an appreciative audience not just in Miltoncross but across the world.'

Lacey-Mai Thornton, who's a pupil in Year 8, said: 'I came to this school because it's a language college and it's the only school in Portsmouth that does Chinese.'

The International School Award is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and managed by the British Council.

Queens School in Chester teaches Mandarin Chinese and wins award

Prestigious Mandarin Chinese language honour for Chester school

Published in the Evening Leader

Date: 22 October 2008
A LEADING Chester school has been recognised for its excellent work to promote the study of Mandarin Chinese.
A group of Year 8 pupils from the all-girl Queen's School, will now visit China at half-term to practise their language skills.

This comes after the school won the coveted accolade of being designated a Confucius Classroom by the Office of ChineseADVERTISEMENTLanguage Council International – otherwise known as Hanban and under the umbrella of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust's Confucius Institute.

Confucius Classrooms, named in honour of the celebrated Chinese thinker and philosopher, promote and support the learning of Mandarin across the globe. Only a handful of schools in the UK have been recognised in this way.

The school is celebrating being the only independent school in the North of England to have received the recognition

With more than 100 girls at Queen's already studying the subject as part of their curriculum, the school has also offered children from Chester primary schools the opportunity to learn the world's most widely-spoken language.

Pupils from Overleigh St Mary's in Handbridge, Upton Heath, Mickle Trafford, Christleton and Guilden Sutton enjoy a weekly after school club where they learn basic conversational Mandarin.

Isobel Jones, a pupil from Overleigh St Mary's Primary School, said: "I love learning Mandarin as the language is very interesting to listen to and speak." Fellow pupil Olivia McNee added: "Drawing the Chinese characters is fun too."

Queen's School headmistress Catherine Buckley said: "We are very proud to have been honoured by Hanban.

"Mandarin is a very significant world language, spoken by over one billion people and it will be a great advantage to young people in Chester to have an understanding of both the language and the culture which underpins it."

Troy School Experience Asia Project a huge success for children

Troy Messenger October 19 2008

Local students learn about Asian culture
By Jaine Treadwell (Contact) | Troy Messenger

Published Friday, September 19, 2008

Photo by Jaine Treadwell

Troy University student Zhao Wu Jun had students on the edge of their seats with a kung fu demonstration during the Experience Asia for Kids event.

Photo by Jaine Treadwell

Troy University students put on a dance with the dragon puppet during the Experience Asia for Kids event.
Disney World might imply that “It’s a Small World After All” but, for about 300 local fourth- and fifth-graders, it’s a big world and they got to experience it in a small way at “Experience Asia for Kids” on Thursday.

“Look at that fake lizard,” one boy said as the Japanese Dragon paraded on stage.

Students from Banks, Pike County, Troy and Luverne elementary schools participated in “Experience Asia for Kids,” which is a part of the ongoing “Experience Asia Festival” at Troy University Sept. 18-20.

“Experience Asia for Kids” included storytelling, a Kung Fu demonstration and a variety of arts activities but, perhaps, most importantly, it gave kids from South Alabama a chance to interact with international university students.

Deborah Davis, Troy University director of international student life, said the “Experience” was a win-win experience for both groups of students.

“This was a wonderful opportunity for our international students to interact with American students,” she said. “By working with young children, they learned more about what it’s like to be a part of life in America. Language is a big difference and they also had an opportunity to practice their English.

“As for the children, they learned a lot about the Asian culture. Experiences like this help us to learn to live together with respect. Everybody benefited from this experience. I don’t know what it will mean 20 years down the road but I would hope that it would help with international relations as our world becomes smaller every day.”

Dr. Maryjo Cochran, dean of the Troy University College of Communication and Fine Arts, said she was overwhelmed by the response of the fine arts and international students.

“We had about 50 volunteers who gave several hours of their time to ‘Experience Asia for Kids,’” Cochran said. “It was a wonderful experience for them. I think they had as much fun as the young students.”

Cochran said the collaboration between the international and Alabama students is a step in the right direction in Troy University’s international initiative.

Dawn Key, teacher at Pike County Elementary School, said “Experience Asia for Kids” was a unique experience for the students.

“This is the first time we have participate in an event like this and our students were very excited,” Key said. “And, I know they enjoyed it because they were so quiet during the storytelling. When students are quiet, you know they are listening and enjoying what they are hearing.”

Key said that, for many of the students, it was their first time interacting with international students.

“They recognized the students as Asian but they had never actually seen an Asian person,” she said. “This was a broadening experience for our students and they will benefit from it.”

The “Experience Asia Festival” will continue today with a performance by the Ronin Taiko Drummers at Troy Elementary School and with a public performance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night at the Claudia Crosby Theater.

Tickets are $5 for children and students and $10 for adults. Tickets will be available at the door.

The Ronin Taiko Drummers are back by popular demand and are sponsored by the Troy University College of Communication and Fine Arts and the Confucius Institute.

Troy University’s Confucius Institute is now officially operating in full gear after receiving new funding from China.

Dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts Maryjo Cochran said this institute, which promotes the study of Chinese culture and language, was formally awarded in October 2007.

But, when the college received funding this October from the Chinese government, it became a fully operational institute with three new Chinese faculty members.

Iris Xu, who has worked in Canada for the past 20 years and was the director of a Confucius Institute, joined the university this September as the executive director of the institute in Troy.

The institute’s partner university, Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology in China, also sent two other faculty members, Mr. Li and Mrs. Fan.

Li, who has expertise in art and design, will work with the art department as well as the Confucius Institute. Fan will teach Chinese and English.

Cochran said the faculty members from China are on a one-year contract from the partner school, and next year, they will either be renewed or replaced by different faculty from their institution.

“We provide housing and transportation, and their salaries are paid for by their university, so it’s not too expensive on either school,” Cochran said.

Cochran said she is not sure whether some Troy University faculty will be sent to teach in China in the future, but students will be able to participate in a Chinese immersion program overseas this summer.

The institute has already started its programs, by teaching Mandarin Chinese courses, and holding the Experience Asia project for local school children.

Cochran said the new faculty members have also started what they hope to be a weekly program for Chinese and American students to interact with one another.

“It’s where students meet informally and talk about Chinese issues and Chinese language,” Cochran said. “It’s a way for Chinese students to practice talking in English, and American students learning Chinese to practice talking in Chinese.”

Some of the institute’s plans for the future are to have programs for adopted children from China on Saturday mornings next spring.

“There is a large Asian population in Dothan of adopted Chinese children,” Cochran said. “It’s filling a need that has kind of been identified for us.”

Cochran said the institute, which is the only one in the state and the 25th in the country, will also reach out to Alabama to help integrate Chinese culture.

“One of the things we’re planning to do next year is to take 40 to 50 principals over to China to have them meet with Chinese educators,” Cochran said. “It’s a way to really open up the possibilities for international culture and Chinese exchange, not only for the students and faculty but for the business and general population of Alabama.”

Come and see us at The Language Show London http://www.thelanguageshow.co.uk/

Win a year's free subscription to Mandarama, our website for children learning Mandarin Chinese, by visiting our stand at The Language Show.

Learn more about how to overcome the challenges of either introducing your school (or child) to Mandarin Chinese. If Mandarin already is a part of your school, then learn how to improve how you provide Mandarin Chinese learning opportunities to your children. Free advice - come for a chat as we are always keen to hear about people helping children learn Mandarin Chinese.

We are the experts. The only UK organization just to teach children Chinese.

Parents in Vancouver campaign for a Mandarin bi-lingual programme in the public school sector from September 2009

Teach our Kids Mandarin say the parents of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. They even have their own website www.mandarin for schools.org. Read about their efforts and plans.

THEIR VISION:
To give our children the gift of bilingualism through our public schools

In many parts of the world, multilingualism is the norm rather than the exception. For example, most children in Switzerland speak several languages. Despite BC’s broad multicultural makeup, there are very limited opportunities in the public school system for second language learning at the elementary school level. Although French Immersion is available, it is in high demand and there are waiting lists. It is our vision to bring formal teaching of other second languages in addition to French to the forefront of our public education system.

http://mandarinforbcschools.org

http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=e37dc335-0135-...