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-...

Mandarin Chinese for young children does not show on No Child left Behind reports

Are we leaving any students behind?
Educators say federal mandates needs revisions

By Jessica Jordan
jjordan@gainesvilletimes.com

POSTED Sept. 7, 2008 12:30 a.m.

Excerpt reads:

Teachers' creativity and gifted students left behind?
May (principal of Chestnut Mountain Elementary) also said the federal mandate has changed the way schools operate in recent years. She said while teachers are taking a more professional instructional approach under the law, it's also stifling their creative freedom in the classroom in favor of high-stakes testing.

"There used to be more of a focus on the art of teaching, now it's more of a focus on the science of teaching," she said.

While Hall County educators said the school system focuses on the whole student, including character development and academic rigor, as well as on a student passing the CRCT or the Georgia High School Graduation Test, Schofield said there's still a group of students nationwide who aren't getting the attention they deserve in the classroom: "the run of the mill" and gifted students.

"I think it's going to be a huge mistake in all kinds of issues, the most fundamental being the very competitiveness of the United States as a nation," Schofield said. "The children that sit in our classrooms could cure cancer ... and are the very children that aren't getting very much attention."

Schofield said he's concerned No Child Left Behind's emphasis on test scores has encouraged school systems nationwide to forsake class time in foreign language, communication skills and technology, all skills he considers vital for students to compete in the 21st century workplace.

"We can offer Mandarin Chinese ... for little children. It won't show up on a No Child Left Behind report ... and quite honestly, that's the reason why a lot of districts have abandoned and not gone down those roads," Schofield said.

Denver public schools plan for Mandarin Chinese

At two schools, kids as young as prekindergarten students dive into learning Chinese. Parents say they are on track for global success. Global Village and Denver International have had a positive experience introducing Mandarin Chinese.

Denver public schools plan for immersion Chinese in a district facility in the Park Hill area. Ohio and Oregonhave K-16 Chinese programs.

We cannot have global citizens that are mono-lingual says language consultant Myriam Wet from Washington D.C.

New Zealand opens opportunities for children to learn Mandarin Chinese

In 2010 all 7-10 year old children will have the opportunity to learn another language including Mandarin Chinese.

Learning a language brings positive benefits

More New Zealanders may be speaking another language in the years to come, thanks to an upcoming initiative that will require a second language to be offered to all students in Years 7-10. The new curriculum, which comes into effect in 2010 in New Zealand schools, states that all children should receive the opportunity to learn another language. Promoting a multi-lingual society is a priority for the government as it benefits international trade and the economy, and promotes positive interaction between cultures in our communities. Many educators also believe that learning another language can increase the potential for success in other subjects at school.

West Auckland resident Tom Essex was introduced to Chinese, Japanese and German as an 11 year-old at Te Atatu Intermediate School, and decided to continue studying the Chinese language at Rutherford High School. "I guess I had a bit of fascination with China, so I decided on Chinese," he says. Although widely reputed to be a difficult language to learn, Tom says it "wasn't too difficult" because he started learning at a young age. He says that although his parents don't speak a second language, they were very supportive and this was something that helped his progress.

Learning a second language is beneficial for a number of reasons, says Tom.
Not only does it help people become more aware of the outside world, but it also develops empathy for other cultures.

“It broadens your horizons and opens up a whole new section of society that you might not previously have associated with,” he says, “and in the case of Chinese, I've suddenly gained access to nearly a third of the world's population.”

Ohio take Mandarin Chinese for children seriously developing with FLAP

... (the U.S. Department of Education Foreign Language Assistance Program goals and outcomes as well as Professional Development Modules

Project Goals

The goals for our (Ohio) K-4 Content-Enriched Mandarin Curriculum Project are:

To develop an age-appropriate Chinese language program that reinforces content and skills from the regular curriculum and spirals vocabulary, sentence patterns and cultural content so that all children can be successful learning Chinese;
To build the capacity of teachers to use the curriculum and to adapt it for their particular teaching settings through Web-based professional development modules;
To pilot the curriculum in 10 Ohio sites to garner feedback to revise the curriculum for wider distribution; and
To establish a network of elementary Chinese language teachers to support professional growth and the exchange of ideas.

KEVIN Rudd has called on Australians to .. make their nation the most Asia-literate country in the West.

In a major speech in Singapore, the Prime Minister declared his dream of Australian children learning Chinese or Japanese and reaching out to the region.

"I am committed to making Australia the most Asia-literate country in the collective West," he announced.

Labor went to the last election promising $62 million for new Asian language courses in schools.

But Mr Rudd's new promise raises the commitment and there is sure to be a push for extra funding.

Mr Rudd last night said the time had come for Australians to be more active in Asia.

"My vision is for the next generation of Australian businessmen and women, economists, accountants, lawyers, architects, artists, film-makers and performers to develop language skills which open their region to them," he said.

The call came as Mr Rudd tried to rev up his plan for a new regional body called the Asia Pacific Community.

Mr Rudd outlined the proposal two months ago and has been selling it during his recent tour of China, South Korea and Singapore.

The Opposition have been scathing of the plan, calling it a flop, and there has been no groundswell of major support from Asian countries.

But Mr Rudd has hit back, saying there are no major "roadblocks" to the idea and saying it was a long-term project.

The speech came after Mr Rudd and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday signed a new defence deal for greater cooperation between the two nations.

Singapore is due to soon send a medical team to work with Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Earlier in the day, Mr Rudd opened a new junior section of Australian International School Singapore where he spoke to children about the value of Asian languages.

Mr Rudd speaks Mandarin, which he uses often when touring in the region and did it again yesterday at a press conference.

It was Rudd's first prime ministerial visit to Singapore and he has now visited most of the major nations in Asia - including China and Japan twice.

Children aged 15-16 take first Mandarin access exam in Scotland.

Record numbers of children passed their Higher Grade exams. For the first year children ages 15-16 could take Mandarin at Access 3 level.Mandarin Chinese continues to be very active in schools in Scotland. In May 2008, the first Confucius classroom opened in St George's School Edinburgh. Scotland plans to have eight Confucius classrooms in a networked hub.

Part of China Now, 3000 children developing Chinese cross-curricula work have created a new Chinese opera.

350 students performed the new work alongside professional artists.This project was an initiative between the Hackney Music Development Trust (HMDT) and East Hackney Education Zone. 'Confucius says' is a new opera based on Chinese myths and legends written by Stephen Plaice and Richard Taylor for Hackney schools and children learning Chinese.

We share our experiences in teaching Mandarin Chinese young including Mandarama at the SSAT Chinese network conference

Please come and see us either at our exhibition stand or during our workshop. Get guest access to Mandarama at our stand and learn about how children learn languages young at our workshop. We are sharing our experience in teaching Chinese young and would like to hear your views too.

The years three and four pupils at St Paul's Primary School in South Manchester will be the first children ....

Primary is first to put Chinese on curriculum

A primary school in Manchester has become one of the first in the UK to teach Chinese as part of its curriculum with help from teachers supplied by the Confucius Institute at The University of Manchester.
The years three and four pupils at St Paul's Primary School in South Manchester will be the first children in the north west to learn Mandarin during school time - even though only one of the pupils is of Chinese descent.

The Children - from Withington - will be celebrating Chinese New Year with a special performance at the school assembly this Friday (8 Feb) partly delivered in Chinese.

They have been in e-mail contact with youngsters at a primary school in Beijing to help them perfect their language skills and hope to gain an internationally recognised language qualification next year.

And in recognition of their success, the Office of Chinese Language Council International has just awarded the school the status of 'Confucius Classroom', which will enable it to act as resource for other schools in the area - with the help of University of Manchester staff.