iVuChinese Online Learning Program Launch!

Photo caption: Jackson Dapuzzo, Greenwich, prepares to log in to learn Chinese online with his instructor


Chinese Language School of Connecticut Announces New Online Learning Program, iVuChinese

--iVuChinese distance learning program allows students to learn Chinese online, with locally-based, native speaking teachers --


“As CLSC enters our 10th year, we’re pleased to announce our new online learning program, iVuChinese. iVuChinese allows students the opportunity to learn or practice Chinese nearly any time, from any place,” New Canaan resident, CLSC president and Board member, Susan Serven.

RIVERSIDE, CT, July 1, 2011 – The Chinese Language School of Connecticut (www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org), the non-profit Riverside, CT-based provider of Chinese language programs to students, schools and corporations, has announced the launch of their new online learning service, iVuChinese. iVuChinese is an online tutoring program, developed by CLSC’s education professionals, which allows students to connect with a native-speaking instructor remotely, using only their laptop or PC, and a standard application download.

iVuChinese allows students to work with native-speaking teachers to design a personal, customized curriculum, and learn remotely, at their own pace. The teacher will link to CLSC online learning tools and documents, while guiding the student’s learning process, correcting their pronunciation, and assisting them with reading and writing Chinese characters if necessary.

The student will be learning and practicing directly with the teacher, almost exactly as if she were sitting next to him.

CLSC parent of 3 sons, Pelham, NY resident and Board of Directors co-Chair Jeffay Chang noted, “CLSC’s faculty undergo regular, rigorous training to make sure they’re able to communicate at a level that is both comfortable and consistent for our non-native speaking audience. Most other online sites do not have teachers who are both trained in on-line teaching methods, and who also have classroom experience, so can understand and appreciate the differences in working with students of varying ages.

New Canaan resident, CLSC co-founder and president, Susan Serven, concurred. “One of CLSC’s key benefits is that we recruit native Chinese speakers, who have been rigorously trained in U.S. teaching methods, and are often parents, themselves. When we started the organization, back in 2002, we realized that no matter where each of us was born, our children were all learning in U.S. school systems, so we needed to be aware that they’d be most familiar with U.S. teaching methods. iVuChinese is an extension of CLSC’s dually-accredited programs which allow all students to have access learning Chinese as a second language.”

Darwei Kung, co-Chair and Harrison, NY resident, noted, “Many of our students have come from as far away as New Jersey and Chester, CT. Over the last couple of years, many people have said they wanted their children to learn Chinese, but needed to send them to an accredited program with instructors fully trained in how to best engage and motivate children who usually don’t speak Chinese at home. We are very pleased to offer this new program in response to the need for a quality, consistent, interactive Chinese program which uses various milestones to measure students’ progress.”

CLSC’s principal, Daisy Chen Laone, explained, “Key to students’ learning and retaining a language is usage and practice. Online learning allows students an easier way to practice Chinese. CLSC’s approach is unique because we stress interactive usage over rote memorization. Lessons are age-appropriate and are organized around themes such as family, food, travel, and games so that children can quickly gain useful communication skills. We’ve done considerable research to determine which learning methods and interactive, online support materials work best for American students learning Chinese as a second language, and it seems to be working; many parents say their children love learning Chinese!”

CLSC program director, Harrison resident Terri Kung, noted “Generally, younger children acquire a second language better than older children or adults, especially if their learning uses interactive methods and they are allowed plenty of time to practice, in order to build retention and understanding. Early introduction to Chinese exposes each child to a wider variety of its contexts. These contexts foster language proficiency and help develop insights into the nature of the language. With time and practice, each child will gain a deeper understanding and better command of the Chinese language and will ultimately develop a life-long interest of Chinese language and culture. “

To learn more about iVuChinese or CLSC’s other Chinese language programs for children or adults, please visit them at www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org or contact them at info@ChineseLanguageSchool.org.

For interesting articles on Chinese language learning and Chinese culture, please visit http://GreenTeaPop.blogspot.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/ChineseLanguageSchoolofConnecticut


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Chinese Puzzles at the MOCA

MOCA Chinese Puzzles Family Workshop
Sat, Jun 25 from 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Museum of Chinese in America | 215 Centre Street | New York | NY | 10013

Come join MOCA for its second Chinese Puzzles Family Workshop! Hear stories related to puzzles, try your hand at solving puzzles, and experiment with a puzzles inspired art activity!

In conjunction with Chinese Puzzles: Games for the Hands and Mind, MOCA will offer a series of family workshops on the last Saturday of each month from March to August 2011.

These family workshops are shared experiences for children and their adult companions.

Ages 4 and older with adults.

Admission: $10 per child and adult pair; $5 per additional child; Free for MOCA Family Members. RSVP to programs@mocanyc.org

China Pace University Business School Trip

Great blog with highlights from current students' and professors' trip.

http://dysoncollege.blogs.pace.edu/

Chinese Language School of Connecticut Elects New Board

Press Release

For immediate release


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Susan Serven, Chinese Language School of Connecticut
203/918.8085
susan.serven@chineselanguageschool.org
please visit our web site: www.chineselanguageschool.org

Visit us on Facebook: facebook.com/ChineseLanguageSchoolofConnecticut


Chinese Language School of Connecticut Announces New Board

-- Professionals from Connecticut and Westchester to help expand program’s success in bringing Chinese to students --



“CLSC is entering it’s 10th year with an extremely competent, very dedicated Board of Directors, and we’re pleased to be helping the organization continue to develop its programs and expand its reach, ” Pelham resident and CLSC Board co-Chair, Jeffay Chang and Harrison resident and CLSC Board co-Chair Darwei Kung.


RIVERSIDE, CT, June 15, 2011 – The Chinese Language School of Connecticut (www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org), the non-profit Riverside, CT-based provider of Chinese language programs to students, schools and corporations, has elected their new Board of Directors for the upcoming year.

Newly elected co-Chairs are Harrison resident Darwei Kung and Pelham resident Jeffay Chang.

Jeffay Chang (Co-Chairman) Jeffay serves as the East Coast Trust Strategist for the Goldman Sachs Trust Companies. He was named Executive Vice President with responsibility over national marketing and sales in 2008. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in May 2004, Jeffay was a Corporate Vice President in the Private Wealth Services Group of UBS Financial Services where he provided counseling and planning services for ultra high net worth clients in such areas as wealth transfer and philanthropic planning, stock option exercise planning, and hedging and monetizing concentrated equity positions.
Prior to UBS Financial Services, Jeffay was a Financial Planner in the Financial Planning Group of US Trust and before that was a Trust Officer in the Trust Settlement Department of US Trust. Jeffay obtained his B.A. from Brandeis University and J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. He is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, New York State Bar Association, New York Bankers Association, Estate Planning Council of New York City and the Westchester Estate Planning Council.

Darwei Kung (Co-Chairman) Darwei is a Portfolio Manager for fixed income and commodity investment funds for Deutsche Asset Management. Prior to his current career in investment management, Darwei spent over 10 years in the telecommunications industry in a variety of professional and management roles in engineering, product management, strategic planning, and business development. Darwei received his bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle, and received his MBA and Masters in Computational Finance degrees from Carnegie Mellon University. Darwei lives in Harrison, New York with his wife and son.

Cynthia Chang Scanlan (Director) - Cynthia Chang was born in Taipei, Taiwan and moved to New York City at the age of six, learning English after Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese. She graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and received a B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked in real estate and banking in New York City. Her husband, Brian Scanlan, founded a software company, and Cynthia joined the company soon after to manage administrative operations and facilities. The company had an initial public offering in 2000 at which time, Cynthia left to concentrate on family and community service in Greenwich, having moved there in 1997. She has been a board member at the YMCA of Greenwich since 2001, serving as the annual campaign chairman, Facilities Committee chair, and currently as Secretary of the Board. She also served as the First Selectman's representative on the Board of Trustees of the Greenwich Library, and is active with her alma mater, chairing the University of Pennsylvania's Secondary School committee in Greenwich. Cynthia lives in Greenwich with her husband and two children, Kevin, 18, who recently graduated Brunswick School and will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, and Paula, 11, who attends Greenwich Country Day School.

Dr. Sue Chang, M.D. (Director) is a graduate of the University of Michigan where she received her B.S., followed by her M.D. degree at Michigan State University. She completed her residency training in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Nephrology at Yale University where she served as a research fellow in the genetics of hypertension. She is in private practice with Metabolism Associates of New Haven, CT.

Joab Tjiungwanara (Director) is a Risk Manager with General Electric and has worked extensively in the credit and market risk area at GE Corporate Treasury. He is a graduate of University of Bremen, Germany (Electrical Engineering) and University of Rochester (MBA in Finance). Joab is an overseas Chinese who was born in Indonesia, went to Germany after high school and came to the US for graduate school. He speaks fluent Mandarin, German, English and is conversant in Indonesian.

Susan Serven (Director) - Susan has been with CLSC since the school’s founding in May 2002. Susan is a graduate of Pace University (BBA, Marketing) and Fairfield University (MBA, Finance, International Business, 2011). She has held positions in global marketing at Lever Bros. Co., and Save the Children Federation, and as Special Events Director for the American Cancer Society. Susan founded the Chopstix program in 1998 so her daughters and other children could learn Chinese; all Chopstix proceeds were donated to help fund various non- profit groups working with Chinese orphanage programs. She continued running Chopstix until it joined CLSC in 2003. Susan and her husband Lawrence adopted their daughters Emily in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China in August 1996, and Becky in Gao Ming City, Guangdong Province, in October, 2000. They live in New Canaan, CT.

Thomas K. Myers, Jr., (Director) Tom is the Director of Sales and Marketing for FocusVision Worldwide based in Stamford, CT. A graduate of Bucknell University with a B.A. in Political Science, Tom spent his early career in account service with New York based advertising agencies. During this time he met his Taiwan born wife Katy. Since then Tom has held sales and marketing positions for several international companies. Tom’s interest in Chinese language increased quickly with the birth of his daughter, Emily. “I have always believed a second language to be a useful tool. But a second language with ties to one’s heritage is a gift that should not be missed. My goal is to help CLSC continue its efforts to make learning Chinese as enjoyable and satisfying as possible”. Tom lives in Redding, CT with his wife and daughter.

For information on the Chinese Language School of Connecticut’s weekday and weekend language programs, including their Before and After School programs, special workshops. lectures, events, private tutoring, online learning, and their corporate language program, please visit www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org. For interesting articles on Chinese language learning and Chinese culture, please visit http://GreenTeaPop.blogspot.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/ChineseLanguageSchoolofConnecticut


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Bi-Lingualism Can Delay Alzheimers

Ellen Bialystok is a cognitive neuroscientist who has found that bilingualism can delay the symptoms of Alzheimer's. Chris Young for The New York Times

A cognitive neuroscientist, Ellen Bialystok has spent almost 40 years learning about how bilingualism sharpens the mind. Dr. Bialystok, 62, a distinguished research professor of psychologyat York University in Toronto, was awarded a $100,000 Killam Prize last year for her contributions tosocial science. An edited version of our conversations follows.

Q.How did you begin studying bilingualism?

A.You know, I didn't start trying to find out whether bilingualism was bad or good. I did my doctoratein psychology: on how children acquire language. When I finished graduate school, in 1976, therewas a job shortage in Canada for Ph.D.'s. The only position I found was with a research projectstudying second language acquisition in schoolchildren. It wasn't my area. But it was close enough.

As a psychologist, I brought neuroscience questions to the study, like "How does the acquisition of asecond language change thought?" It was these types of questions that naturally led to thebilingualism research.

The way research works is, it takes you down a road. You then follow that road. So what exactly did you find on this unexpected road?

A.As we did our research, you could see there was a big difference in the way monolingual and bilingual children processed language. If yougave 5- and 6-year-olds language problems to solve, monolingual and bilingual children knew,pretty much, the same amount of language.

But on one question, there was a difference. We asked all the children if a certain illogical sentencewas grammatically correct: "Apples grow on noses."

The monolingual children couldn't answer. They'd say, "That's silly" and they'd stall. But the bilingual children would say, in their own words, "It's silly, but it's grammatically correct." The bilinguals, wefound, manifested a cognitive system with the ability to attend to important information and ignorethe less important.

Q.How does this work?

A.There's a system in your brain, the executive control system. It's a general manager. Its job is tokeep you focused on what is relevant, while ignoring distractions. It's what makes it possible for youto hold two different things in your mind at one time and switch between them.

If you have two languages and you use them regularly, the way the brain's networks work is thatevery time you speak, both languages pop up and the executive control system has to sort througheverything and attend to what's relevant in the moment. Therefore the bilinguals use that systemmore, and that regular use makes that system more efficient.

Q.One of your most startling recent findings is that bilingualism helps forestall the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. How did you come to learn this?

A.Bilingual older adults performed better than monolingual older adults on executive control tasks.That was very impressive because it didn't have to be that way. It could have turned out thateverybody just lost function equally as they got older.

We looked at the medical records of 400 Alzheimer's patients. On average, the bilinguals showedAlzheimer's symptoms five or six years later than those who spoke only one language. This didn'tmean that the bilinguals didn't have Alzheimer's. It meant that as the disease took root in theirbrains, they were able to continue functioning at a higher level.

Q.So high school French is useful for something other than ordering a special meal in a restaurant?

A.Sorry, no. You have to use both languages all the time. You won't get the bilingual benefit fromoccasional use.

Q.Would bilingualism help with multitasking?

A.Yes, multitasking is one of the things the executive control system handles.

Q.Bilingualism used to be considered a negative thing - at least in the United States. Is it still?

A.Until about the 1960s, the conventional wisdom was that bilingualism was a disadvantage. Someof this was xenophobia.

Thanks to science, we now know that the opposite is true.

Q.Many immigrants choose not to teach their children their native language. Is this a good thing?

A.There are two major reasons people should pass their heritage language onto children.

First, it connects children to their ancestors. The second is my research: Bilingualism is good foryou. It makes brains stronger.It is brain exercise.

The New York Times

(China Daily 06/12/2011 page11)

Why Should My Children Study Chinese?

We're all so busy. We have no time. Besides, our kids will learn Spanish in school, right?

So, why should they study Chinese?

http://www.chineselanguageschool.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=37

According to the Chinese Language School of Connecticut, www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org, most education experts agree that the earlier a child is introduced to a second language, the greater the chances are that the child will become truly proficient in the language.

For example, each Mandarin syllable has four tones that can mean different things. For example, "ma" in the first tone means "mother," while spoken in the third tone means "horse." Younger children find it much easier to learn a tonal language such as Chinese because they can mimic sounds much easier than older children or adults.
According to the Connecticut Department of Education, the number of public school students studying Mandarin, mostly non-Asian, has seen a more than ten-fold increase from 2004 to 2006(1). As more Connecticut public and private schools offer Mandarin classes at the middle school and high school level, CLSC students will have an educational advantage since they will have started at a much younger age.

In addition, for those students whose schools only offer Chinese once or twice per week, regular exposure to Chinese via CLSC tutoring and small private classes, will enhance their overall Chinese learning experience.

1 Winnie Hu, "Non-Asians Show a Growing Interest in Chinese Courses," The New York Times, November 29, 2006.

Culture: Learning the Chinese language and culture will allow students to explore an ancient culture, rich with innovation and historical significance. From writing Chinese characters, to learning about the 7 Sages during a watercolor painting exercise, to playing traditional Chinese games, students will be introduced to one of the oldest civilizations in the world.

Communication: Mandarin Chinese is spoken by nearly one out of every four people on the planet. As China grows in economic and political importance, it is critical that U.S. students become global citizens, and that they are given the opportunity to communicate in Chinese and to be familiar with Chinese customs and culture.

Enhanced Cognitive Ability: [From the BBC News and the Guardian, June 30, 2003] According to Dr. Sophie Scott, a psychologist at the Wellcome Trust, and colleagues from hospitals in Oxford and London who performed brain scans on volunteers as they listened to their native languages, when English speakers heard English, their left temporal lobes lit up on screen. When Mandarin Chinese speakers heard their native tongue, both right and left lobes buzzed with activity.

The left temporal lobe is normally associated with piecing sounds together into words; the right with processing melody and intonation.

"Speech really is a complex sound," said Dr Scott. "As well as understanding words, the brain uses the way in which words are spoken, such as intonation and melody, to turn spoken language into meaning. This system has to be robust and flexible enough to deal with variations in speech sounds such as regional accents. We think Mandarin speakers interpret intonation and melody in the right temporal lobe to give correct meaning to the spoken words."

The study suggests that language itself might affect the way the brain develops in a young child.

Improved Skills: In its 1992 report, College Bound Seniors: The 1992 Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, the College Entrance Examination Board reported that "students who averaged 4 or more years of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the SAT than those who had studied 4 or more years in any other subject area. This finding echoes many experts' belief that learning a second language can improve not only a child's aptitude in English, but also enhance creativity and problem-solving skills."

Global Edge: Mandarin Chinese is spoken by nearly 25% of the world’s population. Treasury Secretary TimGeithner, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, commentator and fundmanager Jim Rogers, former president of Goldman Sachs John L. Thornton, formerU.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, and News Corp's chairman Rupert Murdochare just a few of the world's leaders that speak Chinese or realize theimportance of learning Mandarin.

And, in April, 2011, the IMF predicted that China’s economy willsurpass the U.S.’s as early as 2016(2).

With the emergence of China as a growing global superpower, the importance understanding China's global relevance cannot be understated.

2 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/imf-bombshell-age-of-america-about-to-end-2011-04-25?pagenumber=1

IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end Commentary: China’s economy will surpass the U.S. in 2016

By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
This column has been updated to include a reaction from the IMF.

BOSTON (MarketWatch) — The International Monetary Fund has just dropped a bombshell, and nobody noticed.

IMF sees China topping U.S. in 2016
According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China's economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now. Brett Arends looks at the implications for the U.S. dollar and the Treasury market.

For the first time, the international organization has set a date for the moment when the “Age of America” will end and the U.S. economy will be overtaken by that of China.


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/imf-bombshell-age-of-america-about-to-end-2011-04-25

And it’s a lot closer than you may think.

According to the latest IMF official forecasts, China’s economy will surpass that of America in real terms in 2016 — just five years from now.

Put that in your calendar.

It provides a painful context for the budget wrangling taking place in Washington right now. It raises enormous questions about what the international security system is going to look like in just a handful of years. And it casts a deepening cloud over both the U.S. dollar and the giant Treasury market, which have been propped up for decades by their privileged status as the liabilities of the world’s hegemonic power.

More China news: U.S., China to hold economic talks in early May, Shanghai hit by tightening, China 2011 trade surplus may shrink to 2% of GDP

According to the IMF forecast, which was quietly posted on the Fund’s website just two weeks ago, whoever is elected U.S. president next year — Obama? Mitt Romney? Donald Trump? — will be the last to preside over the world’s largest economy.

Most people aren’t prepared for this. They aren’t even aware it’s that close. Listen to experts of various stripes, and they will tell you this moment is decades away. The most bearish will put the figure in the mid-2020s.


China’s economy will be the world’s largest within five years or so.
But they’re miscounting. They’re only comparing the gross domestic products of the two countries using current exchange rates.

That’s a largely meaningless comparison in real terms. Exchange rates change quickly. And China’s exchange rates are phony. China artificially undervalues its currency, the renminbi, through massive intervention in the markets.

The comparison that really matters

In addition to comparing the two countries based on exchange rates, the IMF analysis also looked to the true, real-terms picture of the economies using “purchasing power parities.” That compares what people earn and spend in real terms in their domestic economies.

Under PPP, the Chinese economy will expand from $11.2 trillion this year to $19 trillion in 2016. Meanwhile the size of the U.S. economy will rise from $15.2 trillion to $18.8 trillion. That would take America’s share of the world output down to 17.7%, the lowest in modern times. China’s would reach 18%, and rising.

Just 10 years ago, the U.S. economy was three times the size of China’s.

Naturally, all forecasts are fallible. Time and chance happen to them all. The actual date when China surpasses the U.S. might come even earlier than the IMF predicts, or somewhat later. If the great Chinese juggernaut blows a tire, as a growing number fear it might, it could even delay things by several years. But the outcome is scarcely in doubt.


Europe wrestles with Greece solutions: Germany and other strong euro-zone countries want the Greece's private-sector creditors to bear some of the burden, while the European Central Bank doesn't want to do anything that would cast Greece into default.

This is more than a statistical story. It is the end of the Age of America. As a bond strategist in Europe told me two weeks ago, “We are witnessing the end of America’s economic hegemony.”

We have lived in a world dominated by the U.S. for so long that there is no longer anyone alive who remembers anything else. America overtook Great Britain as the world’s leading economic power in the 1890s and never looked back.

And both those countries live under very similar rules of constitutional government, respect for civil liberties and the rights of property. China has none of those. The Age of China will feel very different.

Victor Cha, senior adviser on Asian affairs at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, told me China’s neighbors in Asia are already waking up to the dangers. “The region is overwhelmingly looking to the U.S. in a way that it hasn’t done in the past,” he said. “They see the U.S. as a counterweight to China. They also see American hegemony over the last half-century as fairly benign. In China they see the rise of an economic power that is not benevolent, that can be predatory. They don’t see it as a benign hegemony.”

The rise of China, and the relative decline of America, is the biggest story of our time. You can see its implications everywhere, from shuttered factories in the Midwest to soaring costs of oil and other commodities. Last fall, when I attended a conference in London about agricultural investment, I was struck by the number of people there who told stories about Chinese interests snapping up farmland and foodstuff supplies — from South America to China and elsewhere.

This is the result of decades during which China has successfully pursued economic policies aimed at national expansion and power, while the U.S. has embraced either free trade or, for want of a better term, economic appeasement.

“There are two systems in collision,” said Ralph Gomory, research professor at NYU’s Stern business school. “They have a state-guided form of capitalism, and we have a much freer former of capitalism.” What we have seen, he said, is “a massive shift in capability from the U.S. to China. What we have done is traded jobs for profit. The jobs have moved to China. The capability erodes in the U.S. and grows in China. That’s very destructive. That is a big reason why the U.S. is becoming more and more polarized between a small, very rich class and an eroding middle class. The people who get the profits are very different from the people who lost the wages.”

The next chapter of the story is just beginning.

U.S. spending spree won’t work

What the rise of China means for defense, and international affairs, has barely been touched on. The U.S. is now spending gigantic sums — from a beleaguered economy — to try to maintain its place in the sun. See: Pentagon spending is budget blind spot .

It’s a lesson we could learn more cheaply from the sad story of the British, Spanish and other empires. It doesn’t work. You can’t stay on top if your economy doesn’t.

Equally to the point, here is what this means economically, and for investors.

Some years ago I was having lunch with the smartest investor I know, London-based hedge-fund manager Crispin Odey. He made the argument that markets are reasonably efficient, most of the time, at setting prices. Where they are most likely to fail, though, is in correctly anticipating and pricing big, revolutionary, “paradigm” shifts — whether a rise of disruptive technologies or revolutionary changes in geopolitics. We are living through one now.

The U.S. Treasury market continues to operate on the assumption that it will always remain the global benchmark of money. Business schools still teach students, for example, that the interest rate on the 10-year Treasury bond is the “risk-free rate” on money. And so it has been for more than a century. But that’s all based on the Age of America.

No wonder so many have been buying gold. If the U.S. dollar ceases to be the world’s sole reserve currency, what will be? The euro would be fine if it acts like the old deutschemark. If it’s just the Greek drachma in drag ... not so much.

The last time the world’s dominant hegemon lost its ability to run things singlehandedly was early in the past century. That’s when the U.S. and Germany surpassed Great Britain. It didn’t turn out well.

Updated with IMF reaction

The International Monetary Fund has responded to my article.

In a statement sent to MarketWatch, the IMF confirmed the report, but challenged my interpretation of the data. Comparing the U.S. and Chinese economies using “purchase-power-parity,” it argued, “is not the most appropriate measure… because PPP price levels are influenced by nontraded services, which are more relevant domestically than globally.”

The IMF added that it prefers to compare economies using market exchange rates, and that under this comparison the U.S. “is currently 130% bigger than China, and will still be 70% larger by 2016.”

My take?

The IMF is entitled to make its case. But its argument raises more questions than it answers.

First, no one measure is perfect. Everybody knows that.

But that’s also true of the GDP figures themselves. Hurricane Katrina, for example, added to the U.S. GDP, because it stimulated a lot of economic activity — like providing emergency relief, and rebuilding homes. Is there anyone who seriously thinks Katrina was a net positive for the United States? All statistics need caveats.

Second, comparing economies using simple exchange rates, as the IMF suggests, raises huge problems.

Currency markets fluctuate. They represent international money flows, not real output.

The U.S. dollar has fallen nearly 10% against the euro so far this year. Does anyone suggest that the real size of the U.S. economy has shrunk by 10% in comparison with Europe over that period? The idea is absurd.

China actively suppresses the renminbi on the currency markets through massive dollar purchases. As a result the renminbi is deeply undervalued on the foreign-exchange markets. Just comparing the economies on their exchange rates misses that altogether.

Purchasing power parity is not a perfect measure. None exists. But it measures the output of economies in terms of real goods and services, not just paper money. That’s why it’s widely used to compare economies. The IMF publishes PPP data. So does the OECD. Many economists rely on them.

Brett Arends is a senior columnist for MarketWatch and a personal-finance columnist for The Wall Street Journal.

Registration for 2011 / 2012 Opens at Chinese Language School of Connecticut

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Susan Serven, Chinese Language School of Connecticut
info@chineselanguageschool.org
please visit our web site: www.chineselanguageschool.org

Visit us on Facebook: facebook.com/ChineseLanguageSchoolofConnecticut


Chinese Language School of Connecticut Opens Registration for Fall 2011

-- New Online Learning Program New for 2011 / 2012 Year--


RIVERSIDE, CT June 10, 2011 -- The non-profit Chinese Language School of Connecticut (www.chineselanguageschool.org) has announced that registration for its Fall 2011 programs is currently open. The school, which teaches Mandarin Chinese as a second language to students ages 18 months and up, uses an interactive, conversationally-based approach, and welcomes students from all backgrounds and every level, from beginner through advanced.

CLSC’s principal, Daisy Chen Laone, noted, “CLSC offers students a unique opportunity to explore Chinese language and culture through innovative, hands-on, age-appropriate programs. Students do not need to have prior experience in Chinese in order to attend. We offer interactive, engaging, customized programs, which are designed to teach Mandarin Chinese to non-Chinese-speaking students using U.S. teaching methods.”

Ms. Laone continued, “CLSC faculty members are all native speaking teachers who are required to undergo a rigorous training process of a minimum of 75 hours per year, in order to make Chinese language learning fun for younger students, engaging and exciting for elementary school students, and fairly rigorous for older students wishing to take Chinese in high school and beyond. We have designed our curriculum to include benchmarks and measurable objectives which allow all students to become as proficient as possible within set timeframes, while engaging their interest in learning about a culture which is more than 4,000 years old.”

New for 2011 is CLSC’s online Homework Help program, and new AP Chinese classes.

CLSC Prinicpal Daisy Chen Laone explained, “CLSC’s Homework Help program is designed to offer customized, online assistance for students learning Chinese. These online sessions are taught by CLSC-trained, native speaking Chinese instructors, who can assist current CLSC students with assignments they are working on, or can help them practice their pronunciation, and gain confidence with their conversational skills.

"We are also pleased to announce our newly-designed AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam Preparation Course. This prep course is designed to supplement what students are already learning in their AP Chinese class at school. It provides students with the extensive language skills practice and broad cultural exposure they need to help them prepare for the AP Chinese exam. According to the College Board, "The AP Chinese Exam assesses students' interpersonal communication skills, their abilities to present and interpret language in spoken and written forms, and their functional familiarity with Chinese culture."

For more information, or to register, please visit www.chineselanguageschool.org.

Stamford residents Hanna Martino (10 years old) and Gianna Martino (6), when asked why they liked to go to CLSC, and why they think learning Chinese is important, replied,

Hanna: "I like going to CLSC because when I have a question my teacher always explains it and because teachers are very nice,” and "Learning Chinese is important because it is always good to know more than one language because you can communicate with more people."

Gianna: "I like going to CLSC because we go to [art and] culture class and we paint. We also play games in Chinese," and, "Learning Chinese is important because you can translate to people, you can order food, ask questions and know your hotel number and what people are saying."


Expanding programs
According to CLSC’s President, Susan Serven, “We have focused considerable energy and resources on building the quality of our faculty and curriculum during the past nine years since our founding in 2002. The results of this strategy are evidenced by program expansion into various public and private schools, our conducting before and after school programs at more than 20 schools and organizations, the expansion of our private tutoring and small group private classes, our corporate program, and our new online learning programs.

Our school consists of families who have no Chinese background, but who want to allow their children the opportunity to learn Chinese and about Chinese culture; adoptive families, who want to have their children maintain language and cultural ties; Chinese-American families who may not speak Chinese at home, but encourage their children to learn, and many families who do speak some Chinese at home, but who want a more interactive, age-appropriate, engaging learning experience for their children.

“We are currently entering our 10th year, and we look forward to continuing to focus on providing students with a high quality educational product that strives to make learning Mandarin and experiencing Chinese culture fun by incorporating traditional language training techniques with interactive supplements, games and other activity based exercises.”

We’re very pleased that our school now consists of about 35% of families from the Westchester area, as well as 60% from Fairfield County.
Why study Chinese at an early age?

Principal Daisy Chen Laoneg explained, “Our approach is unique because we stress interactive usage over rote memorization. Lessons are organized around themes such as family, food and travel so that children can quickly gain useful communication skills. More than 50% of class time is devoted to conversation and activity-based learning to give children ample opportunity to practice communicating in Chinese. We’ve done considerable research to determine which learning methods and interactive, online support materials work best for American students learning Chinese as a second language, and it seems to be working; many parents say their children love doing their Chinese homework!”

Ms. Laone continued, “Generally, younger children acquire a second language better than older children. Early introduction to Chinese exposes each child to a wider variety of its contexts. These contexts foster language proficiency and help develop insights into the nature of the language. With time, each child will gain a deeper understanding and better command of the Chinese language. He / she will ultimately develop a life long interest of Chinese language and culture.

For information on the Chinese Language School of Connecticut’s weekday and weekend language programs, including their Before and After School programs, special workshops. lectures, events, private tutoring, online learning, and their corporate language program, please visit www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org. For interesting articles on Chinese language learning and Chinese culture, please visit http://GreenTeaPop.blogspot.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/ChineseLanguageSchoolofConnecticut


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