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
(END)
Showing posts with label american students learn chinese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label american students learn chinese. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The Bilingual Advantage
Good thing so many of us are learning Chinese!
Visit the Chinese Language School of Connecticut on Facebook at facebook.com/ChineseLanguageSchoolofConnecticut
to learn more.
from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/science/31conversation.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general
he Bilingual Advantage
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
Published: May 30, 2011
A cognitive neuroscientist, Ellen Bialystok has spent almost 40 years learning about how bilingualism sharpens the mind. Her good news: Among other benefits, the regular use of two languages appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms. Dr. Bialystok, 62, a distinguished research professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, was awarded a $100,000 Killam Prize last year for her contributions to social science. We spoke for two hours in a Washington hotel room in February and again, more recently, by telephone. An edited version of the two conversations follows.
Enlarge This Image
Chris Young for The New York Times
MENTAL WORKOUT Ellen Bialystok with a neuroimaging electrode cap.
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Get Science News From The New York Times »
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 doctorate in psychology: on how children acquire language. When I finished graduate school, in 1976, there was a job shortage in Canada for Ph.D.’s. The only position I found was with a research project studying second language acquisition in school children. 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 a second language change thought?” It was these types of questions that naturally led to the bilingualism research. The way research works is, it takes you down a road. You then follow that road.
Q. 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. We found that if you gave 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 sentence was 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, we found, manifested a cognitive system with the ability to attend to important information and ignore the less important.
Q. How does this work — do you understand it?
A. Yes. There’s a system in your brain, the executive control system. It’s a general manager. Its job is to keep you focused on what is relevant, while ignoring distractions. It’s what makes it possible for you to 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 that every time you speak, both languages pop up and the executive control system has to sort through everything and attend to what’s relevant in the moment. Therefore the bilinguals use that system more, and it’s that regular use that 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. We did two kinds of studies. In the first, published in 2004, we found that normally aging bilinguals had better cognitive functioning than normally aging monolinguals. 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 that everybody just lost function equally as they got older.
That evidence made us look at people who didn’t have normal cognitive function. In our next studies , we looked at the medical records of 400 Alzheimer’s patients. On average, the bilinguals showed Alzheimer’s symptoms five or six years later than those who spoke only one language. This didn’t mean that the bilinguals didn’t have Alzheimer’s. It meant that as the disease took root in their brains, they were able to continue functioning at a higher level. They could cope with the disease for longer.
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 from occasional use.
Q. One would think bilingualism might help with multitasking — does it?
A. Yes, multitasking is one of the things the executive control system handles. We wondered, “Are bilinguals better at multitasking?” So we put monolinguals and bilinguals into a driving simulator. Through headphones, we gave them extra tasks to do — as if they were driving and talking on cellphones. We then measured how much worse their driving got. Now, everybody’s driving got worse. But the bilinguals, their driving didn’t drop as much. Because adding on another task while trying to concentrate on a driving problem, that’s what bilingualism gives you — though I wouldn’t advise doing this.
Q. Has the development of new neuroimaging technologies changed your work?
A. Tremendously. It used to be that we could only see what parts of the brain lit up when our subjects performed different tasks. Now, with the new technologies, we can see how all the brain structures work in accord with each other.
In terms of monolinguals and bilinguals, the big thing that we have found is that the connections are different. So we have monolinguals solving a problem, and they use X systems, but when bilinguals solve the same problem, they use others. One of the things we’ve seen is that on certain kinds of even nonverbal tests, bilingual people are faster. Why? Well, when we look in their brains through neuroimaging, it appears like they’re using a different kind of a network that might include language centers to solve a completely nonverbal problem. Their whole brain appears to rewire because of bilingualism.
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. Some of 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. I’m asked about this all the time. People e-mail me and say, “I’m getting married to someone from another culture, what should we do with the children?” I always say, “You’re sitting on a potential gift.”
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 for you. It makes brains stronger. It is brain exercise.
Q. Are you bilingual?
A. Well, I have fully bilingual grandchildren because my daughter married a Frenchman. When my daughter announced her engagement to her French boyfriend, we were a little surprised. It’s always astonishing when your child announces she’s getting married. She said, “But Mom, it’ll be fine, our children will be bilingual!”
A version of this interview appeared in print on May 31, 2011, on page D2 of the New York edition with the headline: A Conversation With | Ellen Bialystok.
Visit the Chinese Language School of Connecticut on Facebook at facebook.com/ChineseLanguageSchoolofConnecticut
to learn more.
from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/science/31conversation.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general
he Bilingual Advantage
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
Published: May 30, 2011
A cognitive neuroscientist, Ellen Bialystok has spent almost 40 years learning about how bilingualism sharpens the mind. Her good news: Among other benefits, the regular use of two languages appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms. Dr. Bialystok, 62, a distinguished research professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, was awarded a $100,000 Killam Prize last year for her contributions to social science. We spoke for two hours in a Washington hotel room in February and again, more recently, by telephone. An edited version of the two conversations follows.
Enlarge This Image
Chris Young for The New York Times
MENTAL WORKOUT Ellen Bialystok with a neuroimaging electrode cap.
RSS Feed
Get Science News From The New York Times »
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 doctorate in psychology: on how children acquire language. When I finished graduate school, in 1976, there was a job shortage in Canada for Ph.D.’s. The only position I found was with a research project studying second language acquisition in school children. 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 a second language change thought?” It was these types of questions that naturally led to the bilingualism research. The way research works is, it takes you down a road. You then follow that road.
Q. 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. We found that if you gave 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 sentence was 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, we found, manifested a cognitive system with the ability to attend to important information and ignore the less important.
Q. How does this work — do you understand it?
A. Yes. There’s a system in your brain, the executive control system. It’s a general manager. Its job is to keep you focused on what is relevant, while ignoring distractions. It’s what makes it possible for you to 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 that every time you speak, both languages pop up and the executive control system has to sort through everything and attend to what’s relevant in the moment. Therefore the bilinguals use that system more, and it’s that regular use that 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. We did two kinds of studies. In the first, published in 2004, we found that normally aging bilinguals had better cognitive functioning than normally aging monolinguals. 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 that everybody just lost function equally as they got older.
That evidence made us look at people who didn’t have normal cognitive function. In our next studies , we looked at the medical records of 400 Alzheimer’s patients. On average, the bilinguals showed Alzheimer’s symptoms five or six years later than those who spoke only one language. This didn’t mean that the bilinguals didn’t have Alzheimer’s. It meant that as the disease took root in their brains, they were able to continue functioning at a higher level. They could cope with the disease for longer.
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 from occasional use.
Q. One would think bilingualism might help with multitasking — does it?
A. Yes, multitasking is one of the things the executive control system handles. We wondered, “Are bilinguals better at multitasking?” So we put monolinguals and bilinguals into a driving simulator. Through headphones, we gave them extra tasks to do — as if they were driving and talking on cellphones. We then measured how much worse their driving got. Now, everybody’s driving got worse. But the bilinguals, their driving didn’t drop as much. Because adding on another task while trying to concentrate on a driving problem, that’s what bilingualism gives you — though I wouldn’t advise doing this.
Q. Has the development of new neuroimaging technologies changed your work?
A. Tremendously. It used to be that we could only see what parts of the brain lit up when our subjects performed different tasks. Now, with the new technologies, we can see how all the brain structures work in accord with each other.
In terms of monolinguals and bilinguals, the big thing that we have found is that the connections are different. So we have monolinguals solving a problem, and they use X systems, but when bilinguals solve the same problem, they use others. One of the things we’ve seen is that on certain kinds of even nonverbal tests, bilingual people are faster. Why? Well, when we look in their brains through neuroimaging, it appears like they’re using a different kind of a network that might include language centers to solve a completely nonverbal problem. Their whole brain appears to rewire because of bilingualism.
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. Some of 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. I’m asked about this all the time. People e-mail me and say, “I’m getting married to someone from another culture, what should we do with the children?” I always say, “You’re sitting on a potential gift.”
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 for you. It makes brains stronger. It is brain exercise.
Q. Are you bilingual?
A. Well, I have fully bilingual grandchildren because my daughter married a Frenchman. When my daughter announced her engagement to her French boyfriend, we were a little surprised. It’s always astonishing when your child announces she’s getting married. She said, “But Mom, it’ll be fine, our children will be bilingual!”
A version of this interview appeared in print on May 31, 2011, on page D2 of the New York edition with the headline: A Conversation With | Ellen Bialystok.
Why Aren't More American Students Learning Chinese?
The Challenges of Creating a Chinese Program for Multi-Cultural Students
Susan Serven, President, Chinese Language School of Connecticut
Daisy Chen Laone, Principal, Chinese Language School of Connecticut
Here’s a riddle: If a person who speaks two languages is bilingual, and one who speaks three languages is trilingual, what is someone called who speaks no foreign languages at all?
Answer: an American.
Sad but true, most Americans student are not required to learn a foreign language to graduate high school. Some schools require a minimum two year period of study in a foreign language to graduate; many students in these schools then pick the simplest Western language to learn, normally, Spanish.
Why U.S. Students Don’t Place a Greater Importance on Foreign Language Study.
How can such an innovative country’s students not recognize the importance of studying a foreign language? First, it’s in our history. Let’s face it, for two hundred years America was, first, breaking away from the British (who spoke English) and establishing itself as an independent nation. Second, most developed nations throughout the last hundred years, at least, used English as one of their primary languages to conduct trade, so U.S. students felt they did “not have to” learn other languages. Third, the U.S. is a big country; Europeans by necessity speak several languages, but, conveniently, our next closest trade neighbor is Canada, which is English [and French] speaking. Fourth, it’s harder, and more expensive, for U.S. residents to travel to different countries, so most students aren’t aware that a majority of the world’s population speaks more than one language (in Europe and Asia, most speak several).
The above distinctions are primary reasons why, historically in the U.S., foreign language learning less of a priority and more of an “elite” perk for highly educated students. So, because of this, foreign language study was not a priority for most schools, and, for a long time students lucky enough to go on to higher education studied the “romance languages” such as French or Italian.
Lastly, we get what we ask for; if most U.S. parents value sports over language learning, then schools will put a higher priority on athletics and less of a priority on foreign language learning.
In addition, a recent Newsweek article (December 6, 2010 available at http://www.newsweek.com/2010/12/06/not-much-progress-in-america-s-chinese-problem.html) explains how, in response to (or because of) the above, the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act placed a large emphasis on math and reading, which resulted in cutbacks in arts and foreign languages. The lack of funding especially affects Mandarin instruction, which requires instructors and materials which are often more expensive than other languages (for example, Spanish).
This article goes on to note that:
“According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, in 2008 only 4 percent of middle and high schools that offer foreign-language instruction included Mandarin. That’s up from 1 percent in 1997. While that initially seems like respectable growth, the same survey reveals that 13 percent of schools still offer Latin and a full 10-fold more schools offer French than Mandarin.
We Know Chinese is Important, But…
If asked, most educated parents, and older high school students, in the U.S. will agree that China’s growing economic growth during the last 10 years necessitates the need to learn Mandarin in order to be better prepared to succeed in the global economy.
However, there are two key challenges to overcome in order for students to develop a global competency in Chinese: study time (it normally takes close to four times the amount of study needed to become as fluent in Chinese as in a Western language (such as French or Spanish), and teachers (there is a lack of dynamic, engaging, effective teachers).
According to the ACTFL, foreign languages are divided into 4 categories, category I being the easiest, and category IV being the most difficult. Chinese (category IV) takes four times the amount of study time than French, Italian, or Spanish (which are all in category I).
Category I
Dutch, English*,
French, Haitian Creole,
Italian, Norwegian,
Portuguese, Spanish,
Swahili and Swedish. + Category II
German, Hindi,
Indonesian,
Punjabi and Urdu. + Category III
Cambodian, Czech, Hmong,
Hebrew, Hungarian, Lao,
Polish, Russian,
Serbo-Croatian**, Slovak,
Tagalog, Turkish, Thai,
Ukrainian and Vietnamese.+ Category IV
Arabic, Cantonese,
Japanese, Korean
and Mandarin. +
Source: http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3642
Dealing with the amount of time needed to become proficient is the easier part. If students are motivated and have teachers who are dynamic and engaging, and who are using a curriculum which is effective and robust, students will learn. (Info on the National Standards for Foreign Language teaching includes information on the “5Cs” framework, which is required for curriculum design in public schools. http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3392 )
Identifying, recruiting, training and retaining the most highly effective teachers are the trickier part. In many situations, the first challenge a Chinese teacher faces while working in a public or private school is to overcome the cultural differences and learn how to interact within the new culture.
Stereotypes are often based in fact. Some are:
Chinese teachers are often quiet, sometimes rigid, and lack passion, so learning Chinese can be boring
American students can be disrespectful, so having to deal with them is frustrating
American parents are difficult (and sometimes litigious) so beware of them
During the last ten years, more students from China have come to the U.S. in order to teach. However, most have been raised in one-child homes, often without siblings or many cousins to engage with daily, so may not intuitively understand how to interact with children. Most of these teachers have come from a school system which values the teaching profession; respect for teachers is instilled from a very early age, so may find it hard to deal with the lack of respect teachers receive in the U.S. Those teachers who have grown up in China will have experienced larger classrooms, with a more “rote memorization” method of learning, little classroom interaction, and highly motivated students (due to cultural expectations, very strict standardized testing systems, and a great deal of competition due to lack of university spaces). Lastly, due to the growing need for Chinese teachers, many come here as students from China, are young, and do not have children of their own, so don’t understand the U.S. school system or U.S. teaching styles.
Americans (parents in particular, especially those on the East and West coasts) are culturally direct; Asians in general tend to use culturally indirect methods of communications.
From Brooks Peterson, Cultural Intelligence: A Guide to Working with People from Other Cultures (Boston: Intercultural, 2004, p 40):
A direct style means people prefer to
• be more direct in speaking and be less concerned about how something is said,
• openly confront issues or difficulties,
• communicate concerns straightforwardly,
• engage in conflict when necessary,
• express views or opinions in a frank manner, and
• say things clearly, not leaving much open to interpretation.
An indirect style means people prefer to
• focus not just on what is said but on how it is said,
• discreetly avoid difficult or contentious issues,
• express concerns tactfully,
• avoid conflict if at all possible,
• express views or opinions diplomatically, and
• count on the listener to interpret meaning.
These cultural challenges result in miscommunications and misperceptions which can only be overcome by each group reaching out to understand the other, but which are most effectively (and quickly) overcome by a comprehensive training program and ample opportunity for Chinese faculty members to engage with other teachers and participate in regular workshops, and observe classes / participate in teaching. This, however, results in a greater investment of resources by the school looking to implement the Chinese program.
Mandarin is easier than other Western languages in many ways: Chinese has negligible grammar - there is no need to conjugate verbs, worry about tenses, or match gender or number. What is much tougher for U.S students, however, is the number of characters students have to memorize and the mastery of tones (depending on the inflection, the word ji could mean “chicken” or “to remember”).
However, as most parents of U.S. students know, China will probably be the world's largest economy within twenty years and a monumental force in every dimension of life. Studying Chinese gives U.S. students insights into one of the world's great civilizations and creates a wealth of economic opportunities for those who can master the language and have an understanding of the culture.
As the Chinese economy surges, so does global interest in Mandarin. According to the Economist magazine [available at http://www.economist.com/node/17522444?story_id=17522444&fsrc=rss] the Chinese government estimates some 40m people currently study Mandarin outside the country, up from 30m in 2005. A tight job market in the West is partly responsible.
From this same report,
“According to a survey in September by Rosetta Stone, 58% of Americans believe the lack of foreign-language skills among native workers will lead to foreigners taking high-paying jobs. “The recession has focused people on where growth is going to come from,” says Tom Adams, the firm’s chief executive. Among existing corporate customers logging into the company’s multi-language programme, the number learning Mandarin increased by 1,800% between 2008 and 2010.”
The U.S.. needs to do better job training a culturally savvy workforce. However, according to Newsweek [available at www.newsweek.com/2010/12/06/not-much-progress-in-america-s-chinese-problem.html] even though those 40 million foreigners are studying Mandarin outside of China, only 50,000 of them are in the United States.
How to Teach Chinese to a Multi-Cultural Class of American Students?
What can we do? How can we ensure that our children will be able to take advantage of the opportunities that learning Chinese offers? At our organization, the non-profit Chinese Language School of Connecticut, we have always believed outreach is key. If parents, teachers, staff, students and volunteers can reach out to groups such as China Institute, Asia Society, Ascend Pan-Asian Leadership, Committee of 1,000, Families with Children From China, and others, the synergy will create a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts.
However, more actionable steps include:
1. Create a tight curriculum with relevant, engaging, hands-on, age-appropriate activities, which is integrated into other school programs
Remember that you are teaching American students; very young children are used to being encouraged to “express themselves” all the time. Preschool teachers routinely sing and dance with children. This approach has many merits, but also means young children are not taught to sit still, and won’t be happy in a class where they are required to do a lot of sitting. (Parents won’t be happy, either.)
Make sure your materials conform to age-appropriate, relevant, topics. At CLSC, in some cases we had tried to use books supposedly designed for very young children, but these materials discussed topics such as “telling time” in their books for 4 and 5 year olds (which meant that we had to design our own material). For elementary-age and older students integrate tools such as SmartBoards, iPods (which offer Chinese applications) and real-time chat activities to help students practice when they’re not in class.
2. Integrate history, art and culture into the classroom to keep things engaging and provide historical perspective
This doesn’t mean only “correct, Ancient Chinese culture,” but, depending on students’ ages, should include the history of the Chinese court, warlords, and the Boxer Rebellion. American students (and parents) like debate: China takes a more positive view of the Boxers than Western countries do (probably because Western countries were the ones doing the invading), so have students debate the issues. Field trips to museums and restaurants are terrific, and can put learning in context. Creating art based on periods in Chinese history, or developing models of items the Chinese invented is interactive and fun, and can give students a sense of the global power China held for much of its 5,000+ history.
3. Bring in facets of modern day Chinese society
All students are interested in what children of their own age in other countries are doing each day. Have them learn about and discuss food, school, pop music, and modern history. Include details on the huge Chinese presence all over the world, such as in Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Canada, and Malaysia. Engage your school in developing a sister school program with another school in China. Younger students can write (or email) pen pals. Older students can debate human rights, economic freedoms, and environmental issues.
Again, these activities are engaging for students of varying ages, but also put their Chinese language learning in context.
4. Teachers
Most important is recruiting and training teachers.
For younger students, preschool to grade 1, make certain the teachers are well-trained and focused on the curriculum, of course, but even more important should be the understanding of how they should interact and relate to the children. Smile, a lot. Laugh with them, sit on the floor and show interest in what they’re doing. Play music, sing songs, explain each word and then sing again. Do activities with music playing in the background. If teachers are hired who genuinely love children, and teaching, this will be relatively easy.
For older students, teachers should try to engage with them. This is relatively easy with first through fourth graders; they’re normally fairly easy going, friendly, and want to please their teachers. However, engaging with older students gets progressively harder, through the high school years. At CLSC we often see many teachers working diligently to engage with older students, they try and try, but often fail. Especially for older students, the teachers that normally accomplish the most are those who are friendly, but firm. Who establish and reinforce guidelines, lesson plans, and measurements. You may not be the most popular teacher, but you will gain students’ (and parents’) respect.
The best training for any teacher (indeed, anyone wishing to learn U.S. culture) is probably to “just do it” – get out there and experience as much as you can. Learn new topics in different areas, participate in as many professional development workshops as you can. Make friends with lots of different people. Ask other teachers (math, language arts, Spanish teachers) if you can observe their classes (they’ll be happy you asked). Share your culture and childhood experiences with your students.
5. Parents
Remember that most U.S. parents do not know anything about Chinese (except that they’ve heard it’s “really hard”). Many do not know there is no Chinese “alphabet.” They think each Chinese character is a “letter” that makes up a word. They don’t understand the idea of a tonal language, and often cannot even differentiate between tones; they literally don’t hear the difference.
If the children are young, and parents are with them in the class (or are expected to help them do homework or follow up with lessons), teachers need to communicate regularly, clearly, on what is expected. Parents are used to hearing from their children’s teachers regularly, and they will need to hear from you in order to understand what their child is learning. Provide ideas and links for educational materials they can purchase in order to help their child learn.
This goes for older students’ parents, as well, but you might additionally email relevant articles of interest, such as Goldman Sachs’ forecasts of how the Chinese economy will overtake the U.S.’s by 2027 (a good reason for their children to continue with Chinese), or how learning Mandarin can help them with standardized test-taking (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,” from
http://www.chineselanguageschool.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=37).
When communities, schools, teachers and parents work together to help students understand China’s enormous (and growing) global economic presence, they will be more likely to understand the importance of learning Chinese in order to develop a sense of Chinese history and culture, while cultivating a global worldview.
Susan Serven （江华）is co-founder, president, and Board member of the non-profit Chinese Language School of Connecticut. She adopted daughters Emily （华 铭娟）from Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, in August 1996, and Rebecca (江玉风)from Gao Ming City, Guangdong Province, China, in October 2000. Susan founded the Chopstix pre-school 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 Serven, President, Chinese Language School of Connecticut
Daisy Chen Laone, Principal, Chinese Language School of Connecticut
Here’s a riddle: If a person who speaks two languages is bilingual, and one who speaks three languages is trilingual, what is someone called who speaks no foreign languages at all?
Answer: an American.
Sad but true, most Americans student are not required to learn a foreign language to graduate high school. Some schools require a minimum two year period of study in a foreign language to graduate; many students in these schools then pick the simplest Western language to learn, normally, Spanish.
Why U.S. Students Don’t Place a Greater Importance on Foreign Language Study.
How can such an innovative country’s students not recognize the importance of studying a foreign language? First, it’s in our history. Let’s face it, for two hundred years America was, first, breaking away from the British (who spoke English) and establishing itself as an independent nation. Second, most developed nations throughout the last hundred years, at least, used English as one of their primary languages to conduct trade, so U.S. students felt they did “not have to” learn other languages. Third, the U.S. is a big country; Europeans by necessity speak several languages, but, conveniently, our next closest trade neighbor is Canada, which is English [and French] speaking. Fourth, it’s harder, and more expensive, for U.S. residents to travel to different countries, so most students aren’t aware that a majority of the world’s population speaks more than one language (in Europe and Asia, most speak several).
The above distinctions are primary reasons why, historically in the U.S., foreign language learning less of a priority and more of an “elite” perk for highly educated students. So, because of this, foreign language study was not a priority for most schools, and, for a long time students lucky enough to go on to higher education studied the “romance languages” such as French or Italian.
Lastly, we get what we ask for; if most U.S. parents value sports over language learning, then schools will put a higher priority on athletics and less of a priority on foreign language learning.
In addition, a recent Newsweek article (December 6, 2010 available at http://www.newsweek.com/2010/12/06/not-much-progress-in-america-s-chinese-problem.html) explains how, in response to (or because of) the above, the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act placed a large emphasis on math and reading, which resulted in cutbacks in arts and foreign languages. The lack of funding especially affects Mandarin instruction, which requires instructors and materials which are often more expensive than other languages (for example, Spanish).
This article goes on to note that:
“According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, in 2008 only 4 percent of middle and high schools that offer foreign-language instruction included Mandarin. That’s up from 1 percent in 1997. While that initially seems like respectable growth, the same survey reveals that 13 percent of schools still offer Latin and a full 10-fold more schools offer French than Mandarin.
We Know Chinese is Important, But…
If asked, most educated parents, and older high school students, in the U.S. will agree that China’s growing economic growth during the last 10 years necessitates the need to learn Mandarin in order to be better prepared to succeed in the global economy.
However, there are two key challenges to overcome in order for students to develop a global competency in Chinese: study time (it normally takes close to four times the amount of study needed to become as fluent in Chinese as in a Western language (such as French or Spanish), and teachers (there is a lack of dynamic, engaging, effective teachers).
According to the ACTFL, foreign languages are divided into 4 categories, category I being the easiest, and category IV being the most difficult. Chinese (category IV) takes four times the amount of study time than French, Italian, or Spanish (which are all in category I).
Category I
Dutch, English*,
French, Haitian Creole,
Italian, Norwegian,
Portuguese, Spanish,
Swahili and Swedish. + Category II
German, Hindi,
Indonesian,
Punjabi and Urdu. + Category III
Cambodian, Czech, Hmong,
Hebrew, Hungarian, Lao,
Polish, Russian,
Serbo-Croatian**, Slovak,
Tagalog, Turkish, Thai,
Ukrainian and Vietnamese.+ Category IV
Arabic, Cantonese,
Japanese, Korean
and Mandarin. +
Source: http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3642
Dealing with the amount of time needed to become proficient is the easier part. If students are motivated and have teachers who are dynamic and engaging, and who are using a curriculum which is effective and robust, students will learn. (Info on the National Standards for Foreign Language teaching includes information on the “5Cs” framework, which is required for curriculum design in public schools. http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3392 )
Identifying, recruiting, training and retaining the most highly effective teachers are the trickier part. In many situations, the first challenge a Chinese teacher faces while working in a public or private school is to overcome the cultural differences and learn how to interact within the new culture.
Stereotypes are often based in fact. Some are:
Chinese teachers are often quiet, sometimes rigid, and lack passion, so learning Chinese can be boring
American students can be disrespectful, so having to deal with them is frustrating
American parents are difficult (and sometimes litigious) so beware of them
During the last ten years, more students from China have come to the U.S. in order to teach. However, most have been raised in one-child homes, often without siblings or many cousins to engage with daily, so may not intuitively understand how to interact with children. Most of these teachers have come from a school system which values the teaching profession; respect for teachers is instilled from a very early age, so may find it hard to deal with the lack of respect teachers receive in the U.S. Those teachers who have grown up in China will have experienced larger classrooms, with a more “rote memorization” method of learning, little classroom interaction, and highly motivated students (due to cultural expectations, very strict standardized testing systems, and a great deal of competition due to lack of university spaces). Lastly, due to the growing need for Chinese teachers, many come here as students from China, are young, and do not have children of their own, so don’t understand the U.S. school system or U.S. teaching styles.
Americans (parents in particular, especially those on the East and West coasts) are culturally direct; Asians in general tend to use culturally indirect methods of communications.
From Brooks Peterson, Cultural Intelligence: A Guide to Working with People from Other Cultures (Boston: Intercultural, 2004, p 40):
A direct style means people prefer to
• be more direct in speaking and be less concerned about how something is said,
• openly confront issues or difficulties,
• communicate concerns straightforwardly,
• engage in conflict when necessary,
• express views or opinions in a frank manner, and
• say things clearly, not leaving much open to interpretation.
An indirect style means people prefer to
• focus not just on what is said but on how it is said,
• discreetly avoid difficult or contentious issues,
• express concerns tactfully,
• avoid conflict if at all possible,
• express views or opinions diplomatically, and
• count on the listener to interpret meaning.
These cultural challenges result in miscommunications and misperceptions which can only be overcome by each group reaching out to understand the other, but which are most effectively (and quickly) overcome by a comprehensive training program and ample opportunity for Chinese faculty members to engage with other teachers and participate in regular workshops, and observe classes / participate in teaching. This, however, results in a greater investment of resources by the school looking to implement the Chinese program.
Mandarin is easier than other Western languages in many ways: Chinese has negligible grammar - there is no need to conjugate verbs, worry about tenses, or match gender or number. What is much tougher for U.S students, however, is the number of characters students have to memorize and the mastery of tones (depending on the inflection, the word ji could mean “chicken” or “to remember”).
However, as most parents of U.S. students know, China will probably be the world's largest economy within twenty years and a monumental force in every dimension of life. Studying Chinese gives U.S. students insights into one of the world's great civilizations and creates a wealth of economic opportunities for those who can master the language and have an understanding of the culture.
As the Chinese economy surges, so does global interest in Mandarin. According to the Economist magazine [available at http://www.economist.com/node/17522444?story_id=17522444&fsrc=rss] the Chinese government estimates some 40m people currently study Mandarin outside the country, up from 30m in 2005. A tight job market in the West is partly responsible.
From this same report,
“According to a survey in September by Rosetta Stone, 58% of Americans believe the lack of foreign-language skills among native workers will lead to foreigners taking high-paying jobs. “The recession has focused people on where growth is going to come from,” says Tom Adams, the firm’s chief executive. Among existing corporate customers logging into the company’s multi-language programme, the number learning Mandarin increased by 1,800% between 2008 and 2010.”
The U.S.. needs to do better job training a culturally savvy workforce. However, according to Newsweek [available at www.newsweek.com/2010/12/06/not-much-progress-in-america-s-chinese-problem.html] even though those 40 million foreigners are studying Mandarin outside of China, only 50,000 of them are in the United States.
How to Teach Chinese to a Multi-Cultural Class of American Students?
What can we do? How can we ensure that our children will be able to take advantage of the opportunities that learning Chinese offers? At our organization, the non-profit Chinese Language School of Connecticut, we have always believed outreach is key. If parents, teachers, staff, students and volunteers can reach out to groups such as China Institute, Asia Society, Ascend Pan-Asian Leadership, Committee of 1,000, Families with Children From China, and others, the synergy will create a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts.
However, more actionable steps include:
1. Create a tight curriculum with relevant, engaging, hands-on, age-appropriate activities, which is integrated into other school programs
Remember that you are teaching American students; very young children are used to being encouraged to “express themselves” all the time. Preschool teachers routinely sing and dance with children. This approach has many merits, but also means young children are not taught to sit still, and won’t be happy in a class where they are required to do a lot of sitting. (Parents won’t be happy, either.)
Make sure your materials conform to age-appropriate, relevant, topics. At CLSC, in some cases we had tried to use books supposedly designed for very young children, but these materials discussed topics such as “telling time” in their books for 4 and 5 year olds (which meant that we had to design our own material). For elementary-age and older students integrate tools such as SmartBoards, iPods (which offer Chinese applications) and real-time chat activities to help students practice when they’re not in class.
2. Integrate history, art and culture into the classroom to keep things engaging and provide historical perspective
This doesn’t mean only “correct, Ancient Chinese culture,” but, depending on students’ ages, should include the history of the Chinese court, warlords, and the Boxer Rebellion. American students (and parents) like debate: China takes a more positive view of the Boxers than Western countries do (probably because Western countries were the ones doing the invading), so have students debate the issues. Field trips to museums and restaurants are terrific, and can put learning in context. Creating art based on periods in Chinese history, or developing models of items the Chinese invented is interactive and fun, and can give students a sense of the global power China held for much of its 5,000+ history.
3. Bring in facets of modern day Chinese society
All students are interested in what children of their own age in other countries are doing each day. Have them learn about and discuss food, school, pop music, and modern history. Include details on the huge Chinese presence all over the world, such as in Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Canada, and Malaysia. Engage your school in developing a sister school program with another school in China. Younger students can write (or email) pen pals. Older students can debate human rights, economic freedoms, and environmental issues.
Again, these activities are engaging for students of varying ages, but also put their Chinese language learning in context.
4. Teachers
Most important is recruiting and training teachers.
For younger students, preschool to grade 1, make certain the teachers are well-trained and focused on the curriculum, of course, but even more important should be the understanding of how they should interact and relate to the children. Smile, a lot. Laugh with them, sit on the floor and show interest in what they’re doing. Play music, sing songs, explain each word and then sing again. Do activities with music playing in the background. If teachers are hired who genuinely love children, and teaching, this will be relatively easy.
For older students, teachers should try to engage with them. This is relatively easy with first through fourth graders; they’re normally fairly easy going, friendly, and want to please their teachers. However, engaging with older students gets progressively harder, through the high school years. At CLSC we often see many teachers working diligently to engage with older students, they try and try, but often fail. Especially for older students, the teachers that normally accomplish the most are those who are friendly, but firm. Who establish and reinforce guidelines, lesson plans, and measurements. You may not be the most popular teacher, but you will gain students’ (and parents’) respect.
The best training for any teacher (indeed, anyone wishing to learn U.S. culture) is probably to “just do it” – get out there and experience as much as you can. Learn new topics in different areas, participate in as many professional development workshops as you can. Make friends with lots of different people. Ask other teachers (math, language arts, Spanish teachers) if you can observe their classes (they’ll be happy you asked). Share your culture and childhood experiences with your students.
5. Parents
Remember that most U.S. parents do not know anything about Chinese (except that they’ve heard it’s “really hard”). Many do not know there is no Chinese “alphabet.” They think each Chinese character is a “letter” that makes up a word. They don’t understand the idea of a tonal language, and often cannot even differentiate between tones; they literally don’t hear the difference.
If the children are young, and parents are with them in the class (or are expected to help them do homework or follow up with lessons), teachers need to communicate regularly, clearly, on what is expected. Parents are used to hearing from their children’s teachers regularly, and they will need to hear from you in order to understand what their child is learning. Provide ideas and links for educational materials they can purchase in order to help their child learn.
This goes for older students’ parents, as well, but you might additionally email relevant articles of interest, such as Goldman Sachs’ forecasts of how the Chinese economy will overtake the U.S.’s by 2027 (a good reason for their children to continue with Chinese), or how learning Mandarin can help them with standardized test-taking (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,” from
http://www.chineselanguageschool.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=37).
When communities, schools, teachers and parents work together to help students understand China’s enormous (and growing) global economic presence, they will be more likely to understand the importance of learning Chinese in order to develop a sense of Chinese history and culture, while cultivating a global worldview.
Susan Serven （江华）is co-founder, president, and Board member of the non-profit Chinese Language School of Connecticut. She adopted daughters Emily （华 铭娟）from Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, in August 1996, and Rebecca (江玉风)from Gao Ming City, Guangdong Province, China, in October 2000. Susan founded the Chopstix pre-school 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.
Coaching and Much More for Chinese Students Looking to U.S
You think your kids have it rough? Read the below to find out how Chinese students are preparing themselves for top U.S. universities.
Coaching and Much More for Chinese Students Looking to U.S.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/business/global/30college.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
BEIJING — In December 2009, a rejection letter from Columbia University found its way to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. It was addressed to Lu Jingyu, a top student and member of her school’s student government. As she read the disheartening words, Ms. Lu immediately began to panic. Where had she gone wrong? How could she fix this?
For answers, she turned to ThinkTank Learning, a college admission consulting company from California that had recently opened an office in Shenzhen, next door to Hong Kong.
“I wanted American professionals to look at my application and shed some new light on how I could make it better,” she said.
The price was steep: 100,000 renminbi, or $15,000. But it came with a 100 percent money-back guarantee — if Ms. Lu was rejected from the nine selective U.S. universities to which she applied, her family would get a full refund.
Ms. Lu brainstormed with a ThinkTank consultant on ways to redo her admissions essay, which had originally been about playing badminton. The new version she came up with focused on a cross-strait dialogue conference that Ms. Lu had organized with high schoolers in Taiwan.
Happily for Ms. Lu and for ThinkTank, the approach worked. She has just completed her first year at the University of Pennsylvania.
As a record number of students from outside the United States compete for a limited number of spots at the most selective American colleges, companies like ThinkTank are seeking to profit from their ambitions.
In the United States, students have long turned to independent college counselors, but in recent years, larger outfits have entered the market, offering full-service designer courses, extracurricular activities and focused application assistance. These services have spread to the fast-growing and lucrative market in China.
With China sending more students to American colleges than any other country, the competition for spots at the top schools has soared. During the 2009-10 academic year, 39,947 Chinese undergraduates were studying in the United States, a 52 percent increase from the year before and about five times as many as five years earlier, according to the Institute of International Education, a U.S. organization.
But students from China can find themselves ill-prepared for the admissions process at American colleges. The education system in mainland China focuses on assiduous preparation for the national university entrance exam, the gaokao, often at the expense of extracurricular activities.
About 400 overseas education agencies — including joint Chinese-foreign schools, language training centers and college application consulting agencies — are certified by the Chinese Ministry of Education. The ministry is affiliated with the two largest application consulting agencies in China, the China Center for International Education Exchange and Chivast Education International.
Some of these agencies offer to write their clients’ college essays from scratch, train them for alumni interviews and even modify student transcripts, consultants have said.
Capitalizing on the increasingly globalized education system, ThinkTank Learning has tapped into the market in the United States and China.
The founder of the company is Steven Ma, 32, a former Wall Street analyst who started the company as a business for preparing students for college entrance tests in 2002 before expanding into application consulting in 2006, starting with seven students. In 2010, that number had risen to 300, including 75 from China. The company said it made about $7 million last year, with 50 percent from admission consulting.
ThinkTank said it was able to distill the college admissions process into an exact science, which Mr. Ma compared with genetic engineering. “We make unnatural stuff happen,” he said.
Students, whose parents often pay tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, are molded by ThinkTank into well-rounded, socially conscious overachievers through a regimen often beginning as early as the year before entering high school. The company designs extracurricular activities for the students; guides them in essay writing; tutors them for the SAT, the U.S. college admission exam; and helps them with meet-and-greet sessions with alumni.
“There’s a system built by colleges designed to pick out future stars and we are here to crack that system,” Mr. Ma said.
LuShuang Xu provides an example of that approach. Ms. Xu, who was born and raised in China before emigrating to suburban California at age 9, had high hopes that she would be the first in her family to go to college. But poor results on a practice SAT and a dearth of extracurricular activities convinced Ms. Xu, 17, that she needed a scholastic makeover if she were to make it into a school her parents could brag about to relatives.
ThinkTank sent her to a public speaking camp, helped her improve her college essay and gave her the e-mail addresses of all the members of the Stanford University history department. At the company’s prompting, she found two internships with department professors. She also enrolled in ThinkTank’s college prep courses, which helped improve her SAT score 410 points to 2160 out of 2400. Next autumn, she will start at Harvard University.
ThinkTank’s success with students in California’s Asian-American community, which accounts for 90 percent of the company’s American clients, has drawn interest from wealthy parents in China. Mr. Ma opened an office in Shenzhen in 2009 and another in Beijing last year.
The company entered China at a time when the college consulting industry on the mainland was booming, with numerous agencies promising to make Chinese student’s academic dreams come true, often through questionable practices.
One company, Best Education, has offices across China and charges clients an average of 500,000 renminbi for writing clients’ essays, training them for the visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and providing career guidance.
“The students just supply their information and we do all the work,” said one representative, who requested anonymity to protect his job. Best Education offers a 50 percent refund if an applicant is rejected by the student’s chosen schools.
Chinese agencies may not want to alert colleges to their involvement, because applications that clearly appear to come from agencies are rejected by U.S. colleges, but the agencies promote their success in Mandarin. The Future Boshi Overseas Education Agency in Beijing gives a tally on its Web site of clients admitted by each university, including two to Harvard in 2010 and one in 2011.
Reached by telephone, an agency representative said the company did a lot more than just polish résumés. “If a client’s English is poor, our trained professionals can write the essay to make sure it looks perfect,” she said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions from her employer.
The industry’s aggressive practices have been condemned by many American colleges, which say they disapprove of students’ families hiring consultants.
“Students have a responsibility to identify their own path toward future goals, rather than keying in how to get into a certain school,” said Barbara Knuth, the vice provost at Cornell University in New York State, who oversees undergraduate admissions.
Harvard said in an e-mail that it “reviews every application individually and has no interaction” with college admission consulting firms, “though we are certainly aware of their existence.” The University of Pennsylvania, which accepted Ms. Lu from Shenzhen, did not respond to requests for comment.
Despite the universities’ unease with these practices, application consulting has proved too profitable to ignore.
Mr. Ma said that out of 110 mainland students, only one has needed a refund, though two clients have been granted admission only if they pay full tuition.
Helping students from China clear the college entry hurdles has presented ThinkTank with a fresh set of challenges. Often they have poor English language skills and have done little with their free time beyond homework. Yet their parents often demand the Ivy League.
“We really have to hold their hand and do everything along with them,” Mr. Ma said, including deliberately leaving spelling mistakes on college essays so they look authentic, training them for the Test of English as a Foreign Language and building extracurricular activities from the ground up.
ThinkTank has founded Model United Nations groups, built a Web site for a Shanghai student’s photography project to get news media coverage and helped another obtain funding to build a hydroelectric generator. For ambitious Chinese parents, ThinkTank’s sales pitch is difficult to resist. Li Manhong, a homemaker from Beijing, has planned for years to send her 17-year-old son to an American college, going so far as to enroll him in a private high school in Portland, Oregon, for the past two years to improve his English and his résumé.
After learning about ThinkTank from a neighbor, Ms. Li persuaded her husband to sign a contract for 90,000 renminbi, which focuses on nine selective U.S. schools. ThinkTank will train her son for the SAT and help him pick internships and even college courses once he becomes a freshman. Ms. Li sees the cost as an investment in her son’s future.
“Whatever it takes to reach his maximum potential,” she said. “It’s worth it.”
Coaching and Much More for Chinese Students Looking to U.S.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/business/global/30college.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
BEIJING — In December 2009, a rejection letter from Columbia University found its way to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. It was addressed to Lu Jingyu, a top student and member of her school’s student government. As she read the disheartening words, Ms. Lu immediately began to panic. Where had she gone wrong? How could she fix this?
For answers, she turned to ThinkTank Learning, a college admission consulting company from California that had recently opened an office in Shenzhen, next door to Hong Kong.
“I wanted American professionals to look at my application and shed some new light on how I could make it better,” she said.
The price was steep: 100,000 renminbi, or $15,000. But it came with a 100 percent money-back guarantee — if Ms. Lu was rejected from the nine selective U.S. universities to which she applied, her family would get a full refund.
Ms. Lu brainstormed with a ThinkTank consultant on ways to redo her admissions essay, which had originally been about playing badminton. The new version she came up with focused on a cross-strait dialogue conference that Ms. Lu had organized with high schoolers in Taiwan.
Happily for Ms. Lu and for ThinkTank, the approach worked. She has just completed her first year at the University of Pennsylvania.
As a record number of students from outside the United States compete for a limited number of spots at the most selective American colleges, companies like ThinkTank are seeking to profit from their ambitions.
In the United States, students have long turned to independent college counselors, but in recent years, larger outfits have entered the market, offering full-service designer courses, extracurricular activities and focused application assistance. These services have spread to the fast-growing and lucrative market in China.
With China sending more students to American colleges than any other country, the competition for spots at the top schools has soared. During the 2009-10 academic year, 39,947 Chinese undergraduates were studying in the United States, a 52 percent increase from the year before and about five times as many as five years earlier, according to the Institute of International Education, a U.S. organization.
But students from China can find themselves ill-prepared for the admissions process at American colleges. The education system in mainland China focuses on assiduous preparation for the national university entrance exam, the gaokao, often at the expense of extracurricular activities.
About 400 overseas education agencies — including joint Chinese-foreign schools, language training centers and college application consulting agencies — are certified by the Chinese Ministry of Education. The ministry is affiliated with the two largest application consulting agencies in China, the China Center for International Education Exchange and Chivast Education International.
Some of these agencies offer to write their clients’ college essays from scratch, train them for alumni interviews and even modify student transcripts, consultants have said.
Capitalizing on the increasingly globalized education system, ThinkTank Learning has tapped into the market in the United States and China.
The founder of the company is Steven Ma, 32, a former Wall Street analyst who started the company as a business for preparing students for college entrance tests in 2002 before expanding into application consulting in 2006, starting with seven students. In 2010, that number had risen to 300, including 75 from China. The company said it made about $7 million last year, with 50 percent from admission consulting.
ThinkTank said it was able to distill the college admissions process into an exact science, which Mr. Ma compared with genetic engineering. “We make unnatural stuff happen,” he said.
Students, whose parents often pay tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, are molded by ThinkTank into well-rounded, socially conscious overachievers through a regimen often beginning as early as the year before entering high school. The company designs extracurricular activities for the students; guides them in essay writing; tutors them for the SAT, the U.S. college admission exam; and helps them with meet-and-greet sessions with alumni.
“There’s a system built by colleges designed to pick out future stars and we are here to crack that system,” Mr. Ma said.
LuShuang Xu provides an example of that approach. Ms. Xu, who was born and raised in China before emigrating to suburban California at age 9, had high hopes that she would be the first in her family to go to college. But poor results on a practice SAT and a dearth of extracurricular activities convinced Ms. Xu, 17, that she needed a scholastic makeover if she were to make it into a school her parents could brag about to relatives.
ThinkTank sent her to a public speaking camp, helped her improve her college essay and gave her the e-mail addresses of all the members of the Stanford University history department. At the company’s prompting, she found two internships with department professors. She also enrolled in ThinkTank’s college prep courses, which helped improve her SAT score 410 points to 2160 out of 2400. Next autumn, she will start at Harvard University.
ThinkTank’s success with students in California’s Asian-American community, which accounts for 90 percent of the company’s American clients, has drawn interest from wealthy parents in China. Mr. Ma opened an office in Shenzhen in 2009 and another in Beijing last year.
The company entered China at a time when the college consulting industry on the mainland was booming, with numerous agencies promising to make Chinese student’s academic dreams come true, often through questionable practices.
One company, Best Education, has offices across China and charges clients an average of 500,000 renminbi for writing clients’ essays, training them for the visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and providing career guidance.
“The students just supply their information and we do all the work,” said one representative, who requested anonymity to protect his job. Best Education offers a 50 percent refund if an applicant is rejected by the student’s chosen schools.
Chinese agencies may not want to alert colleges to their involvement, because applications that clearly appear to come from agencies are rejected by U.S. colleges, but the agencies promote their success in Mandarin. The Future Boshi Overseas Education Agency in Beijing gives a tally on its Web site of clients admitted by each university, including two to Harvard in 2010 and one in 2011.
Reached by telephone, an agency representative said the company did a lot more than just polish résumés. “If a client’s English is poor, our trained professionals can write the essay to make sure it looks perfect,” she said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions from her employer.
The industry’s aggressive practices have been condemned by many American colleges, which say they disapprove of students’ families hiring consultants.
“Students have a responsibility to identify their own path toward future goals, rather than keying in how to get into a certain school,” said Barbara Knuth, the vice provost at Cornell University in New York State, who oversees undergraduate admissions.
Harvard said in an e-mail that it “reviews every application individually and has no interaction” with college admission consulting firms, “though we are certainly aware of their existence.” The University of Pennsylvania, which accepted Ms. Lu from Shenzhen, did not respond to requests for comment.
Despite the universities’ unease with these practices, application consulting has proved too profitable to ignore.
Mr. Ma said that out of 110 mainland students, only one has needed a refund, though two clients have been granted admission only if they pay full tuition.
Helping students from China clear the college entry hurdles has presented ThinkTank with a fresh set of challenges. Often they have poor English language skills and have done little with their free time beyond homework. Yet their parents often demand the Ivy League.
“We really have to hold their hand and do everything along with them,” Mr. Ma said, including deliberately leaving spelling mistakes on college essays so they look authentic, training them for the Test of English as a Foreign Language and building extracurricular activities from the ground up.
ThinkTank has founded Model United Nations groups, built a Web site for a Shanghai student’s photography project to get news media coverage and helped another obtain funding to build a hydroelectric generator. For ambitious Chinese parents, ThinkTank’s sales pitch is difficult to resist. Li Manhong, a homemaker from Beijing, has planned for years to send her 17-year-old son to an American college, going so far as to enroll him in a private high school in Portland, Oregon, for the past two years to improve his English and his résumé.
After learning about ThinkTank from a neighbor, Ms. Li persuaded her husband to sign a contract for 90,000 renminbi, which focuses on nine selective U.S. schools. ThinkTank will train her son for the SAT and help him pick internships and even college courses once he becomes a freshman. Ms. Li sees the cost as an investment in her son’s future.
“Whatever it takes to reach his maximum potential,” she said. “It’s worth it.”
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Chinese poised be the #1 most popular language on the web
English Is Out: Chinese to Rule the World Wide WebBy: Hillary Brenhouse
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/03/english-is-out-chinese-to-rule-the-world-wide-web/#ixzz1A7EtNjKU
“Great Firewall” or not, Chinese Web surfers have overtaken the intertubes and so, it turns out, has their mother tongue. The stats are in: Chinese is poised to outpace English as the dominant language online.
Some say we (sort of) have Al Gore to thank for the Internet, but it may as well have been made in China: the number of Web users in the Middle Kingdom soared to 450 million—more than a third of the country's population—this year, according to Wang Chen, head of China's State Council Information Office. The U.S. boasts just under half that many, but since English is more widely spoken globally, a majority of sites are published in that language.
Not for much longer. An infographic by Nextweb, based on statistics culled by the marketing firm Internet World Stats, shows that—with Web use in China growing at such a rapid rate—it could take less than five years for Chinese to become the most popular language on the Net.
With the boom in China's Internet usage has come a rise in government censorship. Sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are still frequently off-limits to its denizens. China's extensive Internet policing system this year shut down more than 60,000 websites deemed harmful or politically subversive. It's safe to say that almost all the rest of them speak Beijing's language, or will soon.
(Visit the Chinese Language School of Connecticut's web site to see how you can begin your children's Chinese language learning.)
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/03/english-is-out-chinese-to-rule-the-world-wide-web/#ixzz1A7EtNjKU
“Great Firewall” or not, Chinese Web surfers have overtaken the intertubes and so, it turns out, has their mother tongue. The stats are in: Chinese is poised to outpace English as the dominant language online.
Some say we (sort of) have Al Gore to thank for the Internet, but it may as well have been made in China: the number of Web users in the Middle Kingdom soared to 450 million—more than a third of the country's population—this year, according to Wang Chen, head of China's State Council Information Office. The U.S. boasts just under half that many, but since English is more widely spoken globally, a majority of sites are published in that language.
Not for much longer. An infographic by Nextweb, based on statistics culled by the marketing firm Internet World Stats, shows that—with Web use in China growing at such a rapid rate—it could take less than five years for Chinese to become the most popular language on the Net.
With the boom in China's Internet usage has come a rise in government censorship. Sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are still frequently off-limits to its denizens. China's extensive Internet policing system this year shut down more than 60,000 websites deemed harmful or politically subversive. It's safe to say that almost all the rest of them speak Beijing's language, or will soon.
(Visit the Chinese Language School of Connecticut's web site to see how you can begin your children's Chinese language learning.)
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
From CNN: Education survey shows eight of top 10 performing countries are in Asia-Pacific region
From: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/12/07/school.results.us.asia.desai/index.html
You can also watch a video about this at http://asiasociety.org/video/education-learning/asia-top-class and also a video called Why Languages Matter at http://asiasociety.org/video/education-learning/why-language-matters
The U.S. must start learning from Asia
By Vishakha N. Desai, Special to CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Education survey shows eight of top 10 performing countries are in Asia-Pacific region
Studies show higher test scores in math and science are associated with higher growth
High quality teachers and emphasis on math and science are factors, Desai says
Desai: Asia can look to America for clues in cultivating innovation and creativity
Vishakha N. Desai is president of Asia Society, which promotes the teaching of Chinese language and international studies in U.S. schools.
(CNN) -- Results of a global education survey today show U.S. high school students come in a dispiriting 26th out of 65 places worldwide in combined scores for math, science and reading tests.
The OECD's Program for International Assessment (PISA) suggests that while America lags, Asia soars: Out of the top 10, eight are in the Asia-Pacific region -- led by Shanghai and Hong Kong in China, Singapore, South Korea and Japan.
The rise of education in Asia is no accident. It reflects deliberate policies and long-term investments that recognize the centrality of quality education to a nation's economic growth.
Studies on PISA data show that higher test scores in math and science are associated with higher growth rates that, in turn, lead to higher incomes. These countries understand, as former Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong has said: "A nation's wealth in the 21st century will depend on the capacity of its people to learn."
What do Asian school systems do to produce such achievement?
There is no one "Asian way" to academic success, just as not all Asian nations are equally successful. Shanghai is the leading edge in China but disparities remain within the country.
There are, however, common themes that permeate high-performing Asian school systems. These include:
• Rigorous standards and coherent curricula. Asian nations establish high academic standards and a demanding school curriculum that clearly defines the content to be taught and is sequenced to build on a student's abilities step by step. Teachers are expected to teach the full curriculum to all students, and schools have substantial responsibility and autonomy to design a program of instruction that meets students' needs.
• High-quality teachers and principals. Teachers are routinely recruited from among the top high-school graduates and, unlike in the U.S., principals generally do not apply to become school leaders as much as they are selected and prepared to do so. There are comprehensive systems for selecting, training, compensating and developing teachers and principals -- delivering tremendous skill right to the classroom.
• Emphasis on math and science. Math and science training begins early in primary school and rigorous courses such as biology, chemistry and physics, as well as algebra and geometry are part of a core curriculum for secondary school. Specialist teachers are often employed in elementary schools unlike "generalists" usually found in U.S. schools.
• Time and Effort. With longer school years and sometimes longer school days, Asian students often have the equivalent of several more years of schooling by the time they finish high school than the typical American student. Asian students are also expected to work hard in school, reflecting a societal belief that developing one's skills and knowledge reflects effort more than innate ability.
Aligning education goals to economic development, Asian nations have built strong school systems by scouring the world -- including the United States -- for effective practices and weaving them together in ways that mesh with their cultural values.
Recognizing the fast pace of change in the world's economic and civic environment, their focus now is on developing teachers, principals and students who are expected to have a global outlook and be "future ready."
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said: "The simple truth is that America has a great deal to learn from the educational practices of other countries."
Models of best practice exist all over the world, but are most noticeably increasing in Asia. And, it's not a one-way street. Asian nations struggle with outmoded instructional practices and an over-reliance on high-pressure examinations -- and they continue to look to America for clues in cultivating innovation in teaching and creativity in their students.
The time has come for America to learn from -- and with -- Asia and the world.
Our ability to compete and lead in a global economy may well depend on it.
You can also watch a video about this at http://asiasociety.org/video/education-learning/asia-top-class and also a video called Why Languages Matter at http://asiasociety.org/video/education-learning/why-language-matters
The U.S. must start learning from Asia
By Vishakha N. Desai, Special to CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Education survey shows eight of top 10 performing countries are in Asia-Pacific region
Studies show higher test scores in math and science are associated with higher growth
High quality teachers and emphasis on math and science are factors, Desai says
Desai: Asia can look to America for clues in cultivating innovation and creativity
Vishakha N. Desai is president of Asia Society, which promotes the teaching of Chinese language and international studies in U.S. schools.
(CNN) -- Results of a global education survey today show U.S. high school students come in a dispiriting 26th out of 65 places worldwide in combined scores for math, science and reading tests.
The OECD's Program for International Assessment (PISA) suggests that while America lags, Asia soars: Out of the top 10, eight are in the Asia-Pacific region -- led by Shanghai and Hong Kong in China, Singapore, South Korea and Japan.
The rise of education in Asia is no accident. It reflects deliberate policies and long-term investments that recognize the centrality of quality education to a nation's economic growth.
Studies on PISA data show that higher test scores in math and science are associated with higher growth rates that, in turn, lead to higher incomes. These countries understand, as former Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong has said: "A nation's wealth in the 21st century will depend on the capacity of its people to learn."
What do Asian school systems do to produce such achievement?
There is no one "Asian way" to academic success, just as not all Asian nations are equally successful. Shanghai is the leading edge in China but disparities remain within the country.
There are, however, common themes that permeate high-performing Asian school systems. These include:
• Rigorous standards and coherent curricula. Asian nations establish high academic standards and a demanding school curriculum that clearly defines the content to be taught and is sequenced to build on a student's abilities step by step. Teachers are expected to teach the full curriculum to all students, and schools have substantial responsibility and autonomy to design a program of instruction that meets students' needs.
• High-quality teachers and principals. Teachers are routinely recruited from among the top high-school graduates and, unlike in the U.S., principals generally do not apply to become school leaders as much as they are selected and prepared to do so. There are comprehensive systems for selecting, training, compensating and developing teachers and principals -- delivering tremendous skill right to the classroom.
• Emphasis on math and science. Math and science training begins early in primary school and rigorous courses such as biology, chemistry and physics, as well as algebra and geometry are part of a core curriculum for secondary school. Specialist teachers are often employed in elementary schools unlike "generalists" usually found in U.S. schools.
• Time and Effort. With longer school years and sometimes longer school days, Asian students often have the equivalent of several more years of schooling by the time they finish high school than the typical American student. Asian students are also expected to work hard in school, reflecting a societal belief that developing one's skills and knowledge reflects effort more than innate ability.
Aligning education goals to economic development, Asian nations have built strong school systems by scouring the world -- including the United States -- for effective practices and weaving them together in ways that mesh with their cultural values.
Recognizing the fast pace of change in the world's economic and civic environment, their focus now is on developing teachers, principals and students who are expected to have a global outlook and be "future ready."
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said: "The simple truth is that America has a great deal to learn from the educational practices of other countries."
Models of best practice exist all over the world, but are most noticeably increasing in Asia. And, it's not a one-way street. Asian nations struggle with outmoded instructional practices and an over-reliance on high-pressure examinations -- and they continue to look to America for clues in cultivating innovation in teaching and creativity in their students.
The time has come for America to learn from -- and with -- Asia and the world.
Our ability to compete and lead in a global economy may well depend on it.
Newsweek: America's Chinese Problem
From: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/12/06/not-much-progress-in-america-s-chinese-problem.html
America’s Chinese Problem
The reports of progress are wrong.
by Jerry GuoDecember 06, 2010
Corbis
Cutting-edge programs like those at the immersion charter school Yu Ying in Washington, D.C., and reports of Chinese-language courses popping up in heartland America would all seem to suggest that Americans are on the fast track to learning Chinese—and ultimately understanding China. Indeed, it’s a thesis that just feels right. After all, with the recent economic crisis, Americans must appreciate better than anyone else our frightening loss of a competitive edge to the Chinese. You’ll be hard-pressed, the reasoning goes, to find anyone who doesn’t think grasping the language of the world’s fastest-growing economy is a good idea.
But the sad fact is that Americans are not learning Mandarin, the main tongue spoken in mainland China, in droves. Just take a look at the numbers. According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, in 2008 only 4 percent of middle and high schools that offer foreign-language instruction included Mandarin. That’s up from 1 percent in 1997. While that initially seems like respectable growth, the same survey reveals that 13 percent of schools still offer Latin and a full 10-fold more schools offer French than Mandarin. How is it that one a dead language and the other a language primarily used to impress your dinner companion can trounce one spoken by 1.3 billion natives and many millions more expats and immigrants abroad?
The answer is America’s lack of support for language instruction in the classroom. The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act placed all the emphasis on math and reading, to the detriment of foreign language. The result has been cutbacks in courses, particularly to historically popular languages like French, German, and Russian. This lack of funding is especially worrying with regard to Mandarin instruction, which requires teachers and course material that are more expensive and difficult to acquire than those for, say, Spanish. The Chinese government has tried to kick-start instruction in the U.S., sending some 300 Chinese teachers to American classrooms in the last four years, to the tune of $13,000 per teacher. Convincing parents is another thing. According to a report this September by Wakefield Research, twice as many parents believe their kids should speak Spanish than Chinese.
The comparison between Spanish and Chinese is worth fleshing out, because I suspect both parents and students find the former much less daunting than the latter. Who wouldn’t be put off by all those mind-numbing characters and fast pace of speech? But counterintuitively, Mandarin is easier than Spanish in many ways: there is no need to conjugate verbs, match gender or number, nor worry about tenses. What is much tougher, however, is the sheer number of characters you have to memorize and the mastery of tones (depending on the inflection, the word ji could mean chicken or to remember). Since memorization, particularly when it comes to language acquisition, is a skill that gradually diminishes with age, it’s all the more important for kids to pick up Mandarin from a young age.
Yet there is no culture of teaching language to primary-school students in the U.S., at least outside progressive private schools on the coasts. While students in Europe are learning a second, third, or even fourth language in elementary school, our own are still laboring over cursive. Only 15 percent of elementary schools and 58 percent of middle schools offer any foreign languages, according to the Center for Applied Linguistics. It’s time to come to terms with globalization.
The need to train a culturally savvy workforce is something other countries understand much better. The Chinese government estimates that some 40 million foreigners are studying Mandarin, but according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, only 50,000 of them are in the United States.
Who’s beating us? Asia. The Beijing Language and Culture University Press, which is the biggest publisher of textbooks on learning Chinese in the world, says most of its students are coming from Japan and South Korea, not the U.S. Indonesians are learning Chinese en masse—a 42 percent jump from 2007 to 2009—while this September India’s education minister suggested adding Chinese to the state curriculum. In the U.S., Chinese is the fifth-most-popular language to learn, according to Tom Adams, CEO of the language-instruction company Rosetta Stone. In Japan and South Korea, it’s No. 2. Looks like it’s time to go back to school.
America’s Chinese Problem
The reports of progress are wrong.
by Jerry GuoDecember 06, 2010
Corbis
Cutting-edge programs like those at the immersion charter school Yu Ying in Washington, D.C., and reports of Chinese-language courses popping up in heartland America would all seem to suggest that Americans are on the fast track to learning Chinese—and ultimately understanding China. Indeed, it’s a thesis that just feels right. After all, with the recent economic crisis, Americans must appreciate better than anyone else our frightening loss of a competitive edge to the Chinese. You’ll be hard-pressed, the reasoning goes, to find anyone who doesn’t think grasping the language of the world’s fastest-growing economy is a good idea.
But the sad fact is that Americans are not learning Mandarin, the main tongue spoken in mainland China, in droves. Just take a look at the numbers. According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, in 2008 only 4 percent of middle and high schools that offer foreign-language instruction included Mandarin. That’s up from 1 percent in 1997. While that initially seems like respectable growth, the same survey reveals that 13 percent of schools still offer Latin and a full 10-fold more schools offer French than Mandarin. How is it that one a dead language and the other a language primarily used to impress your dinner companion can trounce one spoken by 1.3 billion natives and many millions more expats and immigrants abroad?
The answer is America’s lack of support for language instruction in the classroom. The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act placed all the emphasis on math and reading, to the detriment of foreign language. The result has been cutbacks in courses, particularly to historically popular languages like French, German, and Russian. This lack of funding is especially worrying with regard to Mandarin instruction, which requires teachers and course material that are more expensive and difficult to acquire than those for, say, Spanish. The Chinese government has tried to kick-start instruction in the U.S., sending some 300 Chinese teachers to American classrooms in the last four years, to the tune of $13,000 per teacher. Convincing parents is another thing. According to a report this September by Wakefield Research, twice as many parents believe their kids should speak Spanish than Chinese.
The comparison between Spanish and Chinese is worth fleshing out, because I suspect both parents and students find the former much less daunting than the latter. Who wouldn’t be put off by all those mind-numbing characters and fast pace of speech? But counterintuitively, Mandarin is easier than Spanish in many ways: there is no need to conjugate verbs, match gender or number, nor worry about tenses. What is much tougher, however, is the sheer number of characters you have to memorize and the mastery of tones (depending on the inflection, the word ji could mean chicken or to remember). Since memorization, particularly when it comes to language acquisition, is a skill that gradually diminishes with age, it’s all the more important for kids to pick up Mandarin from a young age.
Yet there is no culture of teaching language to primary-school students in the U.S., at least outside progressive private schools on the coasts. While students in Europe are learning a second, third, or even fourth language in elementary school, our own are still laboring over cursive. Only 15 percent of elementary schools and 58 percent of middle schools offer any foreign languages, according to the Center for Applied Linguistics. It’s time to come to terms with globalization.
The need to train a culturally savvy workforce is something other countries understand much better. The Chinese government estimates that some 40 million foreigners are studying Mandarin, but according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, only 50,000 of them are in the United States.
Who’s beating us? Asia. The Beijing Language and Culture University Press, which is the biggest publisher of textbooks on learning Chinese in the world, says most of its students are coming from Japan and South Korea, not the U.S. Indonesians are learning Chinese en masse—a 42 percent jump from 2007 to 2009—while this September India’s education minister suggested adding Chinese to the state curriculum. In the U.S., Chinese is the fifth-most-popular language to learn, according to Tom Adams, CEO of the language-instruction company Rosetta Stone. In Japan and South Korea, it’s No. 2. Looks like it’s time to go back to school.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Promoting Multi-Culturalism in our Schools
From: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/education/119031-we-must-promote-multilingualism-in-our-schools-rep-judy-chu?sms_ss=facebook
We must promote multilingualism in our schools (Rep. Judy Chu)
By Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) - 09/15/10 04:31 PM ET
Yesterday, President Obama gave his second annual back-to-school address. In a speech to students at Julia R. Masterman School in Philadelphia, he urged them to take responsibility, work hard and dream big.
The words that really stood out to me, however, came at the end of his remarks when he said, “I want you to take away the notion that life is precious, and part of what makes it so wonderful is its diversity, that all of us are different.” I couldn’t agree more.
Unfortunately, the current system too often limits our students’ exposure to other cultures and languages. If we’re to fully embrace life’s wonderful diversity, this must change.
About a year ago, the President set a goal for our country to reclaim the highest college graduation rate in the world. It’s a worthy goal and one I strongly support, but it’s not enough. We don’t just need college graduates. We need college graduates ready to compete on the world’s stage.
Years ago, my mother immigrated to America at the age of 19, right before our country prohibited travel to China. For the next 25 years, she had virtually no contact with her family. But what isolated her even more was her inability to use English. Until she went to an adult education program to learn her second language, she never fully integrated into American society.
Today, the lack of a second language doesn’t just isolate people. It makes them less competitive. There’s a Spanish proverb that says, “The person who speaks two languages is worth two." And that’s why neglecting foreign language instruction prevents students from realizing their full worth.
Lacking international knowledge and experience, many of today’s young Americans aren’t prepared for the increasingly global economy of tomorrow. This shortcoming limits our ability to address future international challenges. It restrains our relationships with other nations and could someday threaten our national security.
Moreover, studies show that learning a second language improves cognitive flexibility. Because dual language learners naturally consider multiple meanings for words, they’re better able to manage complex situations. And that’s a skill our next generation of supervisors and executives can all use.
That’s why legislation that creates a multilingual society is so important. These programs don’t just promote a second language; they advance the American workforce. Unfortunately, current instruction in our country lags behind our global competitors’. In Asia and Europe, the question is not whether you speak another language – it’s how many.
That’s why I strongly support the Providing Resources to Improve Dual Language Education (PRIDE) Act, which establishes and expands language programs in classrooms across the country, closing this gap. And since children more easily absorb foreign languages than older students and adults, I’ll soon introduce the Global Languages Early Education (GLEE) Act to focus funds on early education. Because, developing our youngest minds is the best path toward increased fluency now and improved competitiveness later.
I’ll be pushing for a greater focus on foreign and dual-language programs in the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support this effort.
Promoting multilingualism in our nation’s schools ensures that the next generation of American students won’t just travel the globe, they’ll shape it.
We must promote multilingualism in our schools (Rep. Judy Chu)
By Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) - 09/15/10 04:31 PM ET
Yesterday, President Obama gave his second annual back-to-school address. In a speech to students at Julia R. Masterman School in Philadelphia, he urged them to take responsibility, work hard and dream big.
The words that really stood out to me, however, came at the end of his remarks when he said, “I want you to take away the notion that life is precious, and part of what makes it so wonderful is its diversity, that all of us are different.” I couldn’t agree more.
Unfortunately, the current system too often limits our students’ exposure to other cultures and languages. If we’re to fully embrace life’s wonderful diversity, this must change.
About a year ago, the President set a goal for our country to reclaim the highest college graduation rate in the world. It’s a worthy goal and one I strongly support, but it’s not enough. We don’t just need college graduates. We need college graduates ready to compete on the world’s stage.
Years ago, my mother immigrated to America at the age of 19, right before our country prohibited travel to China. For the next 25 years, she had virtually no contact with her family. But what isolated her even more was her inability to use English. Until she went to an adult education program to learn her second language, she never fully integrated into American society.
Today, the lack of a second language doesn’t just isolate people. It makes them less competitive. There’s a Spanish proverb that says, “The person who speaks two languages is worth two." And that’s why neglecting foreign language instruction prevents students from realizing their full worth.
Lacking international knowledge and experience, many of today’s young Americans aren’t prepared for the increasingly global economy of tomorrow. This shortcoming limits our ability to address future international challenges. It restrains our relationships with other nations and could someday threaten our national security.
Moreover, studies show that learning a second language improves cognitive flexibility. Because dual language learners naturally consider multiple meanings for words, they’re better able to manage complex situations. And that’s a skill our next generation of supervisors and executives can all use.
That’s why legislation that creates a multilingual society is so important. These programs don’t just promote a second language; they advance the American workforce. Unfortunately, current instruction in our country lags behind our global competitors’. In Asia and Europe, the question is not whether you speak another language – it’s how many.
That’s why I strongly support the Providing Resources to Improve Dual Language Education (PRIDE) Act, which establishes and expands language programs in classrooms across the country, closing this gap. And since children more easily absorb foreign languages than older students and adults, I’ll soon introduce the Global Languages Early Education (GLEE) Act to focus funds on early education. Because, developing our youngest minds is the best path toward increased fluency now and improved competitiveness later.
I’ll be pushing for a greater focus on foreign and dual-language programs in the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support this effort.
Promoting multilingualism in our nation’s schools ensures that the next generation of American students won’t just travel the globe, they’ll shape it.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Great video: Chinese in U.S. Schools
Terrific Asia Society on why our children should be learning Chinese.
http://www.asiasociety.org/video/education-learning/chinese-language-schools?utm_source=Asia+Society+eNews&utm_campaign=f6f01c7ae8-eNews_012610&utm_medium=email
http://www.asiasociety.org/video/education-learning/chinese-language-schools?utm_source=Asia+Society+eNews&utm_campaign=f6f01c7ae8-eNews_012610&utm_medium=email
Thursday, December 17, 2009
CLSC Alumni Student Wins Intel Scholarship
CLSC graduate, current Boston University student and Stamford, CT native, Wes Uy was the winner of the third season of WGBH's Design Squad on PBS and the $10,000 scholarship provided by the Intel Foundation.
The finale episode is currently available in full on
http://pbskids.org/designsquad/season3/index.html
Wes's cast page is http://pbskids.org/designsquad/season3/cast/03-wes.html.
The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series Design Squad is high-energy, high-drama reality TV that lets kids show off their smarts as they design and build working
solutions for real-world clients-people who are hungry for clever ideas from a new
generation of innovators. From creating remote-controlled flying football targets
for Hasbro to dry land dog sleds for the Jamaica Dog Sled Team, the action
culminates in the final episode when the top two scorers battle for the Grand Prize:
a $10,000 college scholarship from the Intel Foundation.
Way to go, Wes!!
The finale episode is currently available in full on
http://pbskids.org/designsquad/season3/index.html
Wes's cast page is http://pbskids.org/designsquad/season3/cast/03-wes.html.
The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series Design Squad is high-energy, high-drama reality TV that lets kids show off their smarts as they design and build working
solutions for real-world clients-people who are hungry for clever ideas from a new
generation of innovators. From creating remote-controlled flying football targets
for Hasbro to dry land dog sleds for the Jamaica Dog Sled Team, the action
culminates in the final episode when the top two scorers battle for the Grand Prize:
a $10,000 college scholarship from the Intel Foundation.
Way to go, Wes!!
Friday, December 11, 2009
CLSC Instructor Initiates Chinese at Bridgeport's Harding High School
CLSC instructor Lei (Gordon) Cheng has faciliated a new Chinese program at Bridgeport's Warren Harding High School.
http://www.newstimes.com/schools/article/Harding-offers-a-new-accent-in-learning-Chinese-278120.php
"Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world. In Connecticut, according to the latest available statistics, just 593 public high school students in the state were studying Chinese. That is double the number taking it in 2005, but compares to 70,791 who took Spanish in 2007"
Harding offers a new accent in learning: Chinese
By Linda Conner Lambeck, STAFF WRITER
Published: 04:15 p.m., Sunday, December 6, 2009
BRIDGEPORT -- Griselle Lopez and Alberto Santiago converse briefly in Spanish, their native tongue, before pulling their chairs together to rehearse a brief monologue in Mandarin Chinese.
"OK, guys," announces Lei "Gordon" Cheng, their instructor, when time is up.
Seven weeks into a course held twice a week after school at Warren Harding High School, Lopez and Santiago, both 17, manage to plow through the transliterated dialogue about how many people are in their family and what they do.
When one stumbled, the other offered a little coaching by mouthing the words or using hand gestures in encouragement. They are followed by five other pairs of Harding students who had varying levels of success with Chinese tone and pronunciation.
Cheng is the first to admit, Chinese is not an easy language to learn. Some say it takes twice as long to learn as other languages. Yet, Cheng said his Harding students seem to have what it takes to learn the language. "They are enthusiastic, self-motivated and smart. I am learning from them. I teach them Chinese. They teach me English, and a little bit of Spanish," said Cheng, who is a University of Bridgeport graduate student.
The program brings together 20 students, most from Harding's World Language Academy, and the resources of UB's School of Education for a year-long class. The class meets from 2:45 to 4:15 twice weekly through the end of the year.
William Jassey, director of the international degree program at UB, said the idea came from Harding Principal Carol Birks, who used to run Gear Up, a college preparatory program, at UB.
"It's just a great opportunity to expose them to another language," said Birks. "We offer French and Spanish. We don't offer Chinese, which is one of the languages students today should know."
Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world. In Connecticut, according to the latest available statistics, just 593 public high school students in the state were studying Chinese. That is double the number taking it in 2005, but compares to 70,791 who took Spanish in 2007.
Birks said she used $5,000 from a federal Small Learning Communities grant to hire the teacher and provide transportation to cultural activities at UB. The class has already made the trip once to campus to meet with UB's large Chinese student population. There is also a before-school Chinese art class.
Leticia Castro, 16, a Harding senior, took the class because she is interested in Chinese culture and wants to become an engineer and may study abroad. "I think it would be interesting to work in China and talk their language. I don't want to be seen as a foreigner," she said.
Getting used to Chinese pronunciation has been a challenge, Castro added, but she feels she is finally getting the hang of it.
"Sometimes I walk home saying things out loud to myself," she said.
Ricardo Perez, a teacher in Harding's World Language Academy, tells the class the best way to learn a language is to try and internalize it. If they have to think about it, it inhibits fluency.
There are handouts and repetition exercises in Cheng's class, but no one seems bored. There is a buzz and frequent laughter as Cheng reviews body parts in Chinese and watches as students reach for toes and noses. He explains that in Chinese, there are different words for family members -- grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, depending on which side of the family they are and who was born first.
"So many words in Chinese you need to know," he said. So many characters, too. Chinese has thousands of them.
Everyone in the class has a Chinese name, just as Cheng adopted "Gordon" as his English identity.
Lopez entered Harding four years ago not knowing how to speak English. She said Chinese is easier than English. "The letter combinations sound the same as Spanish," she insisted.
"The hardest part is speaking it," Aryzandy Tepale, a 14-year-old freshman, said of Chinese.
Marco Aguilar, 16, a sophomore, said his goal is to place an order in Chinese at a Chinese restaurant.
Though some students in the class are still on their way to mastering English, Perez, said learning two languages at once is a good thing. "They can compare grammar and structure and ways of thinking," he said.
Birks has already talked to district officials about the possibility of adding Chinese as a credit course in the curriculum next year.
http://www.newstimes.com/schools/article/Harding-offers-a-new-accent-in-learning-Chinese-278120.php
"Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world. In Connecticut, according to the latest available statistics, just 593 public high school students in the state were studying Chinese. That is double the number taking it in 2005, but compares to 70,791 who took Spanish in 2007"
Harding offers a new accent in learning: Chinese
By Linda Conner Lambeck, STAFF WRITER
Published: 04:15 p.m., Sunday, December 6, 2009
BRIDGEPORT -- Griselle Lopez and Alberto Santiago converse briefly in Spanish, their native tongue, before pulling their chairs together to rehearse a brief monologue in Mandarin Chinese.
"OK, guys," announces Lei "Gordon" Cheng, their instructor, when time is up.
Seven weeks into a course held twice a week after school at Warren Harding High School, Lopez and Santiago, both 17, manage to plow through the transliterated dialogue about how many people are in their family and what they do.
When one stumbled, the other offered a little coaching by mouthing the words or using hand gestures in encouragement. They are followed by five other pairs of Harding students who had varying levels of success with Chinese tone and pronunciation.
Cheng is the first to admit, Chinese is not an easy language to learn. Some say it takes twice as long to learn as other languages. Yet, Cheng said his Harding students seem to have what it takes to learn the language. "They are enthusiastic, self-motivated and smart. I am learning from them. I teach them Chinese. They teach me English, and a little bit of Spanish," said Cheng, who is a University of Bridgeport graduate student.
The program brings together 20 students, most from Harding's World Language Academy, and the resources of UB's School of Education for a year-long class. The class meets from 2:45 to 4:15 twice weekly through the end of the year.
William Jassey, director of the international degree program at UB, said the idea came from Harding Principal Carol Birks, who used to run Gear Up, a college preparatory program, at UB.
"It's just a great opportunity to expose them to another language," said Birks. "We offer French and Spanish. We don't offer Chinese, which is one of the languages students today should know."
Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world. In Connecticut, according to the latest available statistics, just 593 public high school students in the state were studying Chinese. That is double the number taking it in 2005, but compares to 70,791 who took Spanish in 2007.
Birks said she used $5,000 from a federal Small Learning Communities grant to hire the teacher and provide transportation to cultural activities at UB. The class has already made the trip once to campus to meet with UB's large Chinese student population. There is also a before-school Chinese art class.
Leticia Castro, 16, a Harding senior, took the class because she is interested in Chinese culture and wants to become an engineer and may study abroad. "I think it would be interesting to work in China and talk their language. I don't want to be seen as a foreigner," she said.
Getting used to Chinese pronunciation has been a challenge, Castro added, but she feels she is finally getting the hang of it.
"Sometimes I walk home saying things out loud to myself," she said.
Ricardo Perez, a teacher in Harding's World Language Academy, tells the class the best way to learn a language is to try and internalize it. If they have to think about it, it inhibits fluency.
There are handouts and repetition exercises in Cheng's class, but no one seems bored. There is a buzz and frequent laughter as Cheng reviews body parts in Chinese and watches as students reach for toes and noses. He explains that in Chinese, there are different words for family members -- grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, depending on which side of the family they are and who was born first.
"So many words in Chinese you need to know," he said. So many characters, too. Chinese has thousands of them.
Everyone in the class has a Chinese name, just as Cheng adopted "Gordon" as his English identity.
Lopez entered Harding four years ago not knowing how to speak English. She said Chinese is easier than English. "The letter combinations sound the same as Spanish," she insisted.
"The hardest part is speaking it," Aryzandy Tepale, a 14-year-old freshman, said of Chinese.
Marco Aguilar, 16, a sophomore, said his goal is to place an order in Chinese at a Chinese restaurant.
Though some students in the class are still on their way to mastering English, Perez, said learning two languages at once is a good thing. "They can compare grammar and structure and ways of thinking," he said.
Birks has already talked to district officials about the possibility of adding Chinese as a credit course in the curriculum next year.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Chinese New Year Festival!
The Chinese Language School of Connecticut will be holding its 8th Annual Chinese New Year Festival on Sunday, February 7, 2010, 12-4pm, at the Stamford Plaza Hotel and Conference Center.
Please join us and help us ring in the Year of the Tiger!
For more info please visit www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
CLSC Teacher Claire Huang Featured
CLSC Teacher Claire Huang was recently featured in a Families with Children from China magazine article on girls adopted from China, learning Chinese.
If you'd like to form a private tutoring group in your area, please contact the Chinese Language School of Connecticut at info@ChineseLanguageSchool.org or visit them at www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
CLSC Staff Invited to Harvard Chinese AP Workshop
CLSC Staff members recently returned from an October workshop on Chinese AP training, sponsored by the ACTFL and Harvard University.
This workshop was by invitation, and a grant covered the fees. For info on the program, what was covered, or how to advance your child's studies in Chinese via classes or private tutoring, please contact the Chinese Language School of Connecticut at info@ChineseLanguageSchool.org.
Pictured are CLSC Principal Daisy Chen Laone, Program Director Jopi Shen, Vice Principal Xian Xian Feng, teachers I-Hui Li, Wendy Zhou Witkowsky, and member Xian Wu, outside Harvard's Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and the famous Jan Ying library.
Photo includes Mr. Bai, Committee Chair of the workshop.
Friday, October 9, 2009
From: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/look-east-why-chinese-lessons-are-booming-1799026.html
There is also an interesting blog and comments section beneath this article, on the web site link. Seems many believe the UK is suffering from many of the same issues the U.S. is: lack of understanding why Chinese is important, lack of certified teachers.
Look East: Why Chinese lessons are booming
Where Chinese was once an exotic subject to study, today it has taken off in many schools. Hilary Wilce finds it has won the ultimate accolade – its own GCSE textbook
Thursday, 8 October 2009
The Independent, London
Two East London schoolgirls are chattering animatedly about their families, but not in English, or in their home languages of Urdu or Bengali. Instead Shajedah Kayum and Johura Hasna are gassing confidently in Mandarin Chinese.
At Kingsford Community School, in Beckton, east London, every pupil studies Mandarin when they start at age 11, and growing numbers are now choosing it at GCSE. Last year, 15 students took the subject and 66 per cent of them achieved A or A* grades. In Year Nine, about 50 students have already embarked – one year early – on Mandarin GCSE.
Kingsford is not alone. Mandarin is fast going mainstream with about 500 schools – no one knows the precise figure – offering it as part of the curriculum, and many more in after-school clubs. The first GCSE Chinese textbook has just been published by Pearson Education, in conjunction with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, tailored to a new EdExcel exam.
The language that used to be seen as an exotic novelty is taking its place as a normal GCSE languages option.
Sceptics say that this is all just a gimmick and that classroom time could be better used to help pupils become competent in a more accessible language such as French or Spanish.
But according to school heads who offer Mandarin courses, which include language and culture, the subject opens pupils' eyes to the biggest country in the world, hones general language skills, engages boys – who relate to the visual and spatial aspects of the language – enhances students' resumes, and can be a subject in which pupils who struggle with other languages do well.
Twelve schools in Britain have now become Confucius Classrooms, receiving support from the Office of Chinese Language Council, known as Hanban, along with help from the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, itself a Confucius Institute since 2006.
This allows them to grow as specialist hubs, helping other schools to bring in Chinese studies.
Kingsford, a language college for 11- to 16-year-olds, is a Confucius Classroom and believes Mandarin has brought many benefits to its pupils. The school is a new one and only moved into its current building in 2002. The original head asked colleagues to suggest innovative cross-curricular programmes and the current head, Joan Deslandes, who was then in charge of humanities, languages and technology, suggested doing something on China.
"China had just joined the World Trade Association, I was interested in Confucius and I thought it was a language which none of our children spoke, so this would be a level playing field," she says. In a school where the pupils speak 55 languages between them, finding such a language was no easy task. Even so, some governors were initially resistant.
But Mandarin triumphed and since then the school has won a national Mandarin-speaking competition, sent students regularly to visit China, and built a close link with Brighton College, an independent school in Sussex, where Mandarin is compulsory.
Three Kingsford students a year go on scholarships to Brighton College to do their A levels. Other pupils have this year moved to other independent schools, including Cheltenham Ladies College, with their applications bolstered by their Mandarin skills.
The Mandarin programme brings many national and international visitors to the school, where they listen to pupils talk and watch them perform a tai chi-based fan dance.
The whole programme has clearly given many pupils a feeling of confidence and achievement. "I really like it and I'm glad I chose it," says Johura Hasna, who is just embarking on her GCSE and says she might want to work as a lawyer using her Chinese.
She was one student who won a trip to China "where, when you started talking people were, like, 'Wow'".
Osman Abdul-Moomin, another Year Nine pupil and who won the trip, says he was struck, in China, by how well everything was organised and how hard people worked. He is delighted he is doing the subject. "Speaking Mandarin – it's a trump card!"
The school has two permanent Mandarin teachers and is looking for a third. It also gets support from Hanban teachers who come on placement from China. Linying Liu is the school's Confucius classroom manager, who is helping to write the new Chinese textbooks. She says that she could easily find a job in an independent school, but is happy in the tougher conditions that Kingsford offers.
For the head teacher Joan Deslandes, the programme is just one aspect of an education of high expectations. Mandarin is in the top three languages that employers say they want, she says.
"But any school that wants to do it will have to have the full backing of the school leadership, and will need to make an investment in curriculum time. And it will have to recognise there are no quick wins here. It will not necessarily make your exam results look good." Even so, Kingsford students, despite coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, far exceed the national GCSE average.
Mandarin has now reached take-off point in British schools with the publication of the new textbook, according to Katharine Carruthers, the director for the SSAT Confucius Institute. "For the first time it is going to look like any other GCSE," she says. "Before it could be seen as something exotic and heads could get away with a bit of teaching after school, but now it's going viral and heads are starting to think, 'I'd better take a look at this because it's obviously changed.'" Textbooks for Key Stages 3 and 2 are also in the pipeline.
According to Andrew Hall, the head of Calday Grange Grammar School, in West Kirby, the home of another Confucius Classroom, the language "has gone from novelty to mainstream" in 10 years. His school works with five other secondary schools as well as with primaries and nurseries. "The students enjoy it and parents are very supportive," he says. "There's a great and growing awareness of China."
But just how proficient are students who have gained GCSE Chinese? In speaking and listening they are not far off the level they would be in, say, French, says Katherine Carruthers. Their reading and writing, however, takes longer, which means the passages that are set for them are shorter and easier. "But there is every sign that the subject is engaging children," she says. "They love learning about the culture and it is very motivating."
There is also an interesting blog and comments section beneath this article, on the web site link. Seems many believe the UK is suffering from many of the same issues the U.S. is: lack of understanding why Chinese is important, lack of certified teachers.
Look East: Why Chinese lessons are booming
Where Chinese was once an exotic subject to study, today it has taken off in many schools. Hilary Wilce finds it has won the ultimate accolade – its own GCSE textbook
Thursday, 8 October 2009
The Independent, London
Two East London schoolgirls are chattering animatedly about their families, but not in English, or in their home languages of Urdu or Bengali. Instead Shajedah Kayum and Johura Hasna are gassing confidently in Mandarin Chinese.
At Kingsford Community School, in Beckton, east London, every pupil studies Mandarin when they start at age 11, and growing numbers are now choosing it at GCSE. Last year, 15 students took the subject and 66 per cent of them achieved A or A* grades. In Year Nine, about 50 students have already embarked – one year early – on Mandarin GCSE.
Kingsford is not alone. Mandarin is fast going mainstream with about 500 schools – no one knows the precise figure – offering it as part of the curriculum, and many more in after-school clubs. The first GCSE Chinese textbook has just been published by Pearson Education, in conjunction with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, tailored to a new EdExcel exam.
The language that used to be seen as an exotic novelty is taking its place as a normal GCSE languages option.
Sceptics say that this is all just a gimmick and that classroom time could be better used to help pupils become competent in a more accessible language such as French or Spanish.
But according to school heads who offer Mandarin courses, which include language and culture, the subject opens pupils' eyes to the biggest country in the world, hones general language skills, engages boys – who relate to the visual and spatial aspects of the language – enhances students' resumes, and can be a subject in which pupils who struggle with other languages do well.
Twelve schools in Britain have now become Confucius Classrooms, receiving support from the Office of Chinese Language Council, known as Hanban, along with help from the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, itself a Confucius Institute since 2006.
This allows them to grow as specialist hubs, helping other schools to bring in Chinese studies.
Kingsford, a language college for 11- to 16-year-olds, is a Confucius Classroom and believes Mandarin has brought many benefits to its pupils. The school is a new one and only moved into its current building in 2002. The original head asked colleagues to suggest innovative cross-curricular programmes and the current head, Joan Deslandes, who was then in charge of humanities, languages and technology, suggested doing something on China.
"China had just joined the World Trade Association, I was interested in Confucius and I thought it was a language which none of our children spoke, so this would be a level playing field," she says. In a school where the pupils speak 55 languages between them, finding such a language was no easy task. Even so, some governors were initially resistant.
But Mandarin triumphed and since then the school has won a national Mandarin-speaking competition, sent students regularly to visit China, and built a close link with Brighton College, an independent school in Sussex, where Mandarin is compulsory.
Three Kingsford students a year go on scholarships to Brighton College to do their A levels. Other pupils have this year moved to other independent schools, including Cheltenham Ladies College, with their applications bolstered by their Mandarin skills.
The Mandarin programme brings many national and international visitors to the school, where they listen to pupils talk and watch them perform a tai chi-based fan dance.
The whole programme has clearly given many pupils a feeling of confidence and achievement. "I really like it and I'm glad I chose it," says Johura Hasna, who is just embarking on her GCSE and says she might want to work as a lawyer using her Chinese.
She was one student who won a trip to China "where, when you started talking people were, like, 'Wow'".
Osman Abdul-Moomin, another Year Nine pupil and who won the trip, says he was struck, in China, by how well everything was organised and how hard people worked. He is delighted he is doing the subject. "Speaking Mandarin – it's a trump card!"
The school has two permanent Mandarin teachers and is looking for a third. It also gets support from Hanban teachers who come on placement from China. Linying Liu is the school's Confucius classroom manager, who is helping to write the new Chinese textbooks. She says that she could easily find a job in an independent school, but is happy in the tougher conditions that Kingsford offers.
For the head teacher Joan Deslandes, the programme is just one aspect of an education of high expectations. Mandarin is in the top three languages that employers say they want, she says.
"But any school that wants to do it will have to have the full backing of the school leadership, and will need to make an investment in curriculum time. And it will have to recognise there are no quick wins here. It will not necessarily make your exam results look good." Even so, Kingsford students, despite coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, far exceed the national GCSE average.
Mandarin has now reached take-off point in British schools with the publication of the new textbook, according to Katharine Carruthers, the director for the SSAT Confucius Institute. "For the first time it is going to look like any other GCSE," she says. "Before it could be seen as something exotic and heads could get away with a bit of teaching after school, but now it's going viral and heads are starting to think, 'I'd better take a look at this because it's obviously changed.'" Textbooks for Key Stages 3 and 2 are also in the pipeline.
According to Andrew Hall, the head of Calday Grange Grammar School, in West Kirby, the home of another Confucius Classroom, the language "has gone from novelty to mainstream" in 10 years. His school works with five other secondary schools as well as with primaries and nurseries. "The students enjoy it and parents are very supportive," he says. "There's a great and growing awareness of China."
But just how proficient are students who have gained GCSE Chinese? In speaking and listening they are not far off the level they would be in, say, French, says Katherine Carruthers. Their reading and writing, however, takes longer, which means the passages that are set for them are shorter and easier. "But there is every sign that the subject is engaging children," she says. "They love learning about the culture and it is very motivating."
Monday, September 7, 2009
American Grads Finding Jobs in China
Thanks to Alumni Parent and Advisory Committee member Laurie Greiss for the following:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/business/economy/11expats.html?_r=1
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/business/economy/11expats.html?_r=1
CLSC Students Skip Levels of High School Chinese
Students who study Chinese (either through CLSC or private tutoring) may be able to skip one or more levels of their high school's Chinese program.
The normal procedure is for parents to check with their school's Chinese instructor the winter or spring before the student is to enter high school so the student may be able to take the high school's Chinese 1 exam to determine placement. For questions as to how your middle school student may be able to advance in Chinese, or on how your high school student may be able to earn college credit in Chinese (while in high school) please visit www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org.
Thanks to CLSC Alumni Parent, Betty Liu, Southport for the following: "Thank you for offering such excellent programs at CLSC. Our high school, Faifield Ludlowe High School, offers Mandarin during the school day. Now that my daughter Ivy is a freshman there, she will be able to take Intermediate Mandarin (She was able to get waived from Beginner Chinese due to her previous Chinese learning). My older daughter Amber also did this last year.
Because Mandarin is so different from English, it seems to tweak the brain in such a way that it enhances learning other subjects as well, the way learning chess and music do. As a result, I believe my kids have done better in school because of studying Chinese. Best of luck on continuing the mission of CLSC."
The normal procedure is for parents to check with their school's Chinese instructor the winter or spring before the student is to enter high school so the student may be able to take the high school's Chinese 1 exam to determine placement. For questions as to how your middle school student may be able to advance in Chinese, or on how your high school student may be able to earn college credit in Chinese (while in high school) please visit www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org.
Thanks to CLSC Alumni Parent, Betty Liu, Southport for the following: "Thank you for offering such excellent programs at CLSC. Our high school, Faifield Ludlowe High School, offers Mandarin during the school day. Now that my daughter Ivy is a freshman there, she will be able to take Intermediate Mandarin (She was able to get waived from Beginner Chinese due to her previous Chinese learning). My older daughter Amber also did this last year.
Because Mandarin is so different from English, it seems to tweak the brain in such a way that it enhances learning other subjects as well, the way learning chess and music do. As a result, I believe my kids have done better in school because of studying Chinese. Best of luck on continuing the mission of CLSC."
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Congress Targets Chinese Education
CLSC was profiled on the CBS Evening News a few years ago, as one of the pioneers in U.S. Chinese education (thanks to parent and Chinese New Year Chair Sam Connell for this link):
http://www.examiner.com/x-15615-Asia-Headlines-Examiner%7Ey2009m7d15-Congress-targets-Chinese-language-education
Congress targets Chinese language education
WASHINGTON - A bill pending in Congress would dramatically expand
Mandarin Chinese language classes for American students. The
measure, the U.S.-China Language Engagement Act, would award
competitive grants to schools to “establish, expand or improve”
Chinese language and cultural classes. It also expands technology op
tions to help American schools establish “virtual connections”
with schools in China.
U.S. Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif., who authored the legislation, said
the measure can increase the competitiveness of American workers.
“While an estimated 200 million Chinese school children are studying
our language and culture, less than 50,000 American elementary and
secondary students are studying Chinese,” Davis said. “This bill
is part of a broader legislative package seeking to improve our comp
etitive edge and relationship with China.”
School districts around the country are increasingly adding Mandarin
language courses to their curriculum, but a lack of funding and
qualified teachers often makes program implementation difficult.
Linguists are divided as to whether studying foreign languages at an
earlier age is essential for fluency in the target language. The so-
called “critical learning period” has been challenged by more
provocative research which demonstrates the “plasticity” of the
human brain in people of all ages and backgrounds.
Mandarin Chinese, called “Putonghua,” is widely considered one of
the most difficult languages for native English speakers to master.
It is classified by the Defense Language Institute as a “category fo
ur” (out of four) language in regards to difficulty of mastery by na
tive English speakers. On the Foreign Service Institute language dif
ficulty scale, Mandarin is rated as a “category three” language
(out of three), due to the exceptional difficulty it poses for Engli
sh speakers to learn.
National security experts have said that the U.S. has a shortage of
qualified “critical language” speakers – specifically Mandarin
and Arabic. Both the CIA and FBI regularly advertise positions with
their agencies for Americans who possess some Chinese ability. In Ma
y, CIA Director Leon Panetta announced that he was boosting the agen
cy’s foreign language training programs. The 9/11 Commission Report
criticized the weak foreign language capabilities of the government’
s national security agencies.
On the campaign trail, then-candidate Barack Obama stressed that
foreign language instruction should be expanded in American schools.
“I don’t speak a foreign language. It’s embarrassing,” he
said. “It’s embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all
speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go
over to Europe and all we can say is merci beaucoup, right?”
A number of current Washington officials studied Mandarin as college
students. Democratic New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand studied the
language for six months in Mainland China and Taiwan. Treasury
Secretary Tim Geithner spent two summers learning the language at
Beijing’s Peking University, called “BeiDa” in Chinese.
The bipartisan bill, H.R. 2313, is cosponsored by U.S. Reps. Charles
Boustany, R-La.; Gerry Connolly, D-Va.; Mike Honda, D-Calif.; Steve
Israel, D-N.Y.; Mark Kirk, R-Ill.; Rick Larsen, D-Wa.; and Erik
Paulsen, R-Minn.
The legislation is currently awaiting further action in the House
Committee on Education and Labor.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Are Our Children Falling Behind the International Pack?
Why do we still follow a school system based on an agrarian society? By the time our children finish with special sports camps and swim teams (I understand sports are good for many reasons), they will have lost more than a month's worth of learning (known as "summer learning loss") and nearly three month's of math (which is why some of us make our children do next-grade-level summer workbooks).
A recent report from McKinsey, states that the lagging performance of U.S.students, particularly poor and minority children, has caused more economic devastation than the current recession.
And, American students study less than 3 years of a foreign language; in many high schools, a foreign language is not even required to graduate. How will our children compete? (Learning Chinese is a start.)
From the Economist: "[American students] have one of the shortest school years anywhere, a mere 180 days compared with an average of 195 for OECD countries and more than 200 for East Asian countries. German children spend 20 more days in school than American ones, and South Koreans over a month more. Over 12 years, a 15-day deficit means American children lose out on 180 days of school, equivalent to an entire year.
American children also have one of the shortest school days, six-and-a-half hours, adding up to 32 hours a week. By contrast, the school week is 37 hours in Luxembourg, 44 in Belgium, 53 in Denmark and 60 in Sweden. On top of that, American children do only about an hour’s-worth of homework a day, a figure that stuns the Japanese and Chinese."
From: http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13825184
A recent report from McKinsey, states that the lagging performance of U.S.students, particularly poor and minority children, has caused more economic devastation than the current recession.
And, American students study less than 3 years of a foreign language; in many high schools, a foreign language is not even required to graduate. How will our children compete? (Learning Chinese is a start.)
From the Economist: "[American students] have one of the shortest school years anywhere, a mere 180 days compared with an average of 195 for OECD countries and more than 200 for East Asian countries. German children spend 20 more days in school than American ones, and South Koreans over a month more. Over 12 years, a 15-day deficit means American children lose out on 180 days of school, equivalent to an entire year.
American children also have one of the shortest school days, six-and-a-half hours, adding up to 32 hours a week. By contrast, the school week is 37 hours in Luxembourg, 44 in Belgium, 53 in Denmark and 60 in Sweden. On top of that, American children do only about an hour’s-worth of homework a day, a figure that stuns the Japanese and Chinese."
From: http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13825184
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