Should My Kid Learn Mandarin Chinese?

· August 17, 2011, 8:00 AM ET

Should My Kid Learn Mandarin Chinese?

Philip P. Pan

Tom Scocca

I started to truly appreciate the power of early childhood Chinese-language education when our son, at the age of two, started speaking English wrong. “The blue of cup,” he would say, meaning his blue cup.

This wasn’t a random preschool linguistic hiccup, we realized. He was trying to use Chinese syntax: “of” was standing in for the Mandarin particle “de” to turn the noun “blue” into an adjective. And his odd habit of indicating things by saying “this one” or “that one”–he was rendering the Chinese “zhege” and “neige” in English. That is, he was speaking Chinglish.

The usual arguments in favor of Mandarin education say that he should be on his way to conquering the world. An extra language, the theory goes, supplies extra brainpower, and Chinese in particular is a skill that will prepare young children to compete in the global 21st-century marketplace of talent.

Fun, right? If building an optimized little academic and economic performer were all there is to it, we’d have pulled him out of bilingual preschool long ago. Luckily, the reality of having a little Chinese learner underfoot is messier and more entertaining than that.

Our son’s head start in Chinese was mostly an accident. He was born in Beijing because my wife and I were living and working there, and he arrived before we could get back to New York for the delivery. So his first influences were Chinese nurses and the sound of Mandopop on the night-shift radio in the newborn unit.

He spent the first year and a half of his life in the Chinese capital, the seat of standard Mandarin. This is a point of pride for him now, at age four, though in fact he mostly was exposed to his second-generation Chinese-American mother’s lax Taiwan accent and the Sichuan countryside accent of our nanny, who amused him by chanting old schoolhouse rhymes about the glory of Mao.

That early input, followed by half-days of Chinese preschool in New York, hasn’t yet produced a junior trans-Pacific CEO. If you’re considering Mandarin as part of a program of intensive child-improvement, it’s worth remembering that children aren’t so easy to improve.

Adding a second language means a child can play dumb in two languages at once. Or play smart: “Daddy can’t speak Chinese,” he says sometimes, when Daddy speaks rudimentary Chinese to him. Then he demands to borrow my smartphone, so he can look up Chinese characters in the dictionary software.

Lately, he refuses to address his Chinese-born grandparents by their usual titles, insisting on “Grandma” and “Grandpa” in English. But he serenades them with Chinese songs from school, with flawless schoolteacher diction and a gusto that would startle his actual teachers if they heard it. And he is more obedient in Mandarin than in English–when an order comes in Chinese, he has learned, his parents are serious about it.

Mostly, though, Mandarin in the hands of a toddler is not a practical tool. Trying to justify it that way is a bit like the efforts to put a dollar value on liberal-arts education. Chinese is, like math or music, a distinct system of representation, another way to think about the world. You may learn a language because you need to, but you stick with it because it is interesting to think about.

In Beijing, as China prepared for the 2008 Olympics, I used to visit an English class for senior citizens. Officially, the purpose was instrumental: to increase the number of English-speaking residents for the benefit of the foreign tourists during the Games. The students’ questions for me, however, were more esoteric: What was the English for an electrified bus? For saying thunderstorms were coming? For “hidden microphone”? When I came back two years after the Olympics, the class was still full.

So like his other bilingual friends, our son is capricious about how and when to use his own abilities. Have I toweled him off enough? “Chabuduo,” I say, meaning “close enough.” “Chabuduo!” he says, and keeps saying it off and on for days. Language is a playground. He calls up Mandopop videos on YouTube, and snubs American pop. He shakes down a Brazilian babysitter for bits of Portuguese, and asks for Dora the Explorer’s Spanish to be translated to English.

If he came from Boston, I tell him, his animated heroine would be Dor-er the Explorah. “I’m from Beijing,” he says, in English. “I pronounce things correctly.”

Tom Scocca is the author of “Beijing Welcomes You: Unveiling the Capital City of the Future.” He is the managing editor of Deadspin and a columnist for Slate, and he lives in New York.

Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

10 Extraordinarily Useful Chinese Phrases

From giving a compliment to refusing that extra helping of food, Jocelyn Eikenburg supplies 10 practical Mandarin phrases.

From: http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/10-extraordinarily-useful-mandarin-chinese-phrases/

(Want to learn more useful Chinese phrases? Whether you're planning on moving to China to start a business, or are just planning on a vacation there, contact us at info@ChineseLanguageSchool.org to find out about our customized tutoring programs, classes for adults, corporate Chinese, and new online learning program!)

You’re just as likely to hear “Ni Hao” as “Hello” in my home. After living in China for five and a half years, I returned to the US with a Chinese husband, the fluency to be a freelance Chinese translator, and a heaping rice bowl of expressions in Mandarin.

If you’re traveling to China and looking to dig your own linguistic chopsticks into Chinese culture, I recommend these 10 extraordinarily useful phrases.

1. Nǐ zhēn niú!
“You’re outstanding!”

In China, you can actually compare someone to a cow (niú) to compliment his outstanding character. Yao Ming is definitely niú, and so is anyone who scores you train tickets after they’re “sold out” or tries the baijiu liquor sold in plastic squeeze bottles in grocery stores.

2. Yìqǐ chīfàn, wǒ qǐngkè.
“Let’s go out to eat, my treat.”

In China, eating together is how people build and maintain good relationships. So if you want to make a new friend, ask a favor, or thank someone, do it as the Chinese do — over a lunch or dinner on your Chinese yuan.


Photo by vikkies
3. Méi bànfǎ, rén tàiduō.
“There’s nothing you can do, too many people.”

In a country of 1.3 billion people, it only takes a small percentage of them to wreck your trip. When my Chinese husband and I traveled to Beijing during the national holiday in October, we spent half the day slogging through a mob that stretched across Tian’anmen Square just to get into the Forbidden City. I’ve also had to stand on crowded trains because I couldn’t get a seat and, while living in Shanghai, experienced my share of being sandwiched between anonymous butts and groins on rush-hour subway cars.

4. Nǎlǐ, nǎlǐ!
“Not me!” (lit. “where, where!” — for deflecting compliments)

Confucian values — such as modesty — still run strong in China, so people don’t say “thank you” when praised about anything. The Chinese, however, assume foreigners like you do the opposite. This phrase is guaranteed to surprise your new Chinese friends and get a good smile out of them.

5. Yǒu yuán qiānlǐ lái xiānghuì.
“We have the destiny to meet across a thousand miles.”

Chinese people believe love and destiny go hand in hand – which is why my Chinese husband loves describing our relationship with this phrase. It’s best for romantic situations, and could even be a poetic pickup line.


Ceiling of Temple of Heaven and Earth. Photo by Lall
6. Wā! Zhōngguó de biànhuà hǎo dà! Zhēnshì fāntiān fùdì!
“Whoa! China is changing so much! It’s as if heaven and earth changed places!”

Shanghai’s Pudong District, with a skyline straight out of a science-fiction flick, used to be rural farmland before the 1990s. Until the 1980s, the high-rise miracle of Shenzhen was just another tiny village on the South China Sea known for fresh fish and oysters.

Every year, China races to build more bridges, buildings, high-speed train lines and subway routes, changing the landscape faster than a speeding Beijing taxi driver. This expression is great for repeat visitors to China and anyone blown away by the pace of development.

7. Zhēnde! Wǒ yìdiǎn dōu búkèqile!
“Really! I’m not being polite at all!”

Perfect for when people keep piling kung pao chicken into your bowl long after you’re full, or pouring you glass after drunken glass of baijiu — and think you’re just saying “búyào” (“I don’t want it”) to be polite.

Once, when a Chinese friend insisted I drink another round of Tsingdao, I had to repeat this phrase over and over while shielding my glass from his swinging beer bottle. Be ready to battle for your stomach and sobriety.

8. Fēi xià kǔgōngfū bùkě.
“It requires painstaking efforts.”

Some 5,000 tumultuous years of history have taught the Chinese that nothing comes easy. People usually say this when faced with any challenge, such as taking the national college entrance exams or pounding the pavement for a job.

It’s useful for climbing China’s mountains, squeezing into crowded transport, or walking into one of the noxious bathrooms at the train stations.

9. Bùhǎoyìsi, yǒushì. Yàozǒule.
“I’m sorry, I have something to do. I must go.”

Chinese people prefer to be vague about the details — which means you never have to explain why you need to leave right now. It’s ideal for uncomfortable situations of any kind. Add another “bùhǎoyìsi” at the end if you feel a little guilty for bolting.

10. Wēiwēi zhōnghuá, yuányuán liú cháng!
“China is awesome [in size], and has a long history!”

Show your love for the Middle Kingdom by praising two things that make the Chinese extra proud: their large country and nearly 5,000 years of history. Shout out this expression on the summit of Huangshan, from a watchtower on the Great Wall, or overlooking that grand vault of Terracotta Warriors.

Next time you’re in Beijing, Shanghai and beyond, see if you can use all 10 of these expressions. You would definitely be niú in my book.

New Online Chinese and AP Classes offered by Chinese Language School of Connecticut

Chinese Language School of Connecticut Opens Registration for Fall 2011

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


RIVERSIDE, CT May 1, 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 and their corporate language program, please visit www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org.


(END)

Growing Diversity Fuels Chinese School

The bi-lingual CAIS school in San Francisco uses many of the tools and teaching methods that are used at the Chinese Language School of Connecticut.

For more info on ways to engage your children in learning Chinese please visit: www.ChineseLanguageSchool.org

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704461304576216613309652724.html?mod=wsj_share_facebook


By YUKARI IWATANI KANE

San Francisco's Chinese American International School has long had a reputation for strong academics, but it has grown more popular as a rising number of non-Chinese parents bank on Chinese-language skills for their children's future.

Lianne Milton for The Wall Street Journal
First-grader Martha Chessen gets help from instructor Xiu Geng in a math-in-Mandarin class at the Chinese American International School, where a growing number of students come from non-Chinese backgrounds.

When Christine Chessen decided to send her oldest child to CAIS eight years ago, her blond-haired daughter stood out among the sea of mostly Asian or half-Asian children. Her stock-trader husband opposed the idea, and friends thought she was crazy.

She went ahead and enrolled her daughter, because she wanted to expose her to a completely different culture. The move made sense to Ms. Chessen when she learned that there are more native speakers of Chinese in the world than those whose mother tongue is English or Spanish.

These days, her daughter isn't so unusual at CAIS, a private school that instructs in both Mandarin and English from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

"With the rise of Asia, people are finally jumping on the bandwagon," said Ms. Chessen, a stay-at-home mom who now has all three of her children—a first-, fourth- and sixth-grader—enrolled in the school. Her children, she said, are growing up singing Chinese songs, playing Chinese instruments and learning Chinese calligraphy, which she said she now considers all "part of our culture."

A recent survey by the school found that CAIS's non-Asian population has grown 42% over the past decade and currently makes up 27% of its 472 students. The remainder are children with partial or full Asian backgrounds, though most come from non-Chinese-speaking families.


Even though the school has increased its overall student population by 35% since 2000, it continues to be difficult to get into. More than 100 families vied for the 25 to 30 pre-K spots available next year. In the lower grades, instruction is half in Chinese, half in English; in middle school, which starts with grade six, 35% is in Chinese. The day school, in Hayes Valley, costs about $22,000 a year.

CAIS's growth is part of a nationwide trend as China's rise in the global economy prompts parents to seek Chinese-language instruction for their children—including President Barack Obama, whose daughter Sasha is learning Mandarin.

The San Francisco Unified Public School District said Chinese, including the Mandarin and Cantonese dialects, was the most requested language program by parents of kindergartners after Spanish for the next academic year. There are several public Chinese schools in San Francisco, and a new Chinese-language charter school is set to open in the Oakland area in the fall.

While there are no overall figures on how many students take Chinese-language classes nationwide, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages said it saw a threefold increase in the number of public-school students taking such classes to 60,000 in the 2007-08 academic year from three years earlier.

Programs like CAIS's carry little risk, said Marty Abbott, director of education at ACTFL, because even those students who spend their entire day in another language eventually catch up to and might even surpass their peers in English-language skills.

"The beauty of immersion programs, whether they're partial or full, is that students spend a considerable amount of time hearing the language and develop it and use it," Ms. Abbott said.

At CAIS one recent afternoon, a Chinese-speaking teacher led a kindergarten class in a game. The children sat in a circle around a collection of sea animal toys and tried to guess which were each other's favorites by asking questions in Mandarin.

On other floors, a fourth-grade class took an English spelling test while a group of seventh-graders practiced playing the Chinese yue qin guitar and the zither-like guzheng in a music class.

Tzara Geraghty, a tall, 13-year-old eighth-grader, plays the yangzin, a Chinese dulcimer, in a Chinese music ensemble, loves to eat tangyuan (dumplings made of rice flour with red bean, sesame and peanut butter fillings) and is looking forward to a coming school trip to Beijing.

Tzara, who has been at CAIS since pre-kindergarten, said she didn't realize she was Caucasian until she grew much taller than her classmates in fourth grade. "I never felt like I was different," said Tzara, who also plays volleyball, basketball and soccer.

For parents and teachers, it's a slightly different matter. Jeff Bissell, the head of the school, said the greater number of non-Asian families has prompted CAIS to adopt the more collaborative American educational approach along with the traditional top-down Chinese style.

Even then, there are challenges, because teachers are dealing with parents and students who are unfamiliar with Chinese teaching methods, such as the rote memorization required to learn the written script.

"Ten years ago, I could demonstrate how to write a character and make sure students got it, but now we have to break down the steps more," said Kevin Chang, the lower school's director.

Last year, the Parent Association took an extra step, holding a Mandarin 101 class for parents for the first time. The goal was not to teach Chinese but to familiarize parents with how the language works so they could understand what their children were learning.

Ms. Chessen said she values the school's lessons. "What my kids have learned about the Chinese culture they apply to the rest of the world," she said. "It makes us feel like we're part of a bigger community."

Write to Yukari Iwatani Kane at yukari.iwatani@wsj.com

Celebrating Chinese Language and Culture at the Ferguson Library in Stamford

From: http://stamford.patch.com/articles/stamford-families-celebrate-the-year-of-the-rabbit

The Chinese Language School of Connecticut and the Chinese Language School of Fairfield County held a Chinese New Year Celebration Sunday at Ferguson Library.

As the program began, Daisy Laone, principal of the Chinese Language School of Connecticut moved around the room at lightning speed, engaging the children in conversation about the celebration.

“What year is it?” Laone asked.

“2011,” a few of the adults in the room replied.

“The year of the rabbit,” Fiona Bischoff said.

Fiona Bischoff and her twin sister, Caoilainn Bischoff, attended the Chinese Language School of Connecticut in the past and frequently attend programs at the library.

“When you greet people at the Chinese New Year, you say ‘gong xi gong xi — best wishes,” Laone instructed the crowd.

The children quickly repeated after Laone — she then went around the room and helped them each to identify and pronounce their Chinese zodiac sign.

“This is the second year we’ve held this event,” Laone told Patch. “It’s a good chance for children in America to experience the celebration.”

“I hope today that the residents of Stamford can embrace Chinese culture and learn something new,” Yelena Klompus, world languages librarian at Ferguson, told Patch. “Our goal is to make everyone aware of other cultures.”

Klompus chairs the Diversity Task Force at Ferguson Library and is responsible for many of the cultural programs seen throughout the year.

Later in the day, the Chinese Language School of Fairfield County presented a martial arts demonstration and a dance performance.

Dance instructor Erica Hsu’s young students demonstrated a Taiwan aboriginal dance. Their costumes were made by parents and teachers at the school. Martial arts instructor Anastasia Lebrun led four students through a series of moves. Lebrun has been working with her students on and off since September.

“We are a very serious school,” Yulin Tsao, principal of the Chinese Language School of Fairfield County told the crowd. “But when we have fun, we have fun.”

The Chinese Language School of Connecticut will host their ninth annual fundraiser, a Chinese New Year Festival, on Jan. 23 at the Stamford Plaza Hotel and Conference Center. Visit their website for more information.

American Students Learn Their ABCs and Chinese

From http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/19/eveningnews/main7263167.shtml

American Students Learn Their ABC's and Chinese
Only 9% of Americans Speak a Foreign Language - Compared to 44 Percent of Europeans

(CBS) China's president said Wednesday young people are the future of the relationship between his country and the U.S. The problem is, he said it in Mandarin - a language most Americans don't understand.

CBS News correspondent Terry McCarthy reports there are some American children who don't have to wait for the translation.

Americans generally assume everyone speaks English. Often, they exceed our expectations. Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin surprised Mike Wallace in 2000 by reciting the Gettysburg Address in English.

Even the French President speaks English - kind of.

But Americans do not generally share such multilingual talents. Only nine percent of Americans speak a foreign language, compared to 44 percent of Europeans - something President Obama is painfully aware of.

"We need to learn foreign languages," Mr. Obama said at a campaign rally in 2008. "I don't speak a foreign language - it's embarrassing."

Instead of struggling with foreign grammar, Americans would rather struggle with headphones to hear the translation.

But not in City Terrace public school in east Los Angeles - where 90 students have been learning Chinese since kindergarten. Like his classmates, third-grader Nelson Enriquez even has his own Chinese name.

"At five years old they are like little sponges," Principal Elaine Fujiu said.

Nelson's family speaks Spanish at home, so he is trilingual - which the
8-year-old is already planning to exploit. "I might get a better job - and a raise too."

The students have been learning Chinese for four years and they are pretty good - but it's an unusual school. Across the country only 50,000 Americans are learning Chinese. In China, by contrast, there are 200 million students learning English.

The numbers are increasing. A decade ago about 300 schools in the U.S. taught Chinese. Now it's close to 1,600 - driven by interest in China's $6 trillion economy, now the second biggest in the world.

At City Terrace the Chinese immersion program is so popular they have a waiting list.

"Learning Chinese as a second language will help their children to get a better job later on," said third-grade teacher Theresa Kao.

Two languages, two cultures - and no one at a loss for words.

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.

NY Times: China Top Home of Foreign Students

China Surges Past India as Top Home of Foreign Students
By TAMAR LEWIN

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/us/15international.html

The number of Chinese students studying in the United States surged 30 percent in the 2009-10 academic year, making China, for the first time, the top country of origin for international students, according to “Open Doors,” the Institute of International Education’s annual report.

The report found that a record high of 690,923 international students came to the United States last year — nearly 128,000 of them, or more than 18 percent, from China. Over all, the number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased 3 percent for the 2009-10 academic year.

India, which in recent years had been in the top spot, increased its numbers only slightly, to 104,897 last academic year.

“The number of students from China is booming, because of that booming Chinese economy,” said Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of the institute. “But India, which also has a booming economy, is only up 1.6 percent. I think one factor is the great number of Chinese families with disposable income, two working parents and only one child, and a determination to invest their money to make sure that child receives the best education possible.”

David B. Austell, director of the Office for International Students and Scholars at New York University, said the Chinese undergraduates came primarily from the large urban areas on China’s coast. Because they are not eligible for the same financial aid as Americans and usually pay full tuition, he said, their growing presence is an indicator of just how many Chinese families are financially strong.

At the University of Southern California, Tony Tambascia, executive director of the Office of International Services, said the number of Chinese students grew substantially last year, but surpassed the number of Indian students for the first time just this fall.

“We’re getting more Chinese master’s students, and dramatically more freshmen,” he said.

According to the report, which is supported by the State Department, the number of students coming to the United States from Saudi Arabia increased almost 25 percent last year, to 15,810, reflecting the Saudi government’s generous aid for studies abroad.

But not all countries sent more students to the United States last year. The number coming from Japan declined 15 percent, and Mexico, Indonesia and Kenya each sent 7 percent to 9 percent fewer students than in the previous year.

Still, Allan Goodman, president of the institute, said the United States continued to host more international students than any other country. And according to the Commerce Department, such students contribute nearly $20 billion to the economy.

While the majority of Chinese students in the United States are still graduate students, the recent growth has been strongest among undergraduates.

Last year, there were 39,921 Chinese undergraduates studying in the United States, a 50 percent increase from the previous year, and more than four times as many as five years earlier.

The Indian experience has been quite different; that country sent 15,192 undergraduates last year, fewer than five years earlier. And the number of Indians coming to the United States for graduate study dropped by almost 4 percent last year

“The educational-advising people say that the job market is so hot in places like Mumbai and Bangalore that students thinking about grad school decide it’s not worth it,” Ms. Blumenthal said, “since they can just go out and get a good engineering job.”

As in past years, the report found that California, with 94,279 international students, hosts far more students from abroad than any other state. The University of Southern California is the institution with the most international students, 7,987 last year.

The report also tracks Americans studying abroad, although those numbers come from a year earlier. In the 2008-9 academic year, 260,327 American students studied abroad, down slightly from 262,416 the previous year.

While Britain, Italy, Spain and France remain the leading destinations, the study found, all four hosted fewer students, with the declines ranging from 2.5 percent to 10.8 percent.

But nontraditional destinations outside Europe gained popularity. Chile, Peru and South Korea all had increases of more than 26 percent, and China, Australia, Costa Rica, Japan, Argentina, South Africa, Ecuador, Brazil and New Zealand all hosted more American students than in the previous year.

WSJ: Chinese On the Menu For Students

from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704082104575516082963460938.html

Spurred by separate pushes by the U.S. and Chinese governments, more schools in Greater New York have begun offering—even requiring—the study of Mandarin at the elementary level.


Starting this month, Manhattan's New Explorations Into Science, Technology and Math, or NEST+m, replaced Spanish with Mandarin for kindergarten through fifth grades. Some city elementary schools, such as PS 310 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, have launched Chinese bilingual programs aimed at native Chinese speakers. Others, such as as PS 20 on the Lower East Side, have opted for dual-language programs, where half of the class is fluent in English and the other half is fluent in Mandarin. The programs this year add to about 25 bilingual and dual-language ones that already existed in the city, according to Matthew Mittenthal, city Department of Education spokesman.

"Mandarin is a language that has symbols that are very different than our written language," said Olga Livanis, the principal of NEST+m, a K-12 gifted-and-talented school on the Lower East Side. "The more difficult, the earlier a child needs to learn it."

The rise in Mandarin comes amid increased federal funding for programs that teach it and from school administrators' recognition of China's growing influence in the global economy. China is also cultivating the study of Mandarin abroad, sponsoring teachers, materials and visits to China.

As of the end of 2008 school year, about 50 public and two dozen private schools in New York City had Chinese classes, according to Robin Harvey, coordinator of a Chinese-language teachers program at New York University. Since then, the number has increased by 5% to 10%, she said.

Several new programs certifying teachers in instruction of Chinese as a second language are launching around the city. NYU, for example, had more than 42 graduates from its master's program over the past three years, said Ms. Harvey. "Most of our teachers once they graduate find work in the New York metropolitan area," she said.

Chinese is one of of the languages considered to be critical to the U.S. national security by the U.S. Department of Education, which helps schools secure funding if they agree to teach the languages.

Last year, New Rochelle began offering Mandarin in its middle and high schools, and this year the language is offered to some kindergarteners and fourth-graders. Being aware that "we could possibly get support to introduce" Mandarin played a role in starting the language up throughout the school system, said Richard E. Organisciak, the Westchester County district's superintendent. New Rochelle received about $1.5 million in federal grants, and the approval for the money came within weeks of application, said Mr. Organisciak.

Support from China is also helping Chinese instruction grow around the country. U.S. schools are able to get a guest teacher for two years sponsored by the Chinese government via a program with the College Board.

In New York State, only two schools have guest teachers, whose stipends and international travel is sponsored by the Chinese government, while housing and administrative fees are taken on by school districts. Both New York guest teachers starting this school year at Medgar Evers College Preparatory school in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and the Brewster School District, about 50 miles north of the city. In Connecticut, nine guest-teachers are working, all having started in 2009 or this year, according to the College Board. New Jersey has two guest teachers, who also arrived in the past year or so.

But Rocco Tomazic, superintendent of Linden, N.J., school district, said that he chose to decline and find permanent teachers. NEST also found a teacher on its own and is paying for the teacher out of its own budget.

Several schools in Greater New York are part of a new grant program called the Confucius Classroom, sponsored by the Chinese government through the New York-based Asia Society, which selects programs that could serve as models for Chinese-language instruction. These classrooms are matched with partner schools in China for joint projects and exchanges and are provided with teacher development.

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Julie Platner for The Wall Street Journal

Students work on pronunciation and geography of cities in China by coloring in their own maps.
.Offering Chinese was a leap of faith, said Linden's Mr. Tomazic, "in a working-class town that has no significant number of Chinese." But a recent "China night" filled a school auditorium for students singing in Mandarin, he said. Now about 400 elementary-school children in the Linden school district are learning Mandarin.

For James Lee, principal of PS 20, a public school on the Lower East Side, introducing a dual-language program this year in two kindergarten classes was a matter of satisfying the needs of the growing number of children learning English in the district the school serves, he said. About 47 children, mixed English and Mandarin speakers, are enrolled this year, studying a full-day in Mandarin, followed by a day in English.

PS 20 received applications from English-speaking students in upper Manhattan and Brooklyn, said Mr. Lee. "The interest is huge," he said. Preference was given to children in District 1.

Two weeks into the program, things are going well, said Mr. Lee. He called the program, "a fairly challenging setting." "To be taught in a language that you only comprehend in small amounts, that's a lot to ask of a five year old."

Write to Yuliya Chernova at yuliya.chernova@dowjones.com

CLSC Programs at Georgetown Community Center

Program to familiarize kids with Mandarin Chinese
Posted on 07/28/2010

From the Wilton Villager: http://www.wiltonvillager.com/story/489558

By DANIELLE CAPALBO

Villager Staff Writer


WILTON -- You're never too young to learn something new.

That's the prevailing philosophy behind a growing program designed to familiarize pre-school children with Mandarin Chinese through play and cultural activities.

Called Chopstix, the program is offered by the Chinese Language School of Connecticut and, this fall, the Greenwich-based institute will be hosting two free classes at the Georgetown Community Center.

"It's a different way to learn," said Susan Serven, the mother of two adopted Chinese girls and a co-founder and president of the school.

Rather than teaching the language outright -- the way a student might learn French in school, for instance -- instructors at Chopstix guide children through games and art projects while speaking Mandarin Chinese almost exclusively. Eventually, the pint-size pupils respond to -- and replicate -- the commands, as if it were second nature.

"We want them to feel comfortable, and we use a play-based model because that's how most kids are able to learn the best," said Katy Myers, who was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and moved to the states as a pre-teen. "For the most part, they really don't even know they're learning -- they think they're playing a game."

Myers has been teaching at the Chinese Language School for seven years -- she's the director of arts and culture -- and will guide the demonstration classes.

The school itself was founded in 2002 by a group of area parents, including Serven, inspired to promote awareness of Chinese culture and to give children and adults of all backgrounds an opportunity to learn the most widely-spoken language in the world, Serven said.

"About 23 percent of the world speaks Mandarin Chinese as a first language," she said. "Not only people in China and Taiwan, but in Malaysia, Singapore, the Phillipines."

Chopstix was integrated into the school's curriculum a year later, adapted from a nonprofit program that Serven ran in the late-90s. She said the importance of teaching the language at a ripe age is manifold. For one thing, she said, younger children are more likely to retain the structure of the language and to retain it longer, making it easier to revisit as teenagers or adults.

There's an element of global practicality, too, she said.

"Most parents, especially in this area, recognize China's growing emergence in the global economy," she said. "Many business people in Shanghai, Hong Kong -- they speak English, but it's important to understand their culture and their language moving forward."

Myers said the program represents a possibility that hasn't always existed for second-generation immigrants or Chinese children adopted into English-speaking families: to learn the language of their heritage.

"I realized that, growing up, there were no places for Chinese children to get together, for families to get together, and celebrate their heritage," she said -- in part because immigrants spoke different dialects and couldn't easily create communities or schools."

It's also a way to create a cross-cultural community of Asians and Americans, she said.

"Hopefully we can create an Asian-American community -- a way to foster more understanding of our different cultures."

Chopstix classes will be held at the Georgetown Community Center, formerly the Gilbert and Bennett School, at 49 New Street, Wilton. Demo classes will be held on Aug. 28 and Sept. 4: ages 2 to 3, from 10 to 10:45 a.m.; and ages 4 to 5, from 11 to 11:45 a.m. For further information, visit www.chineselanguageschool.org/.

Channel 12 Welcomes the Chinese Language School of Connecticut!

Thanks to Channel 12 host Lauren Collier, and her staff for their warm welcome to the TV station on Sunday January 31 to tape a Pet Talk segment for Chinese New Year!

Students and parents met in the "green room" (which was not green), practiced their dragon dance and "firecrackers" and then proceeded to perform for the cameras.

Lauren then conducted a short interview with the children (and dragon) sitting onstage.

Segments will air on Saturday, February 6, 2010, at 9am, 12:30, 4pm, 10:30pm and Sunday, February 7, at 5:30am, 9am, 3pm and 8:30pm on Channel 12.

The Dragon Dance cast included students:

Grant Wang (captain)
Emily Serven
Hanna Martino
Becky Serven
Quinn Lupton
Quincy Connell
Emanuel Lai
Firecrackers:
Evan Iervolino
Nicolas Lin
Sydney Lin

"Firecrackers" were

Gianna Martino
Evan Iervolino
Nicolas Lin
Sydney Lin