Chinese Immersion school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you don't understand the difference between accent and dialect in Chinese, or the relationship between dialects (explaining why Mainland Chinese easily transition from a dialect to standard Mandarin in kindergarten, or maybe first grade).

I expect a change in policy, at least in regards to YY replacing drop-outs with native speakers (as MoCo does), after several years of DCI International Baccalaureate Diploma Chinese examination results have been released. The central IBD Office reports school scores, like states report PARCC scores. The DCPC Board members don't seem to understand (or care?) that the current commitment to one-way immersion does not support strong preparation for students on the DCI Mandarin track, particularly low SES students, enabling them to go on to earn not just the standard IB Diploma, but the more prestigious Bilingual IB Diploma. YY's leadership already gets it. Those interested in the problem will have to wait least seven or eight years for the change. End of story.

Sounds like you don't understand how the Charter system works. As has been explained to you over and over, you cannot differentiate based on language ability when it comes to admission. DCPS is allowed to do it, but it would take an actual act of Congress to change this for the charters. If you're interested in DC, enter the lottery.

As someone who used to work on Wall St, I don't see the point of obsessing over different dialects of Chinese. If you want a native-level Chinese speaker, people straight out of China or Chinese graduates from American universities [b]are preferred over a Chinese speaking American. No one cares that your American kid's chinese is great because you can always be assured that an actual chinese resident will speak better chinese and probably work harder. I think that Yu Ying is just a great school and I'm happy for those that made that choice and want to expand their minds and learn about an interesting culture and language. Trashing it because the "Chinese is not rigorous enough" is laughable. No one will care about their Chinese ability when they're older, except you.

Added sentence.

This. They'll still be smarter in two languages, and their Chinese sounds so cute coming from blonde children with blue eyes.

No, not cute at all. It just comes across as cultural appropriation/theft. Yet ONE more thing covetous whites "must have now" from some "exotic ethnic" group. Btw, do you think Mandarin is less "cute" coming out if the mouths of "regular whites" with brown hair and eyes?

If they can look like Selena Gomez, yes. And as long as you're not Anglo Saxon but you're still speaking English? Shut up about "cultural appropriation." You've appropriated the greatest culture ever.

Try again racist troll. English is one of my heritage languages. I don't think that you can say the same.

Lol. Are you for real? This has to be a parody.

You must have a problem with reading comprehension.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you don't understand the difference between accent and dialect in Chinese, or the relationship between dialects (explaining why Mainland Chinese easily transition from a dialect to standard Mandarin in kindergarten, or maybe first grade).

I expect a change in policy, at least in regards to YY replacing drop-outs with native speakers (as MoCo does), after several years of DCI International Baccalaureate Diploma Chinese examination results have been released. The central IBD Office reports school scores, like states report PARCC scores. The DCPC Board members don't seem to understand (or care?) that the current commitment to one-way immersion does not support strong preparation for students on the DCI Mandarin track, particularly low SES students, enabling them to go on to earn not just the standard IB Diploma, but the more prestigious Bilingual IB Diploma. YY's leadership already gets it. Those interested in the problem will have to wait least seven or eight years for the change. End of story.

Sounds like you don't understand how the Charter system works. As has been explained to you over and over, you cannot differentiate based on language ability when it comes to admission. DCPS is allowed to do it, but it would take an actual act of Congress to change this for the charters. If you're interested in DC, enter the lottery.

As someone who used to work on Wall St, I don't see the point of obsessing over different dialects of Chinese. If you want a native-level Chinese speaker, people straight out of China or Chinese graduates from American universities [b]are preferred over a Chinese speaking American. No one cares that your American kid's chinese is great because you can always be assured that an actual chinese resident will speak better chinese and probably work harder. I think that Yu Ying is just a great school and I'm happy for those that made that choice and want to expand their minds and learn about an interesting culture and language. Trashing it because the "Chinese is not rigorous enough" is laughable. No one will care about their Chinese ability when they're older, except you.

Added sentence.

This. They'll still be smarter in two languages, and their Chinese sounds so cute coming from blonde children with blue eyes.

No, not cute at all. It just comes across as cultural appropriation/theft. Yet ONE more thing covetous whites "must have now" from some "exotic ethnic" group. Btw, do you think Mandarin is less "cute" coming out if the mouths of "regular whites" with brown hair and eyes?

If they can look like Selena Gomez, yes. And as long as you're not Anglo Saxon but you're still speaking English? Shut up about "cultural appropriation." You've appropriated the greatest culture ever.

I know you're a bigot, but are you really that much of an idiot? English imperialism included forcing their language on non-native English speakers. Those speakers, and their descendants, are not culturally appropriating anything. Try reading a history book, not written by Confederate stooges, you dolt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:International Baccalaureate overhauled their language assessments in 2013. They did away with the First Language test category the PP above seems to be describing, adding a Language A Text and Performance category for native speakers who want to delve into the literature, drama and poetry of their mother tongue. IBD now offers several Language B assessments for language learners whose best language is English, the ab initio level, SL and HL IB changed the assessments partly to encourage students to prepare for HL language exams, rather than doing what PP describes, taking SL tests to score high, boosting one's points total. I've read that the change was made partly to make the IBD curriculum more competitive with AP at a time when the majority of AP language test takers are scoring 5s on the tests for harder languages. With so many AP language students scoring 5s--more than 80% who take Chinese--it's difficult for the most advanced students, particularly those who speak a language at home and/or began immersion studies young, to stand out. Language B HL exams helping colleges separate students who can really speak and understand languages after years of study from those who stumble along. In the last couple years, several MoCo high schools have begun offering classes to prepare IBD students for the HL Chinese exam. It would be good if DCI did the same eventually.

http://coursebulletin.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/CourseDetails/Index/1655

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IB_Group_1_subjects

Interesting. I still think it's in your best interest to get a 7 on a subsidiary level exam than a 4 on a HL one.

SL= Standard Level. Yea, maybe, but I see no reason that the strongest DCI Mandarin track students couldn't score higher than a 4 on the HL exam. They would probably just need to study in total immersion environments during a couple of high school summers to pull it off. With good advanced planning and fundraising, DCPC and DCI could make it work for the most motivated and capable kids, even if their parents couldn't afford immersion camps. An excellent summer option is the Monterey California Language Institute Chinese program - they take 16+ year olds in their 8-week advanced immersion courses, and there are of course various summer immersion options for high school upperclassmen in China itself. Although I bailed on YY, I'm not anti charter, or anti YY and would like to see good HL Chinese scores come out of DCI. If I were an upper grades YY or DCI parent aspiring to HL IBD Chinese, I'd ask the school to invite MoCo IBD Coordinators and HL Chinese instructors to come down and offer advice. I bet they'd do it. Good luck to everybody at YY and DCI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you don't understand the difference between accent and dialect in Chinese, or the relationship between dialects (explaining why Mainland Chinese easily transition from a dialect to standard Mandarin in kindergarten, or maybe first grade).

I expect a change in policy, at least in regards to YY replacing drop-outs with native speakers (as MoCo does), after several years of DCI International Baccalaureate Diploma Chinese examination results have been released. The central IBD Office reports school scores, like states report PARCC scores. The DCPC Board members don't seem to understand (or care?) that the current commitment to one-way immersion does not support strong preparation for students on the DCI Mandarin track, particularly low SES students, enabling them to go on to earn not just the standard IB Diploma, but the more prestigious Bilingual IB Diploma. YY's leadership already gets it. Those interested in the problem will have to wait least seven or eight years for the change. End of story.

Sounds like you don't understand how the Charter system works. As has been explained to you over and over, you cannot differentiate based on language ability when it comes to admission. DCPS is allowed to do it, but it would take an actual act of Congress to change this for the charters. If you're interested in DC, enter the lottery.

As someone who used to work on Wall St, I don't see the point of obsessing over different dialects of Chinese. If you want a native-level Chinese speaker, people straight out of China or Chinese graduates from American universities [b]are preferred over a Chinese speaking American. No one cares that your American kid's chinese is great because you can always be assured that an actual chinese resident will speak better chinese and probably work harder. I think that Yu Ying is just a great school and I'm happy for those that made that choice and want to expand their minds and learn about an interesting culture and language. Trashing it because the "Chinese is not rigorous enough" is laughable. No one will care about their Chinese ability when they're older, except you.

Added sentence.

This. They'll still be smarter in two languages, and their Chinese sounds so cute coming from blonde children with blue eyes.

No, not cute at all. It just comes across as cultural appropriation/theft. Yet ONE more thing covetous whites "must have now" from some "exotic ethnic" group. Btw, do you think Mandarin is less "cute" coming out if the mouths of "regular whites" with brown hair and eyes?

If they can look like Selena Gomez, yes. And as long as you're not Anglo Saxon but you're still speaking English? Shut up about "cultural appropriation." You've appropriated the greatest culture ever.

I know you're a bigot, but are you really that much of an idiot? English imperialism included forcing their language on non-native English speakers. Those speakers, and their descendants, are not culturally appropriating anything. Try reading a history book, not written by Confederate stooges, you dolt.

PErhaps I wasn't clear - I just don't see the point of wasting all that time and money on a HL Chinese exam. But then I agree with the previous posters that Chinese is really just this generation's fad language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP convinced that the DC Public Charter Charter Board, along with YY and DCI parents and admins, will sit up and notice eventually when the DCI seniors don't ace IBD Chinese exams, ha. Forget it. This isn't MOCO. Those responsible will declare victory regardless.

Banneker's IBD scores have been really low since the 1990s and nobody cares. What will happen is that affluent DCI parents who are serious about kids scoring high on the tests will find pricey ways to supplement, with summer immersion camps etc. The difference between IB Standard Level and Higher Level, and Standard Diploma versus Bilingual Diploma will be lost on the rest. DCI won't even require all students to take the full IBD, which although this happens at suburban programs in this metro area (Rockville HS, Washington-Lee, Bethesda Chevy-Chase, Albert Einstein in Wheaton etc.).

Actual Ib graduate here- the PP above "Heritage Dad"- has no clue what he's talking about. Students are required to take 3 higher level subjects and the remaining subsidiary subjects for the IB diploma. You don't get a "higher level" diploma.

Just ignore him. He must be so pathetic and sad if he spends all his time trashing a DC school when he's stuck out in MoCo.

Unfortunately, he does seem to know what he's talking about, says this actual IBD graduate. Any "B Language" can be studied at the SL or HL, but only the HL for the fairly new Bilingual Diploma. The DCI program seems to be preparing Mandarin track students to take SL IB Chinese. Most parents will be thrilled with SL, but a few will wonder why HL wasn't in reach after the years of Mandarin immersion and partial immersion. Parents may want to raise the issue with admins once the DCI HS program is up and running at Walter Reed. DCI students w/out native speakers in the home are going to need weeks and weeks of full-on immersion experiences during summers to clear the HL speaking and listening bar. Maybe fundraising could be done eventually to support HL studies at DCI.

Can someone name a public school that IS successfully preparing large numbers of non-native speakers for the HL Chinese diploma? How is that program different?

There is no HL Chinese diploma, but there is a HL Chinese IBD certificate, and a Bilingual Diploma of which a good score (5+) on a HL language examination is a component.

To get an answer to your question, I recommend visiting Richard Montgomery HS (Rockville) to observe a Level 6/HL IBD Mandarin class, or one at Bethesda Chevy-Chase. The IB Coordinators at these schools are welcoming to visitors. You're not going to see large numbers of students in these classes (non-native speakers or native), but there are always kids who've never lived in a Chinese-speaking home or country who go on to score 4s, 5s, and occasionally 6s, on HL Chinese. The two HS programs build on the College Gardens ES immersion program and the Herbert Hoover MS partial immersion program. Also, MoCo helps arrange and pay for middle and high school FARMs and moderate income non-native speakers to attend immersion summer camps in the US and China. In a nutshell, MoCo shoots for advanced Mandarin studies over quantity, a policy decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP convinced that the DC Public Charter Charter Board, along with YY and DCI parents and admins, will sit up and notice eventually when the DCI seniors don't ace IBD Chinese exams, ha. Forget it. This isn't MOCO. Those responsible will declare victory regardless.

Banneker's IBD scores have been really low since the 1990s and nobody cares. What will happen is that affluent DCI parents who are serious about kids scoring high on the tests will find pricey ways to supplement, with summer immersion camps etc. The difference between IB Standard Level and Higher Level, and Standard Diploma versus Bilingual Diploma will be lost on the rest. DCI won't even require all students to take the full IBD, which although this happens at suburban programs in this metro area (Rockville HS, Washington-Lee, Bethesda Chevy-Chase, Albert Einstein in Wheaton etc.).

Actual Ib graduate here- the PP above "Heritage Dad"- has no clue what he's talking about. Students are required to take 3 higher level subjects and the remaining subsidiary subjects for the IB diploma. You don't get a "higher level" diploma.

Just ignore him. He must be so pathetic and sad if he spends all his time trashing a DC school when he's stuck out in MoCo.

Unfortunately, he does seem to know what he's talking about, says this actual IBD graduate. Any "B Language" can be studied at the SL or HL, but only the HL for the fairly new Bilingual Diploma. The DCI program seems to be preparing Mandarin track students to take SL IB Chinese. Most parents will be thrilled with SL, but a few will wonder why HL wasn't in reach after the years of Mandarin immersion and partial immersion. Parents may want to raise the issue with admins once the DCI HS program is up and running at Walter Reed. DCI students w/out native speakers in the home are going to need weeks and weeks of full-on immersion experiences during summers to clear the HL speaking and listening bar. Maybe fundraising could be done eventually to support HL studies at DCI.

Can someone name a public school that IS successfully preparing large numbers of non-native speakers for the HL Chinese diploma? How is that program different?

There is no HL Chinese diploma, but there is a HL Chinese IBD certificate, and a Bilingual Diploma of which a good score (5+) on a HL language examination is a component.

To get an answer to your question, I recommend visiting Richard Montgomery HS (Rockville) to observe a Level 6/HL IBD Mandarin class, or one at Bethesda Chevy-Chase. The IB Coordinators at these schools are welcoming to visitors. You're not going to see large numbers of students in these classes (non-native speakers or native), but there are always kids who've never lived in a Chinese-speaking home or country who go on to score 4s, 5s, and occasionally 6s, on HL Chinese. The two HS programs build on the College Gardens ES immersion program and the Herbert Hoover MS partial immersion program. Also, MoCo helps arrange and pay for middle and high school FARMs and moderate income non-native speakers to attend immersion summer camps in the US and China. In a nutshell, MoCo shoots for advanced Mandarin studies over quantity, a policy decision.

Cool. Sounds like an utter waste of time.

[Anonymous]

MCPS also has an immersion program at Potomac ES which feeds to Hoover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP convinced that the DC Public Charter Charter Board, along with YY and DCI parents and admins, will sit up and notice eventually when the DCI seniors don't ace IBD Chinese exams, ha. Forget it. This isn't MOCO. Those responsible will declare victory regardless.

Banneker's IBD scores have been really low since the 1990s and nobody cares. What will happen is that affluent DCI parents who are serious about kids scoring high on the tests will find pricey ways to supplement, with summer immersion camps etc. The difference between IB Standard Level and Higher Level, and Standard Diploma versus Bilingual Diploma will be lost on the rest. DCI won't even require all students to take the full IBD, which although this happens at suburban programs in this metro area (Rockville HS, Washington-Lee, Bethesda Chevy-Chase, Albert Einstein in Wheaton etc.).

Actual Ib graduate here- the PP above "Heritage Dad"- has no clue what he's talking about. Students are required to take 3 higher level subjects and the remaining subsidiary subjects for the IB diploma. You don't get a "higher level" diploma.

Just ignore him. He must be so pathetic and sad if he spends all his time trashing a DC school when he's stuck out in MoCo.

Unfortunately, he does seem to know what he's talking about, says this actual IBD graduate. Any "B Language" can be studied at the SL or HL, but only the HL for the fairly new Bilingual Diploma. The DCI program seems to be preparing Mandarin track students to take SL IB Chinese. Most parents will be thrilled with SL, but a few will wonder why HL wasn't in reach after the years of Mandarin immersion and partial immersion. Parents may want to raise the issue with admins once the DCI HS program is up and running at Walter Reed. DCI students w/out native speakers in the home are going to need weeks and weeks of full-on immersion experiences during summers to clear the HL speaking and listening bar. Maybe fundraising could be done eventually to support HL studies at DCI.

Can someone name a public school that IS successfully preparing large numbers of non-native speakers for the HL Chinese diploma? How is that program different?

There is no HL Chinese diploma, but there is a HL Chinese IBD certificate, and a Bilingual Diploma of which a good score (5+) on a HL language examination is a component.

To get an answer to your question, I recommend visiting Richard Montgomery HS (Rockville) to observe a Level 6/HL IBD Mandarin class, or one at Bethesda Chevy-Chase. The IB Coordinators at these schools are welcoming to visitors. You're not going to see large numbers of students in these classes (non-native speakers or native), but there are always kids who've never lived in a Chinese-speaking home or country who go on to score 4s, 5s, and occasionally 6s, on HL Chinese. The two HS programs build on the College Gardens ES immersion program and the Herbert Hoover MS partial immersion program. Also, MoCo helps arrange and pay for middle and high school FARMs and moderate income non-native speakers to attend immersion summer camps in the US and China. In a nutshell, MoCo shoots for advanced Mandarin studies over quantity, a policy decision.

Thanks, this is a great answer!