Reply to Yu Ying - Do/Can Non-Native Kids Actually SPEAK Chinese?

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to " Yu Ying - Do/Can Non-Native Kids Actually SPEAK Chinese?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Great, perfect fluency isn't the sole goal of parents who put their kids in language immersion, and there's a cognitive benefit from being able to learn and switch between two different languages.

So how about actually teaching the YY kids to speak the language halfway decently to kill two birds with one stone? It's not as though parents couldn't be incentivized to help ensure that their kids speak well.

I can't see how much understanding of a culture kicks in when local Chinese immigrants can't be persuaded to put in for the YY lottery almost to a parent. What you hear asked in low SES DC Chinese immigrant circles is "Isn't that school for black kids and white people who adopt babies from China? We don't know Chinese families who use it. We've heard that the head doesn't speak Chinese."

Maybe the weirdest of the weirdos are in the DCPC universe.  [/quote]

YY gave up on outreach to the "racist" DC ethnic community a long time ago, back around 2010. The program was a tough sell to the ethnic community and the YY board and admins decided they they didn't need to attract ordinary DC Chinese immigrants once the WL materialized and grew. Without a principal who speaks good Chinese, and a curriculum that works for native speakers, outreach wouldn't work anyway.  This helps explain why the kids' Mandarin generally isn't good, and nobody much cares.  It's too bad actually because injecting some competition into the Chinese program and improving the relationship with the ethnic community wouldn't have hurt.  I'm betting that they will rethink the arrangement once the principal announces that she's leaving, and not so great Int Baccalaureate Diploma exam results have been rolling in for a few years.[/quote]

What could outreach possibly do?  From what you say it sounds like these people wouldn't be interested in a school with black kids anyway. That's the picture you're painting. [/quote]

Breaking down racial barriers requires a smart strategy, determination, resources and hard work over time in any context, but of course it can be done. I'm an ethnic Chinese dad who's raising my kids to speak my dialect fluently. I've spent half my career happily working for AA women lawmakers![/quote]

This makes zero sense. Good for you that you're ok with your job. I seriously wish you'd get a more productive hobby. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics