Reply to CMI vs YY for PK3?

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Reply to "CMI vs YY for PK3?"

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[quote=Anonymous]It's true, the retention rate is impressive. But as a native speaker with bilingual kids who left YY, I still see a time of reckoning for the school, after several years of IB Diploma Chinese results have been made public.

More than 80% of AP Chinese test takers score 5s, and the SAT II test is so easy that students with just two years of HS instruction can ace it. So elite colleges aren't bowled over by middle-class kids scoring 5s and 700s on American standardized tests for Chinese. Problem is, the way YY teaches spoken Mandarin means that it will be next to impossible for kids without native speakers in the home to score high on IBD Chinese, where immersion students are supposed to stand out.

I can't see middle-class DCI kids standing out in the pack for their Chinese in admissions to national universities, where they will be competing with many dual-immersion program grads (mainly from the West Coast). YY parents seem to assume that their kids will emerge as Chinese-speaking standouts in college admissions, but I can't see it. Out of earshot of YY pals, my kids jokingly call YY Mandarin "I-pod GPS Chinese."

Hint: pushing admins to train Mainland teachers to put far more emphasis on speaking, bringing back summer camp, and partnering with local programs with native speaking kids couldn't hurt. Launching into skeptics/critics may feel good, but it won't help.
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