Mandarin Institute Receives STARTALK Awards!
We are very excited to announce that the Mandarin Institute is the recipient of the STARTALK award for the fourth year!
STARTALK is an award program of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) that started in 2006. The initiative seeks to expand and improve the teaching and learning of strategically important world languages that are not now widely taught in the US. The STARTALK program has become more and more competitive each year. The funding will enable the Mandarin Institute to provide unique and innovative programming to students and teachers this coming summer.
Elementary Mandarin Immersion Program
Session I: June 13 to July 8, 2011
Session II: July 11 to August 5, 2011
The Mandarin Institute in conjunction with STARTALK will offer a FREE Elementary Mandarin Immersion Summer Camp for socio-economically disadvantaged San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) students. The camp not only reinforces what they have learned during the school year, but will also extend their language capabilities and introduce them to a wide array of cultural activities to enable them to retain and expand their Chinese learning. Each year, over 150 students benefit from one of the largest and longest elementary STARTALK programs in the United States.
High School Chinese Intensive Program
Session1, Chinese III June 27 to July 15, 2011
Session2, Chinese IV July 18 to August 5, 2011
The Mandarin Institute in conjunction with STARTALK will offer a unique opportunity for Bay Area High School students with 1-2 years of formal Mandarin study to immerse themselves in a culturally rich and academically intensive Chinese program. This program is FREE for those students who demonstrate financial need. Students will participate in 6 hours of engaging language study each day which includes 50 minutes with their own personal instructor situated in Beijing China to engage in an authentic culture learning experience. Upon successful completion of both sessions, students can earn up to one full year of SFUSD foreign language credit. The instruction is task-based and student-centered. A semi-immersion and multi-sensory language environment will be created to maximize the students’ exposure to Chinese language and culture.
K-12 Chinese Teacher Preparation Program
August 1 to 5, 2011
The Mandarin Institute in conjunction with STARTALK will offer a Chinese Teacher Preparation Program to the teachers from U.S. and the Greater China area. It is an unparalleled opportunity for new K-12 teachers to gain concrete classroom experience teaching American students in foreign language and immersion settings. During this intensive one week training, teachers will learn the critical skills they need to be innovative and successful in the classroom and to facilitate high quality Chinese language programming in their schools. This program enables participants to practice what they have learned in authentic American classrooms with real students at the same level as they are going to teach. This will be followed by one-on-one mentoring sessions with lead instructors, and peer debriefing. The participants will also learn critical communication skills through interacting with real school administrators, staff and parents.
Visit www.MandarinInstitute.org for more information.