The YingHua Language School, located in Lawrenceville, NJ, announced its 2003 Chinese Language Summer Program today. The 8-session program will run from June 29 through August 17 on Sundays (2:30 - 4:30 p.m.) and it will be located at the prestigious The Lawrenceville School.
The program will offer two tracks: the CHL Track for Chinese(Mandarin)-speaking students and the CSL Track for non-Chinese(Mandarin)-speaking students.
The CHL Track will have five different levels accepting students age 8 (or going to be in the 3rd grade in Fall 2003) and above. The students are required to have studied Dr. Liping Ma's textbooks and methodology for at least one year or having been studying Chinese in general for at least two years. The goal is to give the motivated students a chance to get ahead so that they'd be qualified for skipping a level in Fall 2003 - as well as preparing those who are new to the methodology. The program will be rigorous and rewarding including 7 CD-ROM-based homework assignments.
The CSL Track will have two age groups - age 6 to 9 and 10+ - covering a wide-range of language/cultural activities. The main goal is to give these beginners an opportunity to learn some of the basics of the Chinese language and culture. The classes will be conducted in a stimulating and fun-loving atmosphere touching on topics such as the four "tones" in pronunciations, the Chinese equivalence of the "vowels" and "consonants," meanings in Chinese names, basic daily conversations, songs and rhymes, general structures for characters, radicals, rules for writing Chinese characters, the origin of characters, calligraphy, board games, music and musical instruments, paintings, holidays and customs and more. Actual materials covered in your child's classroom may vary by age group. Students may be required to finish small projects at home. YingHua will offer a comprehensive three-level (4.5-year) "Chinese Made Easy" program starting Fall 2003 for children age 10 and above. It will also offer a conversation-based program "Practical Spoken Chinese" for children age 6 to 9.
Online registration starts on February 16. Registration forms can be downloaded at www.yinghua.org. They are available at the Plainsboro Asian Market, the World Buffet Restaurant in Mercerville, and the Public Libraries in Plainsboro, West Windsor, Princeton and Lawrenceville. Orientations will be held at the Lawrence Middle School (2455 Princeton Pike, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648) on Sundays April 27 and May 11 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Any questions, please call 609.530.0399 or Email info@yinghua.org.
The YingHua Language School was founded on May 4, 2002, as a nonprofit organization. It strives to provide high-quality Chinese education to students of all cultural backgounds. For the 2002-2003 school year, it has about 100 students. The school operated on Sundays from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Lawrence Middle School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, from September to June, and at The Lawrenceville School from June to August.
The first parent orientation seminar for non-Chinese-speaking students (CSL track) was held at Mercer County Library - Lawrence HQ Branch. More than twenty enthusiastic parents from "Families with Children from China" attended the seminar. YingHua's principal, Dr. Liao, first invited the parents to share their reasons for sending their children to learn Chinese. All the parents feel that Chinese is their children's heritage even though they will be raised in non-Chinese families. Therefore they want to give their children the opportunity to learn Chinese and to learn about China as much as possible. "I want my daughters to be able to communicate with other Chinese because they ARE Chinese." Besides, it would be hard to deny that China would be one of the top economies in the world in the 21st century. Dr. Liao quoted Jim Rogers, private investor and longstanding Barron's Roundtable panelist. "The 21st century is the century of China," says Rogers, noting it has the second-largest foreign-currency reserves in the world and a population of 1.3 billion. "Everybody should teach their children and grandchildren Chinese."
The agenda included the school's mission and commitment as well as the teaching methodology and curriculum. Dr. Liao emphasized that the school aims at creating a structured learning environment, similar to that of a regular Kindergarten class, to children five years old and above. The long-term goal is to prepare students for the Chinese SAT II test in high school. A near-term goal is to tune the children's ears to the sound of Chinese while they are young and teach them basic vocabularies so that they will have a good foundation to build their language skills further.
Most importantly this was an opportunity for the parents to ask questions and to start a trusting relationship with YingHua. One of the parents offered to video-tape all classes and to help parents work with their children. (Right-click here to download the registration form.)
英华语言学校将于六月二十三日至八月十一日举办八周中文学习班,快速补习马立平?#30452;接认字法第一至三册。适合学过两、三年中文或至少掌握两百生字,并且年满七岁的学生。作业全部使用CD-ROM,是让孩子试用这套教材的好机会。学习目标为不借助拼音能认读三百个常见字,以便秋季顺利开始第四册学习,进入A04或B04班。名额有限。时间为星期日下午2:30至4:30,在Plainsboro Public Library。由廖冰校长义务执教,马立平博士亲自任教学指导。五月十八日开始网上报名。
首次家长座谈会在Plainsboro Public Library举行。校长廖冰讲话中强调英华将集中精力搞好中文教育,把学生的学习当作头等大事来抓,并介绍了马立平教材的特点。使用过该教材的老师和家长,也介绍了情况。理事会的姜礼恺先生亦在会上发言,谈到具有双语能力对他事业上的帮助。(姜先生生长在美国,在七十年代曾上过九年中文学校,后回上海学过一年中文,现任美林首席副总裁。) 与会家长提问后,流览了教材和CD-ROM作业。有的家长甚至希望能当场报名。下次家长座谈会将于五月十九日下午两点到五点在同一地点举行。
英华语言学校于五月四日宣布成立。它位于新州大普林斯顿地区,为非盈利组织,其方针为集中精力搞好学生的中文教育,使学生能学有所成。它也是新州唯一的一所全部采用斯坦福中文学校马立平博士"直接认字法"特殊中文学校。开学时间定于今年九月八日星期日下午。地点在Lawrence High School,Lawrence教育局已顺利通过了新校租用教室的申请。五月十八日开始网上报名。(更多)