Starting a Chinese Language Program: RESOURCES

From Sprouts to Blossoms:
Growing a Chinese Program from the Ground Up

Starting a new Chinese language program in the K-12 setting can be challenging, but there are many online resources that can help in the process. Below are some of the organizations and materials that helped our schools to establish an exciting and thriving Mandarin Chinese program. We will add to this list regularly as we find more resources. Good luck!

Topics and Links

Teacher recruitment and certification
- "East Meets West: Bridging Cultures, Bridging Pedagogies" Language Magazine article
- Information about licensing and certification requirements at the NY State Office of Teaching Initiatives
- Teaching Chinese to Teachers of Other Languages (TCSOL) program at Teachers College, Columbia University
- Post ads on ListServs: FLTeach, Nandutí, or Chinese Language Teachers Association
- LaoshiLink.com - an online community for Chinese language teachers

Setting up a program
- View an ABC news report video about the Herricks Middle School Chinese language program
- PowerPoint presentations from the 2010 National Chinese Language Conference - April 22-24, 2010
- The Asia Society: "Start a Chinese Language Program in Your Schools", "Chinese Language Initiatives" a directory of Chinese programs
- A great page with a list of the benefits of studying Chinese from CLASS (the Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools)
- The STARTalk program at the China Institute, and China360 Online
- The Asian Languages Bilingual/ESL Technical Assistance Center (ALBETAC) at NYU

Curricular Materials
- MisCositas materials: thematic curriculum unit: "The Jianfengling Rainforest" for beginning Mandarin Chinese learners available for free pdf download; "In-flight movie"/video: "China: A Taste of the Middle Kingdom;" and an illustrated collection of passwords for use in the Chinese classroom: "Passwords Hen Hao."
- The National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center: Chinese FLES
- PowerPoint: "Developing a K-12 Chinese Language Curriculum Framework" on the CARLA website
- Curriculum maps and materials from the Mandarin Chinese Project from the Minnesota Department of Education

Materials and technology
- Good commercial distributors include: ChinaSprout, Asia for Kids, Cheng & Tsui, and China Books
- Mrs. Yu's Chinese Class - an excellent teacher website; and sites with her silk paintings and brush paintings
- Podcasts for learning Chinese: ChinesePod, BetterChinese, MandarinTube and Mandarin Chinese podcast
- Take a virtual tour of the Imperial Palace/Forbidden City at the Palace Museum online
- Rutgers Multimedia Chinese Teaching System (RMCTS) - a collection of dialogues, lessons and audio
- BBC Chinese Language - a beginner's course, pinyin guides, Chinese tones and characters practice
- Online Chinese-English dictionary (can look up Chinese, pinyin, or English); practice of the Chinese sound system in traditional or simplified characters; view animated Chinese character stroke order

Traditional vs. simplified script
- An excellent overview of traditional and simplified script with a narrated video explanation
- Wikipedia provides good historical and political information about the debate
- "The Chinese Character: No Simple Matter" - an article from the China Heritage Quarterly
- An article from the Los AngelesTimes: "Schools a battleground over dueling Chinese scripts"

Heritage students
- Heritage Languages Journal - click on Volume 4 for an issue on Chinese heritage learners; "Heritage Language Learners in the Chinese Language Classroom: Home Background" article
- Book review: Teaching Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Heritage Language Students: Curriculum Needs, Materials and Assessments - this is a book review, but the article includes a lot of excellent information on the topic
- An article on Advanced Placement & heritage learners

Test development
- Search the FL Assessment Directory on the CAL webite
- The Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) Chinese Proficiency Test
- Adavanced Placement Chinese Language and Culture - info about the course and exam

Fun for Kids!
- Test your level of Chinese proficiency by taking a 40-question multiple choice online quiz and Chinese4Kids
- Connect to the popular Nick Jr. TV show: "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan" - printables, games, how-to videos, etc.
- See your Chinese name! Enter your name, birthdate and other information and your name will appear in Chinese characters. FUN!
- A safe virtual world in Chinese (also in Arabic, English, Japanese, Spanish): Sesame Workshop's Panwapa