Topic Thread

1.  Online Language Learning

Posted 7 days ago
I will be most grateful for any leads as I begin a search for online learning systems. Most urgently I am seeking programs for teaching Mandarin to 6-12 graders? Ideally the same program would also allow for the study of other languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Italian, Russian, etc.). Our first ambition, however, is to create a "blended" learning classroom where Mandarin students could advance at their own pace using the computer and at the same time could benefit from the presence of a Mandarin teacher while in the classroom. For the languages other than Mandarin the students would not have a qualified teacher in the room, simply a proctor--in other words, these would be completely online learning experiences.
Thank you in advance!

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Elizabeth Atkins
eatkins@portledge.org
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2.  RE: Online Language Learning

Posted 6 days ago

Elizabeth,

Brigham Young University has online high school courses in 10 languages. I'm aware of several high schools around the country that use our content in a "high school suite" model, where their teacher uses our course materials in the way that works best for their school – fully online, blended, or as materials supplements. Before I came to BYU, in fact, I was the administrator of a charter school where we used BYU's online high school materials for our 8-12 grade students. It was a good fit for our needs, because our teachers needed resources for our remote students. So they were able to use the BYU content to create blended and fully online language courses and resources. It might be useful for you.

 

Jennifer

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Jennifer Quinlan

Brigham Young University

Academic Product Consultant

801.422.8498

801.854.8615

 

"I am a little pencil in God's hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything and sometimes it is really hard because it is a broken pencil and He has to sharpen it a little more." –Mother Teresa

 




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3.  RE: Online Language Learning

Posted 5 days ago
Hi Elizabeth,

We have an option for you that is not exactly an online learning system, but embedding immersion and real-time personal interaction on the Internet environment. We can pair your Mandarin students with same-age Chinese students in China on a 1-on-1 basis, and arrange chatting and tutoring sessions once or twice a week, or at your preferred frequency. Yes there is a time difference between two countries, but with a little effort, it's not unsolvable. Since you have an onsite Mandarin teacher, it's best that she/he can guide the students and set learning objectives for the online sessions, so students will be able to maximize the chatting time and see a result. The result is that they could use Mandarin in the real world and make conversations, and speak in an authentic way that Chinese people do.

As the other teacher, Tami said, the best way to learn the language and to show competency is to take the course and/or study in an immersion program. Since not every student can afford travel abroad, our online chatting session truly compromises the cost of travel while offering students the face-to-face interaction that is essential in an immersion program. 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.



Anna Yu
Director
Sino Language & Beyond
Toll Free: 866-with-SLG
Local/Intl: 408-360-9958
www.sinolanguage.org
PARTNER with US China Strong 
Educational exchange between China and the US since 2003
Two-way customized school trip, online learning, summer camp, teacher training, School Administrator's China delegation 




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