US K-12 immersion schools expand across country for early-age Chinese language education
At the Goodtime Chinese School in the Bethany suburb of Portland, Oregon, an American child stops school director Zhou Yanzhuo, of China, in the hallway to ask a question in English. She requests that he speak in Chinese and the third grader, who has no Chinese heritage, handily switches languages. The child is one of several dozen students attending rigorous summer classes for Chinese language…
Across the United States, Chinese language immersion schools for K-12 students are experiencing significant growth. In Portland, Oregon, at the Goodtime Chinese School, an American third grader fluently switches between English and Chinese. This trend is evident nationwide, with a record of 397 Chinese language immersion schools now operating.
While American universities report flat enrollment in Chinese language courses, parents of non-Chinese heritage students view Chinese immersion as a valuable way to enhance overall language learning abilities. School director Zhou Yanzhuo, a China native, notes that many of his students have no Chinese background, a record for his school, which charges $14,000 per year for full-time immersion classes.
The popularity of Chinese immersion schools surged in the 1980s and early 2000s, amid increased US-China relations and global interest in learning Chinese. However, recent surveys indicate minimal change or declines in Chinese language enrollment at universities in the US, such as the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Reed College.
Experts suggest that high school students may struggle to retain the language they learned as children, and heritage schools may help address this issue. Parents are increasingly considering Chinese language education through high school and even preparing their children for AP Chinese Language and Culture exams. Nilanjan Narayan, who graduated from high school this year after attending heritage Chinese schools from age 2 to 18, attributes his fluency in Chinese to his immersion education and is now enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles to major in global studies.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
