I’ve come across a few interesting articles this week that I’d like to share.  Here are some news stories from the world of foreign language education:

Utah leads the nation in public school students learning Mandarin.  Not only is there a high percentage of secondary students learning Chinese, but the language is finding its way into elementary schools, as well.  By next year, 6000 students in the state will be learning Chinese.  Furthermore, 21 elementary schools in Utah will soon implement dual immersion programs in Mandarin, Spanish, and French.    Way to go, Utah!

New preschool language programs near Gainesville, GA.  Hall County Schools recently received a grant to fund four preschool immersion programs.  Get this–students will learn in three languages:  English, Spanish, and Chinese .  90% of instruction will be in Spanish, 10% in English, and then there is also an hour of Mandarin at the end of every day.  There’s already a waiting list.   If I lived in the area, you’d better believe my four year old would be on it!    

Language programs successful despite rocky economy.  Houston’s Rice University language classes continue to thrive as professionals aim to make themselves more marketable.

Seniors learn Spanish.  What a wonderful idea!  A resident at a senior living center in Colorado is teaching a Spanish class to the other residents.  That will keep minds sharp!  This article got me thinking . . . wouldn’t it be cool to teach the young and old together?  My family used to frequent a nursing home to visit a relative, and my oldest son who was 5 at the time absolutely loved to go.  He would make little presents to give to the residents and he loved all of the attention he received.  Maybe we could go volunteer together and teach some French. 

$125,000 teacher salaries!  Okay, this article isn’t about foreign language education per se, but as a teacher I am intrigued.  The Equity Project is an innovative charter middle school in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City.  They’ve recently hired a dream team of teachers.  The founder is out to prove that teacher excellence is the critical ingredient for a school’s success.  What’s really amazing is that this charter school is simply reallocating existing public funds.  The principal will earn less than the teachers, and other administrative positions have been eliminated.  The teachers’ days are long:  7:45 – 5:00.  But many, many teachers I know already put in those kind of hours as well as work at home.  The Equity Project teachers have three planning times built into their day, and they teach only one course to four different groups of students.   There is a 6 week intensive planning session in the summer.  Not only will teachers earn $125,000, they also have the possibility of earning a $25,000 bonus.  They can be fired at any time.  The school will serve mostly students from low-income Hispanic families.  In case you were wondering about the foreign language offered at the Equity School–it’s Latin.  If they ever need a French teacher , I’m available

Image credit:  by sanja gjenero  at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/853246

If my own two boys are any indication, kids looooooove dinosaurs!  Use these fascinating creatures to teach children about languages.  Sir Richard Owen, an English biologist, used Greek terms to give dinosaurs their name back in 1841:  deinos means terrible or fearfully great, and saurus means lizard.   The Latin term for dinosaur is Dinosauria.  Most species of dinosaurs are named using Greek and Latin terms.  Want to talk about dinosaurs around the world?  Here’s how:

Spanish: el dinosaurio

French:  le dinosaure

Italian:  il dinosauro

Portuguese:  o dinossaurio

Dutch:  de dinosaurus

German:  der Dinosaurier

Know some more?  Leave a comment and keep this dinosaur list from going extinct!

Image Credit:  by scol22 at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/865320