Chinese Jump! is a new summer language program for high school students offered by the Confucius Institute at the University of Kansas.The program includes a series of two-week sessions designed to give high school students an opportunity to jump into the study of Chinese language.
This program is a part of President Bush's National Security Language Initiative--STARTALK-- funded by the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Defense to promote the teaching of lesser taught languages including Chinese. The United States currently has too few speakers of these languages to meet our nation’s needs.
Who is eligible:
Rising ninth and tenth grade students in good academic standing who 1) intend to enroll in Chinese I during the 2008-09 academic year; 2) are selected by their school district; and 3) have permission from their parent(s) or legal guardian.
Dates:
The Chinese Jump! summer language programs will be offered three times in 2008:
Session 1: June 2-15
Session 2: June 16-28
Session 3: July 7-19.
Venue:
Selected students will receive Chinese language instruction on nine weekdays from 8:30 AM to noon via Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) technology in an IDL classroom designated by their school district or via face-to-face instruction depending on their location. There will be a field trip to the Confucius Institute at KU’s Edwards Campus in Overland Park, KS on the following Friday and Saturday at no cost to students; transportation, lodging, meals, admission fees as well as third-party travel insurance will be provided. Activities during the field trip will include visits to cultural sites such as the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, real-time videoconferences with students in China, face-to-face interaction with Chinese instructors and individual assessments of learning. Students will be supervised during the regular instructional sessions and field trip by a facilitator chosen by their school district.
Instructors:
Instructors will be provided by the Confucius Institute and will be certified by the Kansas State Department of Education as K-12 teachers of Chinese.
Resources:
The main STARTALK website is continually updated with useful resources.
See: http://www.startalk.umd.edu/.
Contact info:
Please contact Chinese Jump! Program Director Nancy Hope at nfhope@ku.edu or 785-864-3918.
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