How Utah celebrates Chinese New Year

Thanks to the University of Utah’s Confucius Institute for providing this summary of Chinese New Year events:

• Most immediately, on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 12:15 p.m. there will be a Chinese Cultural Celebration at the City Library in downtown Salt Lake (see details below).
• On Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7:00 p.m. Cottonwood High School will host its annual Chinese New Year Cultural Performance.
• As we mentioned before, Lehi High School’s popular and well-established celebration will be held at the school on Monday, Feb. 15th at 5 p.m. Admission is $2 per person.
• And on Saturday, Feb. 27 from 4-7 p.m. Jordan High School will host a “Year of the Monkey” spring festival. Admission is $2 (see details below).

City Library in downtown Salt Lake

 

 

Come celebrate ‘Year of the Monkey’ at Lehi High

Lehi High’s Chinese students are hosting their annual Chinese New Year Celebration on Monday, Feb. 15th at 5 p.m. Admission is $2 per person. From 5-6:45 p.m. there will be about 25 booths with Chinese cultural activities and crafts for kids of all ages, followed by a short program with a Lion Dance and Dragon Dance at 7 p.m. Restaurants will be on hand to sell food—cash only. New activities this year include: knot tying, jump rope, fan dance, button making and much more.

 

Utah Mom Organizes “Mandarin-only” outings for kids

Krissy Shull from Alpine had a great idea to organize mini, “Mandarin-only” field trips to some of our local parks, museums and other attractions. This is a great opportunity to give students a chance to practice their Chinese in a relaxed atmosphere with other students from across the state. And through recognition that other kids are learning Mandarin, too, it could serve to reinforce the fun and importance of being bilingual. Shull says her tour group is open to anyone wanting to participate. Or parents can start their own tour groups.

She’ll post dates and times on this Facebook page. Here are some details on the first outing:

When: Tuesday August 4, 2015 @ 1:30pm
Where: Thanksgiving Point Museum of Natural Curiosity
3605 Garden Dr, Lehi, UT 84043
Cost: $2/person ($2 Tuesday price for the month of August)

Instructions:
Plan to get in line around 1:30 p.m. Each family will go through the museum independently or can group together. To encourage the children to interact with other Mandarin speakers you may want to have them bring 10 pieces of colored paper with their Chinese name written on them (2″ X 2″ may work well) to exchange with other Mandarin speakers. Your family may want to wear something with Chinese writing, etc, to help identify yourselves as a part of the Mandarin speaking group.

About the Museum:
The Museum of Natural Curiosity is a large glass-walled building housing more than 400 science- & nature-themed interactive exhibits.

Tips for keeping your Chinese skills fresh over the summer

John Hilton, one UMIPC’s parent leaders, compiled this newsletter with valuable tips for constructive ways to spend the dog days of summer. 

We’ve shared information about various summer camps on this blog. Here are more options, courtesy of Hilton, for families in Utah County: Check out learning opportunities from Nathan Abbott (http://mylotusacademy.com), Brittney Phelps (www.summerimmersion.com) and Amanda Conklin (https://www.facebook.com/SuMaMaChineseClub).

I’m posting the rest of his newsletter below. You can sign up to receive copies of our newsletter here.

Aside from summer camps, there are many resources you can use in the summer time to keep your child’s skills fresh. You could have your child practice on Quizlet sites his/her teacher has sent home throughout the year (or they could try these HSK Quizlets).

There are some great books available on Amazon that would work for children who have completed third grade – like the story about two children who seek a bridge to another world. Some of the books in the series are available inexpensively on Ebay (or used on Amazon). You might also consider hiring older immersion students (4-6 graders) to come read to younger readers or do Chinese games with them. It is possible that for a very low cost you could stimulate some good Chinese activity.

Last summer parents at one school hosted a weekly Chinese movie activity in which children could come to the school and watch a feature film in Chinese (many of the Chinese teachers will have access to these types of films). Something like that could be a great benefit to many.

Good luck this summer! We know the teachers will be working hard to prepare for the fall. Also, if you missed it previously, here is the latest information regarding Utah State’s secondary immersion plans. Parents of 5th and 6th graders may want to be in touch with their respective districts to learn more about the secondary plans in their area. We are very lucky to have such a great immersion program in Utah!

Keep those Mandarin skills fresh at summer camp

Two Mandarin teachers from Jordan School District are hosting a summer camp starting in June at a karate studio in Herriman, UT.

The half-day, week-long camps run Monday through Thursday in split sessions (morning and afternoon). By the looks of their website, they’re fun and affordable; $85 per week if you register by May 30.

Enrollment is now open. For more information see the following brochure, or email Glenn Lim-Anderson or Lay Kou at:  info@mandarinchineseacademy.com Chinese Summer Program-2  

Cultural exchange for elementary immersion students

Amanda Conklin, a parent at Wasatch Elementary is planning a trip for immersion students to Taiwan. Students can get penpals prior to going and they will be meeting at schools and doing other great activities. Please see the following for more details:

Dear Chinese Immersion Parents,

Su Ma Ma Chinese Club has initiated several large projects, with great success. Currently, one of these projects is the International Pen Pal Program. Students who participate in this program have fun sharing the culture with each other, not only by writing but also through themes that we talk about in class. Recently, one of our Taiwan Pen Pal Schools (Sagor School) visited Wasatch Elementary and Aspen Elementary. During this visit, the students from Taiwan participated in English classes and visited Chinese Immersion classes at the schools. Students from both countries enjoyed learning from each other. The teachers from Taiwan brought amazing lessons into the Chinese Immersion classes with storytelling and sciences. We are creating a similar experience for our students in Utah, and are planning a trip to Taiwan in June 2015. You can learn more about us by following us on Facebook at Su Ma Ma Chinese Club.

Benefits of this program trip to Taiwan:

• We will visit most of our pen pal schools (Currently there are 8 Taiwanese schools participating).
• Your children will be able to personally meet their pen pals.
• Pen Pal Schools provide a safe learning environment and nice host families.
• We will visit many beautiful national parks and cities.
• We are providing a longer cultural experience with a very fair price.
• Taiwan is a very safe and friendly country to visit. Taiwan has kept many Chinese traditions while adopting a westernized lifestyle.
• Due to our Pen Pal School resources, we will be visiting Taiwan for 2015. In the future, we will provide similar program to China.

LEAF Cultural Exchange, LLC will help provide travel assistance by arranging airfare, transportation, food, host family, etc. The estimated cost of the trip will be approximately $2,850.00 to $3,400.00 for 4 weeks. A bigger group could help cut down the cost.

You are invited to attend a 90 minute informational meeting held at Provo School District Office PDC on Thursday, March 12^th, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.

(280 West 940 North, Provo, Ut, 84604)

If you are interested in this incredible cultural opportunity, please contact us and plan to attend this meeting.

Amanda ConklinSu Ma Ma Chinese Club amandasuconklin@yahoo.com 801-979-3451

Dorian ConklinLeaf Cultural Exchange dorian@leafculturalexchange.com 801-921-2303

This trip is not a school district or state sponsored event.

Su Ma Ma Chinese Club, LEAF Cultural Exchange and Pen Pal Schools in Taiwan are organizing this trip.

Teaching Chinese in rural Utah

“Our faculty just weren’t ready for it,” said a Utah kindergarten teacher about Utah’s Chinese immersion program in a recent NPR story.

“A lot of them weren’t dual immersion teachers, so a lot of them had — not bitter feelings, but they didn’t want to have any part of any type of a language program at all,” explains Jackie Fonnesbeck, a teacher at Arrowhead Elementary in the Southern Utah town of Santa Clara.

Fonnesbeck was a doubter, too. She told NPR: “I was very worried about the math, because that’s where they’re learning the basics, and I felt like they needed to have a good, strong base in English before they learn it in Chinese.”

But “three years into the program, Arrowhead’s immersion skeptics have become its greatest fans,” NPR reports. “Test scores for immersion students at the school are slightly higher than they are for non-immersion kids. There’s a waiting list to get into the program. And the school’s teachers – even the English language ones — are now big supporters.”

Click here to read more (you’ll be glad you did).

 

Autumn Festival at Jordan Park, Sept. 27

Cultural opportunity: 2014 Double Tenth National Day Celebration.

Hosted by: Chinese Cultural Center Association, Chinese Society of Utah (Taiwan), Salt Lake Bing Kong Tong

When: Saturday, September 27, 11:30 a.m. (flag ceremony begins at noon).

Where: International Peace Garden/Large East Pavilion, Jordan Park (1060 South 900 West)

Lunch and drinks will be served.

誠摯的邀請您, 9月2 7日雙十升旗典禮暨中秋節聚餐 中華文化中心， 猶他州中華聯誼會(http://www.utahchinesesociety.com)及所叻秉 公堂聯合主辦慶祝民國103年雙十國慶升旗典禮暨中秋節聚餐。 9月27日（ 星期 六）中午十二時, 於和平公園International Peace Garden/Large East Pavilion, Jordan Park (1060 South 900 West)舉行。駐舊金山經辦處傅處長伉儷及林組長將蒞臨主持, 屆時並提供領務收件服務(駐舊金山台北經濟文化辦事處領務新聞稿如下)。 中華文化中心, 猶他州中華聯誼會及所叻秉公堂將免費提供午餐便當及飲料。 午餐及月餅餐劵將於當日升旗典禮前，11:30am — 12:00pm 於和平公園內發贈。 敬請報名以備足食物。歡迎大家踴躍報名參加 ! 801-872-3538, contact@utahchinesesociety.com 本處訂於2 0 1 4年9月27日（星期六）派員至鹽湖城辦理領務收件服務(稿) 張貼日期：2014/9/6 為加強服務猶他地區僑胞，中華民國駐舊金山台北經濟文化辦事處訂於本 （ 103） 年9月27日（ 星期六） 派員前往鹽湖城辦理領務收件服務， 收件時 間及地點如下：下午1時整至下午2時30分在鹽湖城國際和平公園(1060 South 900 West Salt Lake City, UT 84104, United States )。 當日領務收件服務項目包括：申請中華民國護照、申請中華民國簽證、辦 理授權書及各項文件驗證。現場僅辦理收件， 辦事處製作完成後再郵寄回 申請人， 請自備6美元或9美元（ 護照專用） 郵票之回郵信封並填妥地址。 為避免僑胞所需文件或證件不全而無法辦理，辦事處特別提醒申請人預先 準備好下列各項證件及資料： 一、如要換發中華民國護照， 費用45美元， 請準備兩張照片（ 2×2、正面、白底、彩色五官清晰、六個月內拍攝）及舊 護照（ 役齡男子必須提供役畢或免役證明，未服役男子須提供在學證明）， 如舊護照上無身分證字號， 請申請人另備妥中華民國身分證或戶籍謄本 （ 影本亦可） ，如申請人持有美國護照或綠卡，亦請攜帶正本及影本（ 影 本留本處存查） 。二、申請中華民國簽證者， 請先上領務局網站 https://visa weba pp. boca . gov. tw/BOCA_MRVWe b/subr oot/MRVWe b0_f orm.jsp填 寫申請表，費用160美元。請攜帶中華民國護照正本及影本（ 影本留本處存 查），未成年之國人子女申請簽證，請另提供出生證明及父或母中華民國 護照正本及影本（ 影本留本處存查） 。三、辦理授權書者請本人親自前來 辦理， 費用每份15美元， 請備妥有效中華民國護照正本及影本（ 影本留本 處存查） 。四、辦理各項文件驗證者， 英文原件驗證費用每份15美元、中 譯本每份15美元(先需經轄區公證人公證)， 請申請人備妥文件正本及有效 之中華民國護照正本及影本（ 影本留本處存查），欲驗證之文件請另準備 一份影本留本處存查。 倘僑胞對領務收件應備文件及應付費用有任何疑問， 可上辦事處網站 http://www.r oc- ta iwa n. or g/us/sf o查詢並下載所需表格， 或事先向辦事處詢問相關 資訊（ T EL :41 5- 362- 7681分機125） 。

UVU Chinese summer days!

Apologies for the late notice. But Utah Valley University’s long-awaited summer camp is just around the corner:  August 11- 15. Online registration is now closed. But some parents have had luck registering by phone:  (801) 581-6984. Cost $75 and it’s from 12:30-3pm M-F at UVU, August 11- 15.

 

Another Utah-China connection

Utah has more public school-based Mandarin immersion programs than any other state. We are the hometown of Jon Huntsman, former US Ambassador to China, Utah Governor and presidential candidate (also the father of an adopted Chinese girl).

And now this: Which is the most common country of origin for Utah immigrants, besides Mexico? You guessed it. China, according to this map drawn up by Slate using Homeland Security data.