Chinese lessons — Educators say Mandarin programs could make Utah public schools debut

DRAPER — It's not often that you see CEOs, doctors and kindergartners attending the same school. But at a new school in Draper, you'll see just that.

And teachers at the Utah Chinese School say the 5-year-olds outperform adults by leaps and bounds.

Research shows children have a better chance of picking up the difficult language at an early age, but school leaders say learning Mandarin Chinese could be important to everyone.

"Chinese is the most-spoken language in the world — economically and politically, learning Chinese is a great benefit to people," said Jennifer Mengelson, principal of the Utah Chinese School.

She said in a couple dozen years China will be the new business frontier, and Mengelson wants to make sure her students are prepared.

Within Utah's public education system, some junior highs and high schools offer Chinese language classes. But Mengelson, who speaks both Mandarin and Taiwanese, said learning a difficult tongue like Mandarin is much easier when students are still developing language skills.

"Before 8 years old is the best time to learn, because their minds are like a sponge — kids learn very quickly," she said. "It's hard to learn in junior high and high school, where most of the programs are available in Utah."

The state has embraced the idea of dual-language classrooms at the elementary levels, but the only programs so far in Utah are in Spanish.

Currently, Chinese instruction is sparsely peppered around the state's elementary schools. For example, if an elementary teacher happens to speak Chinese, then they will offer some lessons in the classroom. Some have even offered to teach after-school courses.

But leaders say more Chinese language offerings are on the horizon, and Chinese immersion programs could soon be making their debut in Utah.

Gregg Roberts, foreign language specialist for the State Office of Education, said currently the state is working with Portland Schools, which are said to have the best Chinese immersion program in the country, in addition to Brigham Young University faculty in writing a curriculum for immersion programs as well as identifying teachers.

He said that if the state can come up with funding, some programs should be up and running by fall 2009. The programs would start in kindergarten and first grade.