How fluent will they become?
Given the complexity of learning Mandarin, and the fact that students do not live in a predominantly Chinese-speaking world, they will become fluent speakers of Mandarin but will not be at the exact same level as students of the same age in China. The District’s target, based on over 30 years experience at Alice Fong Yu and West Portal, is that by fifth grade, Mandarin immersion students will have gained language reading and writing proficiency equal to somewhere between a late third grade to mid fourth grade.
Given the complexity of learning Mandarin, and the fact that students do not live in a predominantly Chinese-speaking world, children who don’t speak Chinese at home will become fluent speakers of Mandarin but will not be at the exact same level as students of the same age in China. The District’s target, based on over 30 years experience at Alice Fong Yu and West Portal, is that by fifth grade, Mandarin immersion students will have gained Mandarin language reading and writing proficiency equal to somewhere between a late third grade to mid fourth grade level in China. The District also expects Mandarin Immersion students will be on target with fifth grade English reading and writing.
