Actually Sarah, that "IS" the stand in the school district.That is the way the schools "ARE". Obviously the truth hurts.

Do not confuse thousands of years of Chinese history with 60 years of communism.

Does anyone else see the irony in making Chinese a mandatory class? I wonder if the class curriculum includes a history of the Chinese Communist regimes that have supressed its citizens for generations. Or the countless human rights violations that have occured over time. Any mention of that, Janesville School Board? "Yes", I think it's great you and your kid enjoy it, but don't ram another country's language down our throats. I think learning a foreign language is a valuable thing, but it's not for everyone. What's next, a class entitled "The Virtues of Communism"?

http://www.summerlanguages.com/index.php...

This link is for those parents/students who are serious about living - and achieving - in a global society.
==============================================
Beloit College - Center for Language Studies
==============================================

Arabic
Chinese
Japanese
Russian

--------
Scholarships available

Melstew - You need less commas in your previous post
Dwnnchols03 - You need more commas in your previous post

why was is it manadatory anyway? learning a second language is great,but it should be your choice of what language you learn,not one someone forces on you.if one chooses to learn chinese thats great,but, if they dont want to then it should not be forced on them,one of my chilren speaks french and the other took spanish,there choice,it never hurts to expand your mind outside the box,but remember again,their choice,not to be made mandatory.

Maybe some of the parents of the kids who are posting here should go back to class with their children. It is getting so difficult to read the comments because of poor spelling and punctuation.

In other countries that I have been to, English is required if you want to attend a college or university. Why not have some other languages taught at a younger age. Kids this age just soak up what they learn so much better than high school kids, and much better than adults. I don't think it matters if it is Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, or Arabic languages. Making it mandatory might not be the answer, but having the classes is a great idea. Having a second or even third language that you can speak will only help in the future. Employment opportunites will be vast compared to people who only have English as their spoken language.

I'm not so much upset about the mandatory foreign language... I actually support it. I'm disgusted with the school board for not knowing what they're voting on, then express their dismay.

Seriously people... read the things you're voting on. Our kids deserve a school board who actually take their jobs a little more seriously.

And congratulations on making this story to the Madison papers and news sites - it won't be long before its picked up nationally so the world can see who we've voted for.

Now we should add a class on effective communication so later, when our students grow up and become school board members....

im on both sides of this my daughter goes to harrison and she is in 3rd grade and just loves the class and is doing very well and i think it is great for them to be teaching this do i think maybe it should be spanish thou cause that seems more what we need in our contry but i can understand the other people are sayin at the school if there kids struggle in english then it doesnt seem very wise to have them tryin to learn something else my son is in second grade and has a hard time in school so think it would not be good for him but good for others i would like to take the time to say thank you to the school board for approving this but do think it should be volitary and the parents should decide what is best for there child

Let them teach it to those who can choose for them self's not tell them they have to learn it & not every one in other conutry's speak english as some peaple seem to think

Truth, your remark is trash. By the way, you should have written "is" and not "are". Maybe you should head back to class.

What could they possibly discuss using the Chinese language? A substantial percentage of the students today don't know enough about Math, Science or History to have an intelligent conversation. I said substantial not a majority.

Could be worse, Beloit's stand for the schools are English as a second language.

Again~ Why are only 2 of the schools offering this... I feel it is unfair to other schools and students...

I think many of you in favor of the mandatory Chinese program should know more about the teacher and her skills. My daughter had to take the class as part of the 5th grade Challenge program. She struggled to understand the teacher, hated the class, and really didn't learn any Chinese after a year's worth of classes. And this is an advanced student who had the class 2-3 days each week.

Ms. Gallant's initial mode of instruction included no supplemental written materials, only verbal instruction. So my daughter really didn't have anything she could work on at home. Apparently, Ms. Gallant was told verbal-only instruction was the best way to teach a language (she has since added written/online materials). So I wonder how much is anyone really auditing her class and evaluating her instruction?

Those of us who suggest the class should be optional are not taking anything away from those students who like the class and want to take it.

Let's allow everyone to opt out of anything they don't want to learn. No more pencils! No more books! No more teachers' dirty looks!

A foreign language should be mandatory in grade school. The younger a person is, the easier it is for them to learn one. Chinese should be one of the optional languages, and Russian and Arabic should be considered as options by the school board. Spanish would be ok as well and there should be a test-out program to allow children who are already fluent in another language to be able to skip taking a foreign language class (there should also be stronger testing of English skills for all students so we make sure every student is getting educated in English as well).
.
Statistically, Americans are woefully under-skilled in foreign languages, which are necessary for world trade, politics, and when politics fails, war. Being competent in a second language is useful when job-hunting. Your kids can't just go down to the GM plant when they graduate high school and get a job on the line anymore, but perhaps they can get a job with a company that imports their product from Mexico or China or the Phillipines, etc.
.
I tried German in junior high school, and Spanish in college, but was unsuccessful in picking up enough of the language to handle the second semester of either. Perhaps if I had started one at a younger age I would have been more successful. Anyone arguing that foreign languages shouldn't be mandatory subjects in the Janesville school system at grade school level should consider substituting "math" in that argument. You wouldn't wait until high school to start teaching students math and we shouldn't wait that long to start teaching foreign languages.

Learning other languages should be mandatory in schools. We are very behing other countries with our education and most other countries make it mandatory for the children to learn other languages in elementary. But they do not just learn a little here and there they are able to be fluent in them. Our education system is in sad shape! We had a young man come to our home from Estonia and he told us that in his country they laugh at the Americans because we are not very smart. That is sad. Schooling should be much more important than it is and teachers should have more support from parents especially when the teachers spend most of their class time just trying to get kids to stop goofing around because they were never taught self control at home.

It is amazing that giving a student a rare and valuable opportunity, even if mandatory, is met with such negativity. My son is taking Chinese and loves it...what a great thing and what an incredible bonus to have a school district that actually gets it. Make it optional, if necessary, but there should be a waiting list a mile long for this class and for a parent to deny their 3rd, 4th, of 5th grader this opportunity is very sad.....but, unfortunately the ignorance I am reading in most of these previous posts is the norm in this town. Congrats to Janesville and the School Board for getting this program up and running. It is a great thing.

i retract that answer that was just posted.

I think its bs that my child would be made to learn a language the she does not want to speak. It should not be mandatory, they should have a choice.

You all are aware that in Milwaukee, et al, there are several "immersion" elementary schools, that teach all subjects in another language to students 100% of the day, right?! The Spanish Immersion, the German Immersion, etc... These schools have a waiting list as long as my arm.
Have you ever traveled outside of the USA? And noticed that everyone you meet can converse in multiple languages, generally 3+... except YOU?!
We are the ONLY country in the industrialized world that does NOT teach fluency in more than one language. We are language inept, compared to the rest of the world, and leaving students to be completely unprepared for a more global economy and business world. And for whatever small-minded reason, people in J-ville are OUTRAGED that another language be required for a couple of years in elementary school, that will absolutely be beneficial to them in the future. Again- what is WRONG with people?!

Some peaple forget this is the U.S.A.

Who was the man who thinks the "21st century belongs to China" in my first post? Jim Rogers.
--------------

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Rogers
..."Rogers was born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Demopolis, Alabama. He started in business at the age of five by selling peanuts and by picking up empty bottles that fans left behind at baseball games. He got his first job on Wall Street, at Dominick & Dominick, after graduating with a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1964. Rogers then acquired a second BA degree from Balliol College, Oxford University in 1966. After Oxford, Rogers returned to the U.S. and enlisted in the army for a few years.

"In 1970, Rogers joined Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder. That same year, Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund. During the following 10 years the portfolio gained 4200% while the S&P advanced about 47%. It was one of the first truly international funds..." (from Wikipedia)
--------------
His family's story: We Want Our Kids To Learn Chinese
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/13297?tid=...

1) Spanish should be mandatory, but Chinese should replace French.

2) I know the topic here is about mandatory classes, but some posters have chosen to discuss the "why" of teaching Chinese at any time. I want to share my personal observation.

=========

Because I was a good "Girl Scout", I want to "always be prepared" - whatever that really means now at my "tender" age. So, I decided to take Chinese this fall. (I also wanted to start Arabic, but its classtime conflicts with the Chinese class.) In my Chinese textbook there is a statement I'd like to share:

"If the 19th century belonged to Britain, and the 20th century to the United States, then the 21st century will surely belong to China. My advice: Make sure your kids learn Chinese." -- Jim Rogers, Worth Magazine.

Arguing his philosphy will over run this post, so let's do that in another blog...
--------

In my class is a young man who is an engineer who often travels to Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei and other industrial areas for factories in China owned by Fiskars (based in Sauk City). When he started middle school (or even college), he probably never thought he'd travel to China. Two other men in class travel there often for work. A woman next to me has a son who is in the Air Force who was taught by Defense and is now fluent in Chinese, as is one of her daughters-in-law. Another young man is a foreign student who is picking up Chinese while working on another degree. Only two of us are interested in the language as a "hobby", the remaining "need" it for their careers.

-------
As I've mentioned before, I'm not a "spring chicken" and even though I took French and Spanish as a kid, I find learning a new language at my age more difficult than do the younger students in the class. The instructor (a Chinese native) also teaches young children, and states that they pick it up very fast (compared to adults).

====================
Written in the most simplest of "blogspeak phonetics," here is a simple greeting anyone can learn - share it with your youngest children:

Knee How! (Hello.)
Knee How mah (How are you?)
Woe Hun How. (I am fine.) Knee nuh? (And you?)
Woe Yuh Hun How. (I am fine, too.)

Count One to ten:
1 = yee; 2 = are; 3 = sahn; 4 = suh (as in sun w/o the 'n'); 5 = woo; 6 = lee-oh; 7 = tee; 8 = baah; 9 = jee-oh; 10 = she

11-99: 11=she-yee (10+1); 12=she-are (10+2)... 20=are-she (2 10s); 21=are-she-yee (2 10s+1); 22=are-she-are (2 10s+2)... 90=jee-oh she (9 10s); 99=jee-oh -she- jee-oh (9 10s+9).

Simple. Make counting 1-99 a rainy day game for the family. Learn it forwards, then backwards. Try adding and subtracting with it. Ask your kids to help you with this, then you'll understand why its better for children to learn it earlier than later.

laduloe, I think it's great to teach elementary students a second language, the
world language teachers have been trying for years to get this into the elementary schools. But to make Chinese MANDATORY! Give us a choice!

Maybe this is the "year of the chicken(s)".

If you are going to learn a second (or more) language, it is so much imperative to learn it as a child. As a bilingual adult, I can attest to the difficulties that adults face in learning these languages vs. children learning them. Furthermore, overseas, children speak their native language AND English and often 2-3 other languages. The introduction of secondary languages with children pre-puberty actually leads to better comprehension and reading (in English), and, a myriad of other benefits. It literally keeps alive the synapsis within the brain that would otherwise be expired. Anyone that would deny their child this benefit is not seeking that which is best for their child. THey are merely trying to prove a point... Whatever that point may be, it is a selfish one.

http://www.southernct.edu/organizations/...

Dr. Behn should perhaps worry less about a chinese langauge charter school and focus on a spanish speaking one since that is where the need is! Wake up DR!

Yes, Badger4life, hard to believe, isn't it? For one board member to hold so much power that he can bully the adminisrtation into doing something without the other board members knowing about it, just amazing.

I'd like to know what Dr. Behn's agenda was in pushing this program through? I would expect that someone in her position would know how to communicate effectively with the school board. I would also expect the school board to ask questions and be more thorough in what they pass in the future! This is not the 1st time that I've heard about our school board having problems with details and fine print, in the last year.

Done behind their backs? This school board? You mean to say they didn't have an opportunity to ask Dr. Behn about the program? Back in July, I saw the school board meeting where they ridiculed Dr. Behn about trying to start a chinese charter school, but then passed the program for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders that same night. Hard to believe they couldn't of asked more then or read deeper into it before just voting.

Let me fix that for you: Several parents expressed frustration or anger that the school board did not research the topic they voted on in July, when they approved the program, that should be mandatory.

How about at least a modicum of logic here? IF there's a need for mandatory foreign languages, let's start with Spanish (for practical reasons) & Arabic (for tactical reasons).

Don't blame the entire school board for something that was done behind their backs. And janesvillemom, it's not the teaching of a foreign language, it's making one particular language mandatory and not offering choices that doesn't make sense.

Angered and frustrated they weren't told in July I meant. Ask questions, research, and read the fine print. These are skills that you were taught at an early age, school board.

Board members were frustrated or angered in July? Perhaps they should read the fine print or do a little research before they vote 8-0 in favor of having it. Don't blame Dr. Behn, blame yourselves, school board. Anything else you've voted on recently that you don't clearly know or understand?

First they think hearing Obama speak will hurt their kids and now they think learning a foreign language will? What is wrong with people around here???

Big surprise, rooster lol.. English for everyone that lives and works in the U.S. That goes for all the ones withou greencards too frusion

english would be good. go for it janesville school board.

I'm actually surprised Spanish isn't required.