First Vancouver cohort to complete Mandarin immersion program set to graduate

The first cohort of Vancouver elementary students to complete a popular Mandarin-bilingual program from kindergarten to Grade 7 is set to graduate at the end of June.

The John NorquayElementary class is just like any other in the Lower Mainland, except teacher Elaine Lau's classdoes half the curriculum in English and the other half in Mandarin.

Students in the school's Early Mandarin Bilingual Program which blends both languages from kindergarten to Grade 7 come from many different backgrounds. Some have no familial connection to China.

"We take part in many sorts of engaging activities that students can learn and also learn Mandarin at the same time," said Lau.

She saidit'simportant to learn the culture of China while also learning Mandarin, because they go hand in hand.

During Vancouver's Dragon Boat Festival the class made sticky rice wraps. During Lunar New Year, they made paper lanterns.

"When you're learning the language you need to learn its history," said Lau. "We do a lot of proverbs and poems so they can also learn the history of China."

The program, which admits roughly 20 students a year, isn't geared towardnative Mandarin speakers, but instead works on a lottery system for admittance, similar to French Immersion courses.

"When you're learning multiple languages at a young age, that cognitive development is a lot faster," said Christepher Wee, the Grade 1 and 2 teacher.

"In terms of their ability to have empathy and compassion. All those play into learning a second language."

Wee, who was a teacher while the studentscompletedtheir entire stint in the program, said students will come away fromNorquayElementarywith a "greater sense of the world."

"They'll have a better understanding of cultures, and that diversity we have," said Wee.

The graduating class is a welcome sight forparents, many of whomworried earlier this year aftera shortage of qualified teachers possibly threatened the future of the program.

With files from On the Coast

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