How to improve Chinese speaking?
The last type of immersion is called two-way (or dual) immersion. This model was first developed in Florida’s Dade County schools and is still evolving. Two-way immersion is designed to serve both English and non-English speakers. The latter group will usually make up 25 to 50 per cent of the student body. Children from each language group are mixed in the same classroom. The goals of two-way immersion are for both language groups to become bilingual, succeed academically, and develop positive inter-group relations. Two-way immersion programs, as one-way, differ in the amount of time spent in the two languages per grade level. In the upper grades, instruction is typically half in Spanish and half in English. In theory, two-way immersion allows English speakers to learn Spanish while continuing to develop their English skills. Spanish speakers learn English while becoming literate and maintaining oral skills in their native tongue.
About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the world’s population) speak a variety of Chinese as their first language.
It is a language rooted in central Mandarin, however, the total amount of languages spoken in China is 302, according to the last Ethnologue survey. This is also the national language.
71% of Chinese speak a variety of Mandarin also call “Putonghua”(Also adopted as a second language by those who speak other Chinese dialects), which is close to being a lingua franca in the Mandarin-speaking parts of China(Northern China, in Sichuan, and, actually, in a broad arc from the northeast (Manchuria) to the southwest (Yunnan), use various Mandarin dialects as their native language, as well as the rest of the mainland, though less so. The mountains and rivers of southern China may have promoted linguistic diversity.
To most people improving Chinese skills is a daunting task! I have been advocating quite openly in all of my blogs that the best way to learn any language is through Immersion methods. Starting from Travel immersion to Full classroom to Partial classroom immersion learning methods. Travel immersion allows you a chance to experience a locale, like a local by embedding yourself in the culture of a destination, rather than simply viewing it from a comfortable distance. It often includes getting to know the people who live there, knowing their day today routines, way of life, religious priorities, sharing meals, learning the language, or and lending a hand at work, which may not be possible for everyone. Agreed, there are many obstacles to immersion learning, but don’t let these hold you back. Chinese learners need to learn more than just a few numbers and parroting sentences on ‘how to introduce themselves’! A full immersion experience gets language learners to communicate about diverse and necessary topics, when they are immersed in a language, as their brain is forced to become accustomed to listening and breaking apart sound to make meaning actively. For most who do not know – immersion methods of learning activate different parts of the brain in multitude of ways faster than any traditional teaching method.
That’s probably the reason why bilingual learners score higher on cognitive ability and executive function tests.
In full-time immersion programs, learners start out knowing very little of the language to having a full conversation in just a few weeks. While it’s true that time and hard work is going to help you improve, there are also some fun easy steps that you can take to improve your skills without making it feel like work!
Partial or two-way (or dual) immersion aims to teach language learners by means of using both English and the target language partially as the medium of instruction. Some institutes aim at larger bilingualism abilities by mixing both English and non-English speakers, in the same classroom.
