Chinese as 2nd Language

Introduction to the Chinese as Second Language (CSL) Program

  • The Chinese as Second Language (CSL) program (also referred to as Chinese Bilingual, or Chinese as a Foreign Language program) is designed for students whose main language at home is not Mandarin
  • Classes are conducted in both English and Chinese and use pinyin as the phonetic aid for the beginning levels
  • The goal is to make the classes fun and interactive so that the students will stay engaged
  • The levels span from Pre-Kindergarten through 8th Grade (see CSL Course Objectives below for more details)
  • The curriculum is built around an expanding scope (by level) of daily and real life experiences
  • The focus shifts from listening and speaking to reading, writing & composition in the advanced levels
  • We use a spiral learning approach whereby previously learned materials is revisited frequently and integrated with the new material (the key to learning a second language)
  • At the end of each level, the student should be able to understand and respond to simple questions in Chinese and have some basic exposure to recognizing and/or writing (Traditional Chinese) characters
  • Parents’ and students’ observations in the classroom is recommended to help your children select the level that fit them best

CSL Course Objectives

Level Offered Class Name Brief Description
Pre-Kindergarten CSL-PK Through the use of drawings, stories, pictures and classroom activities, the students will be able to understand, listen to, speak and write some basic Chinese characters such as numbers, months, and fruits.
Kindergarten CSL-K Using songs, rhymes and conversations to help the students acquire skills in understanding verbal classroom instructions, listen to and understand basic words, phrases, and recognize, write some simple, single characters.
Level 1 CSL-1 Understand & follow basic classroom commands, describe simple everyday objects, read simple excerpts, hear the patterns of Chinese spoken language
Level 2 CSL-2 Utilize all the learned materials to form sentences, do question/answer activities, and read simple excerpts with some fluency
Level 3 CSL-3 Understand, hold simple conversations. And read simple sentences unaided. Know the order of strokes of learned vocabulary and guess at the radical of new characters.
Level 4 CSL-4 Understand basic knowledge about topics learned, ask & respond to simple questions, read & write simple phrases and sentences. Practice antonyms.
Level 5 CSL-5 Read books without pinyin, do simple oral presentation, guess at meaning of new characters, write unfamiliar characters in the right order of strokes.
Level 6 CSL-6&7 Narrative comprehension, hold a slightly longer conversation with someone. Use surrounding words to guess at the general message of a passage and write a short essay.
Level 7 CSL-8 Conduct a meaningful dialog or discussion, comprehend reading material, make sentences and write paragraphs related to thematic lessons presented.