The Detroit News – Shawn D. Lewis
“Dominique Canty reaches for the yellow crayon to color a rainbow in her kindergarten class. “What did you say the word is again in Chinese for yellow?” asks the 5-year-old student at Donald J. Yacks Elementary School. “Huang se,” responds Xin Li, the L’Anse Creuse Public School District’s new kindergarten Chinese immersion program teacher. With head bent over her drawing, Dominique quietly repeats, “huang se, huang se, huang se.” Dominique and her classmates were learning about rainbows, or cai hong, and colors, in Mandarin…They also are learning some English and math, as well as the alphabet and songs in Mandarin…Such immersion programs in Mandarin — China’s most common language — are becoming increasingly popular.”(more)