Tucson International Academy

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Chinese Language Programs

Five Reasons Children Should Learn a Second Language

Five Reasons Children Should Learn a Second Language
Learning Languages for Children

The benefits of why your child should learn a second language are fairly well-known. Bilingual employees are often paid more than employees who only know one language. People who know another language often have more chances for growth at their jobs as well.

Why Should Your Child Learn a Second Language?

Aside from getting paid more and better career opportunities for adults, learning additional languages can benefit your child in many ways. Here are some of those ways.

Increased Brain and Thought Development

Research has found that children who know another language tend to learn skills in other subjects easier.

Increased Curiosity

Learning multiple languages will stimulate your child’s curiosity.  Your child’s curiosity often makes them more interested in learning new ideas in other areas as well. In addition, your curious children tend to ask more questions about the world around them. This will open more ways for them to learn other things. 

Increased Confidence

In addition to more educational benefits provided by language learning, your children benefit mentally as well. The boost in confidence for your children from learning a language can inspire confidence in other areas.

Increased Social Skills

A child who learns another language is often found to have more empathy for other cultures around the. More empathy makes them more accepting of other cultures when they experience them. This growth of character will stay with your child throughout their life.

Increased Ability to Function in a Global Society

With today’s focus on a global economy, it is more crucial than ever that your child develops the ability to speak with people from other cultures.

When Should Your Child Learn a Second Language?

It is ideal for children to begin learning languages from birth, or as soon as possible. The reality is that your child may not be exposed to a second language until elementary school or sometimes as late as high school. However, not all is lost. People can learn a language at any age. The beginning of the elementary school years is a prime time for children to learn a language and also retain it for future use.

It is much easier if your child had been immersed in a second language since birth. But with consistent exposure, your child can pick up a second language between six and eleven and become fluent without an accent. As your child progresses into their teen and young adult years, it is more difficult to learn and nearly impossible to speak without an accent.

Learn More About Our World Language Program

For these and other reasons, we at Tucson International Academy believe strongly in instituting bilingualism from the beginning of a child’s school experience. Our world language program features immersive Chinese for all age groups as well as a Spanish language learning program. Above all, we strive to provide your child with what is an increasingly in-demand skill in today’s global society.

Do You Want Your Child to Learn Another Language?

Enroll Today at TIA

Or Call the school at 520-792-3255

2019 TIA’s Chinese New Year Celebration

2019 Chinese New Year Event at TIA
2019 Chinese New Year Event at TIA

Every year all four campuses come together for TIA’s Chinese New Year celebration. The students put on a performance in Mandarin Chinese for family and friends to watch.

Xiuqing Sun – Chinese Program Teacher

”TIA’s very own students perform at the Chinese New Year celebration. Most of the students have no Chinese experience whatsoever prior to attending TIA. We take all students, even Kindergarten, and teach them how to speak Mandarin, pronounce the words correctly.  We teach about Chinese culture and the difference between American cultures and also the similarities. All the students will sing or rap in Chinese, dance Chinese dances while wearing traditional Chinese clothes.

Our Schools mission is to prepare students to be global citizens. If you can speak English, Spanish and Chinese, you can communicate with 70% of the entire world population. I try to make the show as exciting as I can. Also, I hope the audience can get a taste of Chinese culture and language, how we speak, how we pronounce words. I hope that the audience can get interested in the Chinese language.”

Dr. Jennifer Herrera – School Superintendent

“This is an annual Chinese New Year’s event. This is a chance to showcase the Chinese Mandarine language that is taught in our classes from kindergarten through 12th grade. The kids are very excited. They get to dance, sing, recite poetry. Sometimes they get to share information that they have learned about in their Chinese class. It’s a very exciting event for our whole community!

All four of our campuses are represented here tonight to perform a dance, song, and poem all in Chinese and even to share historical information they are learning in their Chinese classes. We are Tucson International Academy. The reason we put “International” in there is because the world has become a smaller place. With the internet, businesses, and the sharing of ideas – it’s all global now. So it’s very important as we educate the kids, that we constantly give them the global perspective through history, math, and in every subject that we teach. By offering foreign languages of Spanish and Chinese, the students are able to understand foreign concepts that only the language supports. It teaches them how to get along in this world and appreciate the diversity that we have.”

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUnYDyoAad0

 

Enroll Today at TIA!

Chinese Language Programs at TIA

Chinese language programs at TIA
Chinese New Year Celebration

A major component of the Chinese Language Programs at TIA is the annual Chinese New Year Celebration. The family event is designed to showcase the students’ language skills and expand their appreciation of Chinese Culture.

Why Is Everyone So Excited About the Chinese Language Programs?

Everything about the event, from the lively performances, colorful wardrobes, and authentic food, reflects the excitement the children have for the Chinese Program at TIA.  “Our students are the most attentive and eager during Mr. Wu’s lessons. It’s very appealing to them,” says teacher Heather Hilliard. And the reason for their enthusiasm is apparent: Chinese Language Teacher Mr. Wu.

If the kids’ loud cheers for Mr. Wu at a recent celebration are any indication, they love him. “Having a language teacher from the specific country really helps the kids understand and be more concerned with what they’re learning and why it’s important,” Hilliard explains. “The fact that Mr. Wu is from China helps them relate because they know him. He can say, ‘This is where I grew up, and this is what this is like’.”

Chinese New Year, now also called the Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. Each year the celebration falls on different dates in January or February, and is associated with one of 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Traditional celebrations lasted 15 days, in which family reunions and feasts were an important component. Other traditions include fireworks, a lantern festival, a dragon dance, the color red, and giving children money in red envelopes. The holiday is also celebrated in numerous cities and countries outside of China where there are significant Chinese populations.

New Year and New Opportunities

Just as the Chinese New Year symbolizes new life and new beginnings, the New Year event at TIA symbolizes new opportunities for our students, which are made possible by Mr. Wu and the Chinese Language Program.