Saturday, March 24, 2012

Chinese educators' lessons for U.S. schools

Chinese educators' lessons for U.S. schools:


Chinese educators' lessons for U.S. schools

Shanghai -- Every Tuesday, the seventh-grade English class at Wenlai Middle School talks about what stories they've read that week in the English-language Shanghai Post. Alexander Oliver - it's not uncommon for Chinese kids to give themselves English names - said his recent favorite was the one about Barbie doll versions of Britain's Prince William and wife Kate Middleton going on sale.
"I don't understand why all the girls love William," he said. "Why would you marry someone just because he's a prince?" Alexander expressed himself in more clearly enunciated English than many American seventh-graders I have known, as did the other students trotted out for a group of visiting American journalists Thursday.
English is one of the core courses at Wenlai Middle School, along with physics, chemistry, information technology, world history, Chinese literature, music and math. Some Wenlai


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/22/BU1V1NOO1G.DTL#ixzz1q2VMGPNj