Guest ShaQuaNew Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 A few questions. We have so many links and references of help here on this site to topics that help us all during the bringing and transition to the USA. There are however two areas that come immediately to mind of which I've only seen communication, but often difficult to find: 1. Transferring School Aged Children from China to the USA a.) What paperwork is needed acccording to grade level? b.) Any helpful tips or links? 2. Learning English a.) Are there websites or links to visit that will assist helping our partners and children learning English? b.) Personal experiences? So many of you are either in the midst of this now, or about to experience the challenge. I wanted to draw upon our resources here to help. Thanks guys.... Link to comment
Trigg Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 A few questions. We have so many links and references of help here on this site to topics that help us all during the bringing and transition to the USA. There are however two areas that come immediately to mind of which I've only seen communication, but often difficult to find: 1. Transferring School Aged Children from China to the USA a.) What paperwork is needed acccording to grade level? b.) Any helpful tips or links? 2. Learning English a.) Are there websites or links to visit that will assist helping our partners and children learning English? b.) Personal experiences? So many of you are either in the midst of this now, or about to experience the challenge. I wanted to draw upon our resources here to help. Thanks guys.... 180490[/snapback]Transferring from China to a US school varies state to state so this is a generalization. You can get a transcript from China that will break her school work down grade by grade through the eighth-I dunno about past there. We got one for my stepdaughter that was in Chinese and English. It looked much like an American report card. If your step child is 1-8 grade just pick one thats age appropriate--he/she will do fine!! My stepdaughter had about a 50% mastery of English when she first came her. She took all tests in English with no assistance. Here math scores were the highest in the county and after her first full year her GPA was 4.0 and is 4.0 half way through her second year--this is not atypical. Most ,if not, all states will offer ESL classes for anyone under 18 years old. Usually through the local school system for children and either there or at a library or Com College for adults. You will find that the children will pick it up rapidly-partly because they are children and partly because they are being exposed to it in school in china. My wife resisted ESL but found a Chinese TV station that teaches English for a half hour everyday. I used to wish she could speak more English so we could talk--now that she does, I can't get her to shut up!! All in all the school experience was a breeze but do keep in mind that I was a psychologist/school administrator and knew the laws and made sure that her new school new that. piece of cake! Link to comment
esun41 Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Jesse, This is what has happened to my children since they arrived. Almost all of it is good news. They had no records or transcripts from China except a report card translated into English by one of my son's teachers in Nanning. The school district in which we belong to here in California has decided to give my children class credits dependant upon that piece of paper. This means that my son, who is 18, receives 210 credit hours for his Chinese schooling. He is starting back to school on Tuesday for 2nd semester and is only taking 3 classes; ESL, Government and Economics. He is taking these classes for 2 hours each day and will be tested in April to determine his English comprehension. If he grades out above 70%, he will graduate from this high school with a diploma. My daughter is a different story as she is only 15 and has plenty of time to adjust and graduate normally. She will have normal classes and go in as a sophomore with 70 credits earned. It takes 240 credits to graduate. I am thinking that this school district is bending over backwards to graduate my son and have done the same for other "Eligible" students. I am guessing the district receives funding for %'s of graduated students. My take on this is that, try to make sure your SO's child(ren) have transcripts or written documents and go ahead and call the schools counselors to give them heads up beforehand. I think we just got lucky as it could have been so much more difficult! Eric Link to comment
Randy W Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 (edited) My wife resisted ESL but found a Chinese TV station that teaches English for a half hour everyday.0„2 180497[/snapback] Trigg - What time, what channel is this program?? Jesse - ESL Online from a Chinese member Edited January 7, 2006 by Randy W (see edit history) Link to comment
tywy_99 Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 A few questions. We have so many links and references of help here on this site to topics that help us all during the bringing and transition to the USA. There are however two areas that come immediately to mind of which I've only seen communication, but often difficult to find: 1. Transferring School Aged Children from China to the USA a.) What paperwork is needed acccording to grade level? b.) Any helpful tips or links? 2. Learning English a.) Are there websites or links to visit that will assist helping our partners and children learning English? b.) Personal experiences? So many of you are either in the midst of this now, or about to experience the challenge. I wanted to draw upon our resources here to help. Thanks guys.... 180490[/snapback]Thanks to the NCLB act, all that is needed is a copy of the birth certificate (proof of age), a copy of the passport bio page and visa (proof of ID and lawful presence), and home address (proof of residence.) The school will want the shot records in a specified time. Link to comment
Trigg Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 My wife resisted ESL but found a Chinese TV station that teaches English for a half hour everyday.0„2 180497[/snapback] Trigg - What time, what channel is this program?? Jesse - ESL Online from a Chinese member180522[/snapback]I have it on the great wall package with Dish network, PHOENIX NORTH AMERICA CHINESE CHANNEL. It's available ala carte and on other packages also. On satellite 121 (the one my part of the country uses for international programing) it's on at (9:20 am Central time. On sat #148 it's channel 581--same with sat 61.5. she tapes every one of them and studies them several times each. Link to comment
jim_julian Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 We have these problems in spades ... Lao Po will come to the US with high school plus some college courses but no degree. The records are very poor to say the least. Hopefully her current English classes will give her a jump start in the US. Ermei will graduate from high school in CK but not stay for the tests to qualify her for CN college level education. Our intention is that Ermei will take courses at a Cali JC which could provide entry into a UC school for years 3 and 4. Where she will actually go and the future is quite unsettled. Does anyone have experience in these areas? Link to comment
Dan R Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 We have these problems in spades ... Lao Po will come to the US with high school plus some college courses but no degree. The records are very poor to say the least. Hopefully her current English classes will give her a jump start in the US. Ermei will graduate from high school in CK but not stay for the tests to qualify her for CN college level education. Our intention is that Ermei will take courses at a Cali JC which could provide entry into a UC school for years 3 and 4. Where she will actually go and the future is quite unsettled. Does anyone have experience in these areas?180581[/snapback]How about having her admitted as a foreign student the first year and then when she qualifies as a resident changing status. This would make entering easier and give her advantages she would not have as a regular Community College student. Link to comment
jim_julian Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Dan ... I'll check it out. Link to comment
jemmyell Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Hi Jesse. I can very much recommend the Pimsleur tapes and CDs (ESL for Mandarin Speakers). I bought my SO and her daughter the tapes on eBay ($19.95) then the full 16 CDs from Plurality Language (the best price I could find) for $169 (regularly $345). After I sent the CDs my SO told me the first HALF (8 CDs worth) of the comprehensive was on the $19.95 audio tapes!!! I also sent two CD players from Fry's Electronics ($14.95 each) and rechargeable batteries so my SO and her daughter could study independently. CD comprehensive ESL for Mandarin Speakers: http://www.pluralitylanguage.com/languages...se_mandarin.htm Tapes from Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...42&fmt=AU&itm=3 I also took her a book 'Speak English like an American' that I bought at Amazon.com before I went to visit them. Good luck. -James Link to comment
esun41 Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Gentlemen, Have any of you had the problem of trying to un-teach the English that your wives/SO's learned while still in China? My wife's English teacher, in my opinion, was an idiot when it came to teaching English... to Chinese women... in Chinese!!! I couldn't frickin' believe it when I attended a class one time. I am suspicious that this man was the one who screwed up Lucy's paperwork for P-4 and may have created some suspicions for her intial interview... but that is all behind us now... Lucy's English skill has drastically improved since arriving to the USA. I think her being around so many English speakers is key to this. My daughter has been the fastest in adjusting but that is no surprise. She's bent on taking this country by storm. My son was slow to adapt at first but has followed his younger sisters lead and has advanced quickly. They start American High School Tuesday and already have my American son's friends coming over to play Xbox and watch DVD's and shoot basketball. Any advice I could give to those members bringing children of their SO's over would be watch over the children when experiencing new things here. Our first few weeks saw me too focused on my wife, (for obvious reasons ) and I may have neglected them a bit. The wheels are churning now and we couldn't be happier! Link to comment
jim_julian Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 I too went to one of my Lao Po's English classes in China and was not impressed. Her pronunciation is much better than her teachers and the course work is very weak in grammar. Nevertheless she'll stay in English classes until she comes to the US. I expect she'll also take English in the US also. In virtually any Chinese social setting Lao Po is very outgoing. She tends to dominate the conversation and have people smiling and laughing within a few minutes. I think she will be frustrated until her command of English is sufficient to do the same thing in America. Her daughter is in the sixth year of English in Chinese schools. Her pronunciation is excellent and her grammar correct. She only lacks confidence. The daughter is a "follow to join", probably 11 months after her mom. This should really ease the transition as I expect Lao Po to be pretty well acclimated by the time Ermei gets here. Link to comment
Yuanyang Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 The kids learn fast. They hear much better because (I think) their ears are not yet conditioned to any particular language and the brain centers for speech is still developing at a rapid pace. It's very difficult for the adults to hear (that applies to me to re: learning Chinese). One thing that I notice is the "..ah" after words: good-ah, work-ah etc... I believe that once here and being bombarded with the English language that those little nuiances will go away. Link to comment
BuffaloPaul Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 My experience grade transcripts were helpful but not required immunization records were essential. If you don't have your little yellow book you will need to get shots before child can enroll. My step daughter couldn't speak any English when she started but took the bus on her own the first day. 4 months later she speaks quite well and her grades are near perfect Link to comment
esun41 Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 It does appear that younger children are learning quicker than older ones. It seems also that my son is beginning to realize that he is lagging behind a bit in many aspects but he is quite the learner. When he hangs out with my American born son... he watches his actions and behaviors. The way he dresses is being updated with some pushing. I have bought him a few collared, button up shirts. He said " In China, older man wear this type shirt" I said, "you are not in China my son" I have a neighbor who's daughter is Korean and just went through all this change herself and she encourages my son to try new things. (When is Rome!) The thing that surprises me the most is that Jack is so sharp and smart but not much ambition to this point. I think he sees now that he needs to forge his own way in America. I think when he starts school in a few days... it will make a world of difference for him Link to comment
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