Kalamazoo Chinese Academy STARTALK
STARTALK is a project funded by the National Security Agency and administered by the National Foreign Language Center. STARTALK’s mission is to increase the number of U.S. citizens learning, speaking, and teaching critical need foreign languages. STARTALK hosts engaging summer programs for students in kindergarten through 12th grade as well as undergraduate students.
2024-25 KCA STARTALK INSTITUTE CHINESE PROGRAM
Program Overview
The Kalamazoo Chinese Academy STARTALK Institute is a year-round student engagement program that will take place from spring 2024 to spring 2025. This year-round language program provides a differentiated four semesters’ sessions for 70 grades 5-9 beginner- to intermediate-level students in the United States to learn the Chinese language in an immersive environment. The program theme is “Amazing Beijing” and this theme will guide all standard-based instruction and learning throughout the program. Students will undergo a virtual cultural tour to Beijing in Mainland China. Classes will have a cap of 12 students per class to make it possible for the instructors to work closely with the students and to take account of individual differences in their backgrounds and learning styles.
This program is funded by the National Security Agency (NSA) and participation in this program is totally FREE; however, participation in all four semesters is required. Here is an overview of the semesters:
- Spring 2024 (January 18-May 30): 30 hours of virtual pre-camp outreach activities (2 hours a week for 15 weeks)
- Summer 2024 (July 15-August 2): 70 hours of non-residential, in-person summer camp experience (10 hours virtual first week, 30 hours per week in-person second and third weeks on WMU's campus) or virtual summer camp experience (three weeks virtual for out-of-town students) - Check back later for more information on summer camp registration.
- Fall 2024 (September 6-December 22): 30 hours of virtual post-camp outreach activities (2 hours per week for 15 weeks)
- Spring 2025 (January 23-May 7): 30 hours of virtual post-camp outreach activities (2 hours per week for 15 weeks)
Contact: startalk@kzooca.org
Application
Interview: An interview will be conducted with parents or guardians of the applicants to determine and ensure their time commitment throughout the program.
Additional information such as years of language learning, where and how they learned the language, and whether they are currently in immersion classes in schools or weekend classes will be gathered as well. We will evaluate applicants’ interest in learning the language by asking them to state their reasons for participating in this language institute, their long-term language education plans, and their prospective careers.
Letter of Recommendation: A letter of recommendation/reference from the school or homeroom teacher needs to be submitted with the application. The letter can either be attached when submitting the application form or emailed to startalk@kzooca.org after you have submitted the application form. Acceptance decisions cannot be made without the letter of recommendation/reference. Letters should include the following information: classroom on-task behaviors, learning attitudes, and time management.
Application Deadline: Thursday, November 30, 2023
2024 KCA STARTALK Chinese Summer Program: "Amazing Beijing"
Program Overview
The Kalamazoo Chinese Academy STARTALK Institute will be hosting a Chinese summer program from Monday, July 15, to Friday, August 2, 2024 for grades 5-9 students in the Kalamazoo area. The summer program is funded by the STARTALK grant and is FREE for all participants. The program theme is "Amazing Beijing" and this theme will guide all standard-based instruction and learning throughout the program. Students will undergo a virtual cultural tour to Beijing in Mainland China. This non-residential summer camp experience is funded by the National Security Agency (NSA). Out-of-state students will have the option to attend the summer camp virtually, but priority will be given to local students.
Students will:
- Explore cultural products and practices in Beijing through a variety of learning activities.
- Compare the host family’s daily life and other routine activities with their own.
- Learn some Chinese norms and customs and reflect on the differences in cultural perspectives between the Beijing community and the US.
- Practice the vocabulary of the various modes of transportation, places of interest, food culture, and cultural celebrations in Beijing.
This program is offered through a fully virtual and hybrid delivery method:
- July 15-19: virtual, class times vary for each level, 10 hours total
- July 22-26: 9am-4pm in person on WMU's main campus (lunch and snacks provided) OR fully virtual for out-of-town students
- July 29-August 2: 9am-4pm in person on WMU's main campus (lunch and snacks provided) OR fully virtual for out-of-town students
Questions: Please email startalk@kzooca.org if you have any questions about the program.
Application
Interview: An interview will be conducted with parents or guardians of the applicants to determine and ensure their time commitment throughout the program.
Letter of Recommendation: A letter of recommendation/reference from the school or homeroom teacher needs to be submitted with the application. The letter can either be attached when submitting the application form or emailed to startalk@kzooca.org after you have submitted the application form. Acceptance decisions cannot be made without the letter of recommendation/reference. Letters should include the following information: classroom on-task behaviors, learning attitudes, and time management.
Application Deadline: Saturday, April 30, 2024
2022-23 KCA STARTALK INSTITUTE CHINESE PROGRAM
Program Overview
The Kalamazoo Chinese Academy STARTALK Institute is a year-round student engagement program that will take place from spring 2022 to spring 2023. This year-round language program provides a differentiated four semesters’ sessions for 120 grades 6-11 novice- and intermediate-level students in the United States to learn the Chinese language in an immersive environment. The program theme is “Vibrant Shanghai” and this theme will guide all standard-based instruction and learning throughout the program. Students will undergo a virtual cultural tour to Shanghai in Mainland China. Classes will have a cap of 15 students per class to make it possible for the eight instructors to work closely with the students and to take account of individual differences in their backgrounds and learning styles. This program is funded by the National Security Agency (NSA) and participation in this program is totally FREE. Below are the details of this program and information on how to apply for this program.
Here is an overview of the semesters:
- Spring 2022 - 30 hours of virtual cultural tour, 2 hours a week for 15 weeks
- Summer 2022 - 70 hours of summer camp, 10 hours virtual first week, 30 hours per week in-person second and third weeks (60 students will attend the two weeks of in-person summer camp at Western Michigan University and 60 will attend all three weeks remotely) [In-person dates: Monday, July 18 through Friday, July 29, 2022]
- Fall 2022 - 30 hours of virtual cultural exploration activities, 2 hours per week for 15 weeks
- Spring 2023 - 30 hours of virtual cultural exploration activities, 2 hours per week for 15 weeks
Contact: kca.startalk@gmail.com
Application
Interview: An interview will be conducted with parents or guardians of the applicants to determine and ensure their time commitment throughout the program.
Additional information such as years of language learning, where and how they learned the language, and whether they are currently in immersion classes in schools or weekend classes will be gathered as well. We will evaluate applicants’ interest in learning the language by asking them to state their reasons for participating in this language institute, their long-term language education plans, and their prospective careers.
Letter of Recommendation: A letter of recommendation/reference from the school or homeroom teacher needs to be attached with this application form. If you are unable to attach the letter, you may also email it to kca.startalk@gmail.com. Acceptance decisions cannot be made without the letter of recommendation/reference. Letters should include the following information: classroom on-task behaviors, learning attitudes, and time management.
Application Deadline: Monday, February 28, 2022
2022 KCA STARTALK Chinese Summer Program: "Vibrant Shanghai"
Program Overview
The Kalamazoo Chinese Academy STARTALK Institute will be hosting a Chinese summer program from Monday, July 11, to Friday, July 29, 2022 for grades 6-11 students in the Kalamazoo area. The summer program is funded by the STARTALK grant and is FREE for all participants. The program theme is “Vibrant Shanghai” and this theme will guide all standard-based instruction and learning throughout the program. Students will undergo a virtual cultural tour to Shanghai in Mainland China and stay in the host family’s house for three weeks.
Students will:
- Explore cultural products and practices in Shanghai through a variety of learning activities.
- Compare the host family’s daily life and other routine activities with their own.
- Learn some Chinese norms and customs and reflect on the differences in cultural perspectives between the Shanghai community and the US.
- Practice the vocabulary of the various modes of transportation, places of interest, food culture, and cultural celebrations in Shanghai.
This program is offered through a fully virtual and hybrid delivery method:
- July 11-15: virtual, class times vary for each level, 10 hours total
- July 18-22: 9am-4pm in person on WMU's main campus (lunch and snacks provided)
- July 25-29: 9am-4pm in person on WMU's main campus (lunch and snacks provided)
Questions: Please email kca.startalk@gmail.com if you have any questions about the program.
Application
Interview: An interview will be conducted with parents or guardians of the applicants to determine and ensure their time commitment throughout the program.
Letter of Recommendation: A letter of recommendation/reference from the school or homeroom teacher needs to be submitted with the application. The letter can either be attached when submitting the application form or emailed to kca.startalk@gmail.com after you have submitted the application form. Acceptance decisions cannot be made without the letter of recommendation/reference. Letters should include the following information: classroom on-task behaviors, learning attitudes, and time management.
Application Deadline: Friday, June 10, 2022
2021 KCA STARTALK Chinese Summer Program
Kalamazoo Chinese Academy (KCA) was proud to host the second Michigan STARTALK program in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was the only STARTALK Chinese Summer Program in Michigan in 2021. In this teacher and student combination program, participants included collaborative teaching and learning for the two groups of program participants. Teacher participants had the opportunities to link theory to practice in a 4-week mentored practicum in an authentic classroom environment. At the end of each lesson, teacher participants received individualized coaching and support from lead instructors and mentor teachers. Likewise, the student participants immersed in high-quality learning experience offered by both the instructors and teacher participants.
Student Program
The program was a three-week program aimed to provide linguistically and culturally enriched learning experiences to 50 novice range proficiency level students in grades 3-8 for the incoming fall semester. Altogether, a total of 90 hours of instructional time were provided to participants in this program. Depending on their entry-level, students were expected to advance their Chinese language proficiency to novice-low, novice-mid, novice-high, and intermediate-low levels by the end of the program. Through our partnership with the local Chinese community association, students learned language, content, and culture by engaging in the virtual Xi'An community.
Dates: Monday, July 12 to Friday, July 30, 2021
Times: 9am - 4pm
Location: Western Michigan University, Sangren Hall
Address: 1903 W. Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Cost: Free (snacks and lunch included)
Contact: kca.startalk@gmail.com
Practicum Teacher Program
The program was a 5-week teacher training with a 4-week (120 hours) intensive face-to-face training and a one-week (20 hours) asynchronous and synchronous online training from June 28 to July 30, 2021, for ten novice K-12 Chinese language teachers in the State of Michigan and beyond. The targeted participants were novice teachers (0-2 years of teaching experience) from public and private K-12 schools, colleges, graduate programs, and heritage and community schools. At the end of the program, participants were able to plan student learning experiences based on local curriculum and state and national standards, frequently check for understanding in a variety of ways throughout the lesson engage in self-assessment and peer review to monitor progress toward the targeted performance objectives and their own language and culture goals, and use processes that allow them to analyze and reflect on their current teaching practices. They were able to create a safe and positive classroom environment that integrates culture, content, and language to support the performance objectives.
Dates: Monday, June 28 to Friday, July 30, 2021
Location: Western Michigan University, Sangren Hall
Address: 1903 W. Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Housing: Housing and meals provided for participants.
Contact: kca.startalk.teachers@gmail.com
2018 WMU & KCA STARTALK Chinese Teacher and Student Academies
The Department of Teaching, Learning and Educational Studies in the College of Education and Human Development at Western Michigan University partnered with the (now closed) Confucius Institute at WMU and Kalamazoo Chinese Academy to host the first Michigan STARTALK Chinese Teacher and Student Academies from July 9 to 27, 2018, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
STARTALK Summer 2024 Photo Gallery
STARTALK Summer 2022 Photo Gallery
STARTALK Summer 2021 Photo Gallery
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