Bubbly blonde american teaches mandarin

Crazy Fresh Chinese’ Going Gangbusters in China 7/2/2014 4:33AM     

Throw a bubbly, blonde-haired American teacher into Beijing. Add savvy social media skills. And you get Crazy Fresh Chinese–a website that teaches English speakers Mandarin through foreign eyes. The WSJ’s Menglin Huang in Beijing reports.

Apply by 11th Aug 2014, to Job search startup Koru !teams up with WSU to boost students’ job opportunities

Koru announced today that Washington State University has become the latest educational institution to partner with the Seattle-based startup, helping students build work experience and find jobs out of college.

The company, led by Onvia co-founder Kristen Hamilton, partners with employers– especially technology firms –to place students for short stints of employment. That, in turn, is meant to connect students with potential employers, or at least help them build their resumé and develop skills they need to succeed in the working world.

“It makes sense to join forces with Koru as an innovator in education, especially with their founding programs and great employer partnerships in Washington State,” Washington State University President Elson S. Floyd said in a press release.

A partnership makes sense for Koru and WSU students. Out of the 31 students who graduated from the company’s June program in Seattle, 14 were eligible for jobs. Eight of those 14 pupils have already been hired, or 57 percent of the total eligible workforce. Overall, 70 percent of Koru graduates (not including those who just completed their program in July) have been placed in a job.

The company, which raised a $4.35 million funding round late last year from Maveron, Battery Ventures, First Round Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, already has 13 educational partners lined up.

WSU will be joining a group of institutions that includes Whitman College, Georgetown University, Pomona College, University of Southern California and Vassar College.

Koru will be starting up its first program in San Francisco right after Labor Day. People interested in taking part in Koru’s September program in Seattle have until August 11 to apply. Those who want to apply can do so here.

Google Street View - neat tool for virtual college campus tours for high schoolers

High schoolers that are making that big college decision may find Google’s Street View feature both fun and informing.

Google announced today that there are 36 new university campuses in the U.S. and Canada accessible via Street View. It’s a neat tool for those college-bound students interested in getting a feel for a place where they’ll spend the next few years at.

How To: Go to a campus on Google Maps; Click on the Pegman in the bottom right corner to access Street View imagery.

Source: Blomberg, Taylor Soper, 8/7/2014

Indian-American student Soham Daga presented with Congressional Award

Source: PTI,  23 Jun, 2014

WASHINGTON: A 17-year-old Indian-American student has been presented with the prestigious Congressional Award Gold Medal, which is Congress' highest award for youth in the United States.

Soham Daga was presented with the award at a ceremony held at the Capitol Hill last week along with 282 other recipients from across the country.

To earn the award, individuals must spend two years or more completing at least 400 hours of community service, 200 hours of both personal development and physical fitness activities, and a four-night expedition or exploration.

"Soham is an exceptional young man who worked tirelessly to help others and achieve very challenging goals," said Congresswoman Grace Meng.

Daga - who resides in Meng's district in Forest Hills, New York - fulfilled his community service by volunteering for Boy Scouts service projects in New York City, particularly in the borough of Queens.

He cleaned parks and cleaned and painted churches, senior citizen facilities, and public schools. He also helped install and maintain landscaping.

In addition, he spent a summer serving communities in India by organizing medical camps and teaching students, a media release said.

The Congressional Award Gold Medal, a public-private partnership established by Congress in 1979, is open to all youth ages 14 to 23.

Daga is set to graduate from Stuyvesant High School at the end of the month, and plans to attend Princeton University in the fall. He expects to major in financial engineering.

In addition to earning the Congressional Award Gold Medal, Daga was a finalist in the 2014 Intel Science competition where he met President Barack Obama.

He was also honored by the Society of Science.

9.39 million student stress out for China's Gaokao weekend!

Topic: Gaokao stress weekend - Parents and students are stressed-out in the gaokao weekend.

Background: The gaokao (“high test”) is the tough annual entrance exam that determines the college every student will attend, thus determining one's future. This year, there will be 9.39 million test-takers (up 270,000 from 2013) participating in the two-day exam that runs June 7-8. 

The test for now has three key areas, including Chinese, math, and English, but that is expected to change in the next few years. The education ministry has announced a controversial plan to reduce the English emphasis, while beefing up Chinese, starting in Beijing.

With the future of so many of China’s students riding on the outcome, cities across the country take  extra precautions to ensure everything goes smoothly. Local governments are expected to be ready for emergency responses to ensure examinees’ smooth commute in the case of traffic jams,as per the Ministry of Education. Local governments are also asked to prepare for possible natural disasters such as earthquake, high temperatures, rainstorms and floods to guarantee that all exams go ahead.

Beijing Green channel for test takers: In Beijing, more than 70,000 students have signed up for the weekend test. Concerned that the flood of parents ferrying children to the exam will cause horrendous traffic jams, city authorities have designated 12 streets as “green channels” for test-takers. Over 1,700 of Beijing’s taxi drivers have volunteered to give free rides to students.

Foshan: Meanwhile, in the southern city of Foshan, Guangdong province, where more than 44,000 students will take the gaokao, authorities have banned outdoor square dancing, a popular activity for elderly Chinese, within 500 meters of testing centers. The fear is that the accompanying music, usually blaring over loudspeakers, would disturb the students’ ability to concentrate.

Coaching: The test in determining one’s future is so important that “gaokao sweatshops”—usually boarding schools that put students through boot camp-like test preparation—have popped up across the country.

Hengshui High School: About 270 kilometers south of Beijing and with more than 10,000 students, all of whom board, for example, has won kudos for its record getting students into China’s best universities—but also criticism for its over-the-top study regimen.

Hengshui students are required to rise at 5:30 a.m., starting the day with 15 minutes of group exercises, before beginning the grueling daily schedule of 13 classes, all aimed at acing the gaokao, that don’t wrap up until 9:50 at night.

Last year, Hengshui got 104 students into China’s two most elite academies, Beijing University and Tsinghua University. Four thousand students from Hengshui will take this weekend’s gaokao. And if there was any doubt about the seriousness of Hengshui’s study program, just check out some of the school slogans.

There is no “Go Team!” at Hengshui. Instead, the best-known school mantras include: “Life is not a rehearsal, because you won’t have the chance to live it all over again,” and “If you haven’t died from hard work, just work harder,” Xinhua reported.

Source: Dexter Roberts, Date: June 06, 2014, Bloomberg;  http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-06/china-girds-for-high-stress-gaokao-weekend