A Kindergartener's Year In A Mandarin-Immersion School

Teacher Tingting Mei reads a book in Mandarin to kindergarteners. Mei says repetition is how she helps her students master the language. Maya Sugarman/KPCC hide caption
Teacher Tingting Mei reads a book in Mandarin to kindergarteners. Mei says repetition is how she helps her students master the language.
Maya Sugarman/KPCC'Mandarin Kindergarten' From KPCC

Inside a family's year of kindergarten from KPCC follows the story of kindergartner Gemma Gomez at Eugene Field Elementary, a Mandarin immersion school in Pasadena, Calif. Maya Sugarman/KPCC hide caption
Inside a family's year of kindergarten from KPCC follows the story of kindergartner Gemma Gomez at Eugene Field Elementary, a Mandarin immersion school in Pasadena, Calif.
Maya Sugarman/KPCCKindergarten is a huge moment in a child's life. So imagine if your parents sent you to a school where they teach most of the day in a language you don't speak, like Spanish or German or Japanese. In California, a growing number of families are choosing schools like this. It's called dual-language immersion. Reporter Deepa Fernandes followed the Gomez family this past year as their daughter, Gemma, attended a public school that teaches in Mandarin.