A student practices writing Chinese characters

In Western countries like the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, a Chinese school is a school established explicitly for the purpose of teaching the Chinese language (of the various Chinese dialects, nowadays Mandarin Chinese or Cantonese Chinese is almost always the one taught) to American-born Chinese (ABC), Canadian-born Chinese (CBC) youth, and the youth born in the respective countries. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1024x680, 192 KB) I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1024x680, 192 KB) I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Students in Rome, Italy. ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Spoken Chinese The Chinese spoken language(s) comprise(s) many regional variants. ... This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... This article is on all of the Yue dialects. ... An American-born Chinese or ABC is a person born in the United States of Chinese ethnic descent. ... A Chinese Canadian is a person of Chinese descent or origin who was born in or immigrated to Canada. ...

Typically, Chinese children attend Chinese school either after school (that is, elementary or middle school) on weekday afternoons, or on Saturday mornings or afternoons. Primary or elementary education is the first years of formal, structured education that occurs during childhood. ... Middle school (also known as intermediate school or junior high school) covers a period of education that straddles primary education and secondary education, serving as a bridge between the two. ...

Chinese schools are very popular with Chinese parents, who encourage their children to go to Chinese school from a young age.

Besides teaching the Chinese language, Chinese schools serve as social centers allowing Chinese immigrants and their children to meet other Chinese families. Chinese schools also counter the loss of Chinese culture brought on by cultural assimilation into the local society. Chinese culture has roots going back over five thousand years. ... Cultural assimilation (often called merely assimilation) is an intense process of consistent integration whereby members of an ethno-cultural group, typically immigrants, or other minority groups, are absorbed into an established, generally larger community. ...

Chinese schools are credited with maintaining the relatively high proportions of North American Chinese youth who are able to read or write Chinese, at least to a limited extent. (Spoken, as opposed to written, Chinese is likely learned as much at home as in a Chinese school.)

Currently, the largest Chinese school in the United States is the St. Louis Modern Chinese School. A group of students uphold the SLMCS banner during the 2006 Chinese Culture Days on May 20, 2006. ...

For a more general discussion of Westerners learning Chinese, see the namesake article. Westerners did not take up the study of the Chinese language until the 16th century. ...

External links

• Chinese language schools A non-comprehensive list of Chinese schools in America and around the world.
• Basics on Chinese Schools from Liberty House Company.
• National Council of Associations of Chinese Language Schools
• SinoConex Chinese School Management Systems