Bilingual Program

Building Bilingual, Bicultural, Biliterate Global Citizens

Studies show there are many benefits of bilingual education. Fluency in multiple languages equips students with the skills and cultural literacy to navigate and lead within a global community. And with Singapore’s geographic location, students are uniquely placed to take advantage of a bilingual life.

The rising popularity of Mandarin both socially and in business led Stamford American to develop a unique one-bilingual-teacher approach for our Bilingual Program, which any student from Pre-K to Grade 5 can join at no extra cost.

The program gives learners equal exposure to English and Mandarin in the subjects and concepts taught within their grade. Classes are taught by bilingual teachers who are proficient in both languages, and with extensive experience in teaching in a bilingual environment.

Why Choose our Bilingual Program

Our unique one-bilingual-teacher model involves the same teacher conducting classes in both English and Mandarin, for a seamless transition during learning, while also providing the opportunity to explore content more deeply in both languages.

Our bilingual teachers and teaching assistants are fluent in both languages, serving as bilingualist role models, which supports the building of trusting relationships between students and teachers. This also allows for learning experiences to be more adaptive and supports student-led inquiry.

Bilingual students learn the same content as students in mainstream classes, with the main difference being that 50% of the content in Math and Unit of Inquiry (UOI) is delivered in Mandarin.

To ensure continuity of curriculum programming, teachers regularly collaborate with their grade-level colleagues to design lessons and share best instructional and assessment practices. The Bilingual Program teachers also consistently meet with the Mandarin teacher to ensure consistent language development in Mandarin, both within homeroom and the language block.

Students in the bilingual program come from all over the world, including the USA, Australia, France, Japan, Korea, Singapore, India, China, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand. In such a diverse community, all learning together leads to a deep sense of belonging, as well as providing a safe environment to take risks and make mistakes.

Our Curriculum

The Bilingual Program teacher plans together with the regular class teachers of the grade level to cover the same concepts and have the same student learning objectives as the regular classes.

Both divisions follow the guidelines of the American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Lessons in Grades 1-5 are delivered using the IB Primary Years Program (PYP) framework.

What a typical day looks like in the Pre-K - KG2 Bilingual Class

Using Mandarin during morning circle, transitions, and meal times
Learning numbers and math concepts in both English and Mandarin and focus on problem solving and reasoning
Learning Chinese character writing
In KG1, we build our phonological awareness and learn the concept of print. In KG2, we participate in readers and writers workshops and practice our writing and reading skills
Through cultural immersion, we celebrate and appreciate Chinese culture through reading stories, songs and dance, and arts and crafts activities

Here’s a sneak peek of a standard day!

What a typical day looks like in the Grade 1 - Grade 5 Bilingual Class

Focusing on Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing & Presentation Skills
Following the American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL) guidelines
50% of Math and 50% UOI is delivered in Mandarin
Mandarin classroom instruction includes: Morning Meetings, calendars, lunch time, read aloud and transitions

Here’s a sneak peek of a standard day!

Entry Requirements

For Pre-K to Grade 1, entry requirements are based on parent/student interest and successful completion of the application process. No previous Mandarin knowledge is required. Students joining in Pre-K and KG1 are generally native (or near to native) in English.

From Grade 2 onwards, students must complete a Mandarin placement test to ensure they meet the linguistic expectations of the program.

For the purpose of consistency, all students in the Bilingual Program take Mandarin during their foreign language block. In the Bilingual Program, the foreign language Mandarin class includes an additional component of supporting students through the acquisition of the Mandarin vocabulary needed in order to successfully meet all expectations in the UOI class.

Assessment and Grading

Teachers use many strategies to make the content understandable, such as visuals, props, manipulatives, facial expressions, gestures, physical movements and many other instructional techniques. The teachers also repeat vocabulary and concepts and always check for understanding.

Our teachers do not expect your child to speak the second language right away, nor are they forced to speak the second language. Instead, the teacher will restate what your child says to reinforce connection between Mandarin and English vocabulary or vice versa.

Our bilingual classes are assessed through placement tests, internal assessments, and STAMP (starting in Grade 3). All these assessments focus on evaluating proficiency in the four language domains of reading, listening, speaking and writing.

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