Milwaukee Chinese school part of growing nationwide interest
(Published Monday, May 14, 2007 11:00:32 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Carrie Antlfinger Associated Press
MILWAUKEE - Seven-year-old Johnny Jones knows how to say hello in Chinese, (pronounced Nee Ha-OW'). When asked what else he knew about Chinese culture he said softly, "I know what they eat."
His favorite is Chinese noodles, but he hopes to expand his knowledge next fall when he and his younger brother and sister attend one of Wisconsin's first public elementary schools to offer Chinese.
"I'd like to learn new languages," Jones said, adding he expected it to be "a little bit" difficult.
About 130 students have signed up so far to attend the Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language, part of a growing number of schools offering Chinese language classes nationwide. It will teach 4-year-old kindergarten through fifth grade the Mandarin language, symbols and culture for 30 to 45 minutes a day, along with traditional curriculum in English.
There are at least nine other public and private Chinese programs in Wisconsin, along with at least three private schools that teach it on the weekends.
Yu-Lan Lin, executive director of Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools, estimated that about 350 schools in the nation offer Chinese classes.
James Sayavong, who started the Milwaukee school, expects nearly 200 students to enroll by fall. So far the school's students are mostly from the surrounding neighborhood, which is generally black and low income. That's the way he likes it.
"Why don't we give these kids opportunity?" he said. "(In) many big cities in other areas in the country only (the) rich (are) building the Chinese school for the kids."
He said he wanted Milwaukee children to learn about one of America's largest trading partners, giving them an edge later in their careers.
The school's Web site also notes that China has the second-largest economy in the world and learning Mandarin - the world's most widely spoken language - can improve mental power by learning how to arrange thoughts into an alternative pattern.
According to a 2006 Department of Education news release, more than 200 million children in China were studying English, a required subject for all Chinese primary school students. But only about 24,000 of about 54 million U.S. elementary and secondary school children were studying Chinese.
Marty Abbott, director of education at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, said the increase of Chinese programs started about four years ago when people started realizing the strength of the Chinese economy. It also helped that The College Board implemented the Chinese Advanced Placement Program.
The Board's first exam was to be given this month, said board spokeswoman Jennifer Topiel. About 300 schools globally are offering the exams, including three in Wisconsin.
The College Board is also offering a Chinese Guest Teacher Program, which launched in fall 2006, and temporarily brings teachers from China to teach in American schools. They are working with Hanban, the office of the Chinese Language Council International, on the five-year initiative to encourage the study of Chinese language and culture.
Paul Sandrock, a world languages education consultant with the state Department of Public Instruction, said guest teachers in Wisconsin are serving all grades in Marathon City Public Schools. Catholic Central High School in Burlington has a similar program through AFS Intercultural Programs.
Abbott said the Milwaukee school is using the most popular language program model, which generally provides language classes for students two to three times a week for at least 30 minutes each time.
The other models include total immersion, partial immersion and the Foreign Language Experience model, which concentrates mostly on culture. There are also heritage schools, which generally meet only on weekends and have many children whose parents are Chinese, Lin said.
Chinese still lags behind the most popular languages of Spanish, French and German, according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
It's been a challenge for many Chinese programs to find Mandarin-speaking teachers, Abbott said.
But the Milwaukee school hasn't had that problem, Sayavong said. They've already had four well-qualified applicants.
Sayavong said the school will have about 17 other staff members. He hopes the school grows every year and by the 2008-09 school year add a sixth grade.
He envisioned the kids taking trips to Chinatown in Chicago and higher grades even visiting China.
Milwaukee Public Schools spokeswoman Roseann St. Aubin said Sayavong's school is a charter school with a five-year contract. Charter schools are publicly funded but have more autonomy and flexibility than most traditional schools.
Johnny's mom, Loriane Jones, 27, who is Hispanic, said the school offers her kids an opportunity of a lifetime.
She also knows that once her children learn Chinese it will be easier for them to pick up another language, like Spanish, which she said she doesn't even know.
"I want to see how far it can actually take them, what that could add to their life," she said.
List of Wisconsin schools offering Chinese Schools teaching Mandarin Chinese in Wisconsin:
Public schools:
-Logan High School, Central High School, North Woods International School (elementary), all in La Crosse.
-Indian Trail High School Academy in Kenosha.
-Madison Memorial High School in Madison.
-Milwaukee School of Languages in Milwaukee, grades 6-12.
-Janesville Academy for International Studies, a charter school in Janesville where high school students spend some of their day at the academy.
-Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language, a charter elementary school that starts this fall.
Private schools:
-Conserve School, with grades 9-12 in Land o' Lakes.
-Milwaukee Chinese School, classes for ages 4 through high school are held at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sundays.
-Milwaukee Modern Chinese School, offers 10 class levels starting at age 5 on Saturdays at Marquette University.
-Cricket Academy of Chinese Language and Culture in Milwaukee. Classes for 2 years to adult are held every Saturday at St. Jude's Parish in Wauwatosa.
Guest teacher programs:
-Marathon City Public Schools has one teacher through The College Board's program that offers Chinese in its K-8 school and its high school, Superintendent Don Viegut said.
-Catholic Central High School in Burlington, a parochial school that has one teacher through the AFS program from China, Principal Ralph Lynch said.
Sources: Paul Sandrock, of the state Department of Public Instruction; the schools' Web sites, or otherwise noted.
