US: Students pick up basic phrases in federally funded [Chinese] language class

[Francis Hult]

SignOnSanDiego.com

 

Students pick up basic phrases in federally funded language class

 

Teacher Chung-Ching Kao moved her left hand up and down in front of 16 students like a conductor might while facing an orchestra. 

 

But she wasn't teaching music. Kao was teaching a beginner-level Chinese class during summer school at Mission Hills High School, using her hand to cue students as they enunciated the four tones used in Mandarin, the official Chinese dialect. 

 

Her hand went up for rising tones and down for falling ones. Mispronouncing a tone could turn the word for mother into the one for horse. 

 

"The first week was really hard," said San Marcos resident Natalie Lomayesva, 16, who will be a junior in September. "It was so different - remembering the characters and words. Then you get used to it." 

 

Or, as Xhidae Otam, 12, said: "You have to let go of the English logic." Xhidae, who lives in Carlsbad, said the grammar is different and there isn't an alphabet comparable to the English one. Three sections of the six-week Chinese class finished yesterday at Mission Hills. The classes were federally funded as part of a language program called STARTALK. The program aims to increase the number of people teaching foreign languages that are uncommon in the United States, such as Chinese, Arabic and Hindi, and expand their use in schools. 

 

Full story:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20080725-9999-1mc25smclass.html

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