PUPILS WATCHING THEIR LANGUAGE

A program to teach "world languages" in the classroom gives young students a chance to broaden their horizons. Children in Europe and Asia learn 2 or 3 languages at a time, it is time our kids did too. DP

By VALERIA M. RUSS

Philadelphia Daily News : The first-graders squirmed in their seats when Loesche Elementary School teacher Alla Karetny asked them their names - in Russian.

A boy named Sergey shot his arm up high, eager to answer, but Karetny told him to hold off a minute. Sergey's parents speak Russian and Karetny knew he could answer easily.

She called on Solomon instead.

One brief false start later, Solomon, a slender youngster of 6 or 7, relaxed. "Menya zovut Solomon," he said, a confident smile flashing across his face.

Later came story time - in Russian, with animal puppets called by their Russian names. After the story, the first-graders practiced writing in the Russian alphabet the words for "my family," "mother," "father," "sister," "brother," and "dog" or "cat."

Russian has been a part of classrooms at the William H. Loesche School, on Tomlinson Road at Bustleton Avenue in the Northeast, for the past six years - proof of the Philly public schools' changing attitudes toward non-English speaking students.

The rest of the city may be hung up on the proper language for ordering a cheesesteak, but the city schools are increasingly comfortable with languages other than English.

The school district estimates that as many as 111 languages are spoken in the homes of its 200,000-plus students. Parents can get important school papers in eight languages other than English.

But some of the biggest changes are happening in classrooms.
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