These kids go to weekend school to learn their grandparents' languages. Some even go to Chinese school on Sat. and Japanese on Sun. English has taken over and they have to be taught the other languages in special classes. Parents are studying too, since they have lost the language of their parents. DP
By EVELYN SHIH, STAFF WRITER
NorthJersey.com: "You all have a lot of work to do this year," Carol Young said to seventh- and eighth-graders sitting in a computer room at Hackensack Middle School. "You've only learned 800 characters so far, and until you learn 1,500 you are technically illiterate."
Seventeen pairs of eyes widened.
"But Laoshi," protested one student, addressing her in Chinese. "What if we learn 1,501 characters and then forget two? Are we still illiterate?"
Young hesitated, but gave it to them straight. "Yes, that's what it means," she said firmly. "So can anybody tell me how many characters do you have to learn each day?"
Groans filled the room.
The Bergen Chinese School, which convenes for four hours every Sunday afternoon at the middle school, is a fixture in Bergen County's Taiwanese-American community, and instructors like Young have a vital mission: They must teach the second and third generations how to communicate with the first.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment