Chinatown center teaches English, serves as hub for community

This organization teaches English to immigrants in Chinatown, and also helps them with citizenship applications and some of their daily problems.   - - Donna Poisl

By Bridget Doyle, Chicago Tribune reporter

When he's not taking orders on the telephone or going out on delivery, Chaozan Zheng, 23, is managing Hana Restaurant — running everything from marketing to online orders to the cash register.

Business-minded Zheng's dedication to his five-month-old Asian fusion restaurant in Chicago's University Village neighborhood is impressive. But what's even more impressive is that four years ago, he didn't know English.

Like thousands of Chinese immigrants before him, Zheng learned English from the Pui Tak Center, an educational hub in the heart of Chinatown. Pui Tak, associated with the Chinese Christian Union Church, focuses on teaching English as a second language, or ESL, for local families and the surrounding community. The organization is one of many groups in the Chicago area supported by Chicago Tribune Holiday Giving, a campaign of Chicago Tribune Charities, a McCormick Foundation Fund.
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