Michelle sez, "Yeah, so?
You got a problem with that
round-eyed, white-man dude?"
Posted on 06/10/2006 8:35:15 AM PDT by Clemenza
FORT LEE -- The proposal is straightforward and well intentioned: A Korean-English bilingual class where Korean-speaking children would learn English, and English-speaking students would be taught Korean, a language growing in use in pockets of northern New Jersey.
But officials are struggling to sell the concept to parents, particularly families of English-speaking students.
At School 3, where such a program would be launched, parents raised questions about whether the class, known as a dual-language immersion program, was practical.
"English is hard enough as it is to learn," said Maureen Stitham, adding she didn't think the class would be ideal for her son. "For him, I think it would be too difficult. It's kindergarten, it's too much for them."
Koichi Miyazaki, a Japanese parent at the school, said he didn't think Korean was useful enough.
"If it were Spanish I'd be quite interested," Miyazaki said. "But Korean? As soon as you go out of Fort Lee, you have no chance to speak Korean."
Spanish dual-language programs have been successful in many districts in New Jersey and New York, but the Fort Lee program would be the first Korean program in the Northeast and one of a handful in the nation. As a result, education experts say the program may have an uphill battle gaining converts.
Officials have proposed a pilot version of the Korean program in one kindergarten class at School 3. The class would be divided evenly between Korean-speaking and English-speaking students, with students receiving instruction in regular subjects in both languages, and moving together as a class through grade levels. Enrollment in the class would be voluntary. The school needs 10 to 14 students from both Korean and English-language groups to field the class.
Administrators at other dual-language programs said it has not been easy convincing parents of the value of less-common languages like Korean. The programs are started in places where there are large percentages of students that speak the foreign language.
At P.S. 189 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, officials started the country's first Haitian Creole dual-language program last year.
Literacy coach Sandra Soto said administrators had to work hard to recruit parents for the class. After the first year, she said, English-speaking parents were sometimes frustrated they couldn't help their children with their homework.
But Soto said many parents were swayed by research and testimonials showing that students in the bilingual class tested higher than their peers in regular classes.
"Regardless of the language, because the children are learning a whole other way of communicating, it's going to serve them better. That's what we had to convince the moms and dad of," Soto said.
In Englewood, which has had a Spanish dual-language program for 13 years, program manager Mercedes Telez-Gil said the classes have become so popular the school must hold a lottery for the spots. She said dual-class students scored 20 percentage points higher in language arts tests and almost 30 percent higher in math tests than non-dual students.
Ping!
Make your time.
"New Jersey (Public) School May Teach in Koran"
Yeah I thought that too for a second.
"First California, now New Jersey?"
I don't oppose immersion programs since they're a great way to make younger kids multilingual. I've studied many langauges (Spanish, Latin, Russian, Arabic, and Korean), but without a doubt kids younger than age 10 or so pick them up the quickest and learn to speak without an accent. The problem is when these programs provide non-English speakers the crutch they need not to learn English at an early age. I would also question teaching Korean since it isn't as practical to the general population. Plus, when I lived in Korea, I had no problem getting around on English only.
Great. Nothing like a parent holding her child back from the age of 5. I'm sure that will turn out well.
Though I agree with the Japanese parent -- Korean isn't worth learning on a large scale. Maybe Arabic, then the kiddies can go work for the CIA.
"New Jersey (Public) School May Teach in Koran"
Me too!
Why expend the time learning Korean for the average American? Korean is spoken in what, Korea only?
Michelle sez, "Yeah, so?
You got a problem with that
round-eyed, white-man dude?"
I would think that Americans have better things to consume their time on learning, far more practical things.
Even if they successfully learn Korean, if they never or rarely use it, it won't "stick."
that was my first thought
"Literacy coach Sandra Soto said administrators had to work hard to recruit parents for the class. After the first year, she said, English-speaking parents were sometimes frustrated they couldn't help their children with their homework."
I'm struck by the notion that these administrators are clueless that maybe the parents have a better grasp of what is good for the kids than they do.
"It was envevidablble...inevedabull.."
"you have no chance to speak Korean."
Isn't that what home is for? We won't be doing these kids any favors by cutting the amount of teaching they recieve in english. Korean ain't exactly a useful languague in the US.
But you can see signs like that in Little Italy's and Chinatown's all over. Is there any question that the Koreans will eventually integrate?
Been to Flushing lately?
Her son's in kindergarten and he doesn't speak English yet? Maureen seems to be one of those parents they have in mind when they promote universal preschool!
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