Choate and Glastonbury Team Up to Discover China : Schools Offer Joint Scholarship Summer Program
By Rohan Hong '09
News Staff Reporter
This summer, selected Choate Rosemary Hall students will be given an opportunity to participate in a full-scholarship summer program in Choate. The program, Discover China, is open to any high school students who have shown an interest in learning Mandarin Chinese. This program belongs to the STARTALK project, which is funded by the federal grant for the National Security Language Initiative. STARTALK is a multi-year plan to promote American students’ foreign language learning.
In March 2007, Ms. Carol Chen Lin from the Choate language department was invited to Washington D.C. During her visit, she attended a three-day-meeting with other awardees of STARTALK program. “It gave me insight how to teach and organize a language program,” says Ms. Chen Lin, the coordinator of the program. Finally, Choate received a fund from the federal government to host a summer program with Glastonbury High School.
Discover China is a full-scholarship program that is available to any student in grades rising 8 to graduating 12. Although the program is intended to improve the Chinese-speaking skills of participating students, applicants are not assessed on their proficiency in Chinese. Rather, they are gauged on their interest to learn a new language. Because the number of students who want to learn Chinese has been growing steadily in recent years, the selection process is competitive.
Why Choate?
Host schools must already have an established summer program in Chinese, and Choate has sent students to China since 2000. “There have already been eight seasons of the summer program in Beijing,” says Ms. Chen Lin. Choate is already known as one of the pioneers in launching programs in China, and the Chinese program in Choate is steadily growing. “I think it’s a unique opportunity for our students. Also, it is a chance for us to share our resources with bigger New Haven community. Most importantly, it is a great opportunity for students who could not get chances to learn Chinese,” comments Ms. Chen Lin.
Glastonbury High School also has a very strong language program, and will be joining Choate this summer. “Glastonbury language program has good reputation,” adds Ms. Chen Lin, “this is a great chance for Choate to share its experience of Chinese education with Glastonbury.”
Since it is designed for Connecticut, Discover China in Choate will accept students only from Wallingford and the surrounding area. Focusing on regional education, the STARTALK project runs 33 language learning programs in different areas from 22 states. “It is all over the nation,” adds Ms. Chen Lin. Thus, it is not necessary to receive applicants from distant regions.
Specifics of the Program
Participants will be required to take a placement test. Choate will choose appropriate teachers for the program after viewing the test results. Teachers will be professional Chinese teachers in the United States. The classes will be held from 8 AM to 3 PM in weekdays. “Classes are performance-based. We will focus on learning language and culture. We will promote three modes of communication, which are interpersonal, interpretative, and presentational skills,” explains Mrs. Chen Lin. In addition, students will do research projects on the internet about the 2008 Beijing Olympics and learn new terminologies in Chinese. “We have six periods every day. It is still in a process of designing but speaking and learning culture will be the core,” says Ms. Chen Lin. Moreover, Discover China will provide a portfolio to students every week to show them their improvement.
Goals of Discover China
“A Long journey starts from one single step,” says Ms. Chen Lin. It is an old saying in China, which means that no large accomplishment can be achieved without first having a simple beginning. Four weeks is not a long time to learn a new language. Most students in the program will be probably forget what they have learned if they do not continue taking Chinese courses in the near future. “Our purpose is to motivate students to learn Chinese and to help them pursuit their interest. Because STARTALK project will initiate more and more Chinese summer programs, students will be able to continue learning Chinese easily. It is just the beginning.” Ms. Chen Lin remarked, “Never underestimate our summer program. Once students build interest, they will move on by themselves. You don’t start your first step, you will gain nothing.”
Discover China is important both for students who cannot afford to attend schools like Choate and students who are taking a different language. “The most beautiful part of this program is that more and more students will expand their interest in Chinese and open up other many opportunities to themselves to a new language and culture. Our government is using summer programs to help our students to embark the first step in their life-long learning of a new language,” comments Ms. Chen Lin, “Also, I’m grateful for all kinds of support from our school. Everybody helps!”
