Are you interested in learning a foreign language but not overly
interested in those taught at schools? Do you want your children to
learn the language of their family’s culture and don’t want to
travel to San Jose or beyond to take the class? Do you want to
strengthen your math skills?
Are you interested in learning a foreign language but not overly interested in those taught at schools? Do you want your children to learn the language of their family’s culture and don’t want to travel to San Jose or beyond to take the class? Do you want to strengthen your math skills?
Starting Sept. 10, Chinese language classes will be offered by Asians for a Better Community (ABC) for all levels of age and skill. The classes will focus on Mandarin, one of the two languages spoken in China (Cantonese is the other). In all, five classes will be offered: Two Chinese courses geared towards those who speak Chinese at home, a Chinese as a second language course for adults, English as a second language for adults, and a math class called “Mental Math”.
Classes are Fridays at the Learning and Loving Center located on 16890 Church St. in Morgan Hill, just south of Dunne Avenue. Classes run for 16 weeks; Mental Math runs from 6-7pm and the language classes run from 7-9pm.
The classes are a part of an ongoing effort to bring together the Chinese community in the South Valley.
Susan Fan, a realtor in Morgan Hill who also works on the ABC committee, says Chinese residents don’t always get together with each other. Through the school, ABC hopes to change that.
Rosemary Kamei, a Morgan Hill resident and member of the ABC committee, says that with a Chinese school in Morgan Hill, area residents won’t have to travel to San Jose or Cupertino so their children can take classes.
For now, Kamei says the focus will be limited, concentrating on language and math. She says cultural classes such as dancing, calligraphy and martial arts would be something the ABC would like to offer, but for now they want to stay small and build up the program later.
“We’re going to keep it simple,” she says, “but there is an interest to do more.”
The first two courses are aimed at children: One for ages 5-7 and one for 7 and older. These are designed more for children who have Chinese spoken at home, though anyone is welcome to sign up.
For adults, the CSL course is more like a traditional language course taught in schools. The ESL course is offered for Chinese speakers who want to learn English.
Mental Math teaches people how to do math in their heads. Various techniques will be used, including the use of the abacus, the earliest counting device from China.
ABC is a non-profit organization; classes will be taught by volunteers. Space is limited in each class; however, all classes still have openings.
Kamei, whose mother is Puerto Rican and whose father hails from Guangzhou, China, took Cantonese language classes as a youngster. She recalls not liking it much because school was on Saturdays. Her father eventually gave in and stopped sending her to the classes. But as a teen she resumed lessons, taking classes in college.
Kamei took her daughter to Chinese school for 12 years, but had to travel to San Jose to do so. “Making the drive every Saturday was a task.”
Fan came to the United States two years ago after working for more than 10 years in Taiwan. She doesn’t want to see the Chinese culture die once a family moves to the U.S. “I would like to see the culture passed on from generation to generation.”
Registration for the program is $20 with an additional $150 fee for the language class and a $75 fee for the mental math. Additional fees will be added for class materials, but those numbers have not been decided yet. The deadline to register has been extended to Aug. 25.
Details: Call the ABC at 202-0855 or 782-2062, or e-mail
ab********@ya***.com
