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Mandarin Now Spoken at Staten Island Academy  

October 10, 2007 ( Staten Island, NY)-- “I want to be able to talk to Wang next time I go to a Yankees game.” “I want to learn how to eat with chopsticks.” “Mandarin is so cool.”

Those were a few of the responses teacher Li Chen-Zhou heard from her young students when she asked why they wanted to study Mandarin in Staten Island Academy’s new program. “I am so impressed with the curiosity and enthusiasm my students have shown towards learning Mandarin. They are remarkable!”

Mrs. Chen-Zhou, who graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree from the People’s University of China in Beijing, China, and a Master’s degree in education from the College of Staten Island, traveled to China during the summer of 2007 to participate in an advanced training session for teachers of Mandarin as a second language in preparation for her work with Academy students.

A native Mandarin speaker, Mrs. Chen-Zhou expects to be teaching her class completely in Chinese by the holiday break in December. Her initial work with her young charges has included introducing basic vocabulary and pronunciation.

“We begin each class with the phrase, “ni hao,” the Mandarin phrase for “hello.” From there, we explore various cultural connections such as popular music and pandas to create a common understanding of China. The students have many questions…it is a thrill for me to share my heritage with them,” said Mrs. Chen-Zhou.

Staten Island Academy is the only elementary school on the Island to offer Mandarin language classes to English-speaking children between the ages of five and thirteen years old. Twenty-four students are enrolled in the enrichment program, which has a class for Kindergarten and elementary students, and another for those in grades 5-8.

The decision to introduce the program was in response to the Academy’s ongoing commitment to global awareness and cutting edge instruction. According to Head of School Diane J. Hulse, “This unique class gives our children an opportunity to broaden their world and cultural awareness. We are preparing our children for the future, and we feel that exposing our students to the language spoken by roughly a quarter of the world’s population is very important.”

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages estimates that nationwide, enrollment in Chinese courses has gone from 5,000 students in 2000 to as high as 50,000 in 2007. While Mandarin is taught at Chinese language schools in the borough, the Academy is the first regular school on Staten Island to add the language to its program.

Staten Island Academy agrees wholeheartedly with a the Washington Post reporter Maria Glod who recently wrote that, “Educators say that the youngest brains have the greatest aptitude for absorbing language and that someone who is bilingual at a young age will have an easier time learning a third or fourth language later on… young children are better able to learn German with near-native pronunciation or mimic the subtle tones of Mandarin.”

Staten Island Academy is a nursery through Grade 12 college-preparatory coeducational day school with an average class size of 17. Located on a 12-acre campus, the Academy is composed of seven buildings, including a gymnasium and fitness center, theater and state-of-the-art computer and arts facilities. Outdoors are two swimming pools, athletic fields, a playground and tennis courts. For more information about the Academy and its outstanding programs, visit www.statenislandacademy.org.

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Photos available upon request.

Press Contact: MMcShane, 718-303-7805, communication@statenislandacademy.org