Welcome to the world: Chinese dual immersion program at Southland Elementary

Jonah Horne, 7, can do lots of things other boys his age can do -- ride a bike, kick a ball, climb a tree. But Jonah can do something most of them can’t -- add and subtract in Chinese.

That’s because Jonah is in his second year of a Chinese dual immersion program at Southland Elementary. He’s one of 97 first- and second-grade students (two classes in each grade) participating in the program. The program began at Southland and three other Jordan School District elementary schools (Monte Vista, Foothills and Eastlake) last year and is being phased in over the next four years.

In the program, Chinese speaking Amy Oreno teams up with Cheryl Butterfield in the second grade and in the first grade Chinese speaking Yen-Jen Wang works with Islay Brown.

For half of the day the students learn language arts, reading and writing from Butterfield and Brown. The other half, they learn math, science, social studies and Chinese – all in Chinese, from Oreno and Wang.

“Not a word is spoken in English,” Principal Michele Daly said. “If I have to go into the classroom, I have to write the teacher a note or talk to her outside.”

Daly thinks this is a great chance for the students to expand their horizons.

“I really feel like this is a great program. It’s wonderful for the kids to have the opportunity to achieve a high proficiency in Chinese. They’re really doing well,” she said.

Students in the program also learn about the Chinese culture, something Daly hopes can be shared with the whole school.

That’s what Jonah likes best. Although he thinks speaking and writing in Chinese is cool, like little boys everywhere, what he likes best are the projects.

“You can make projects,” he said. “Last year, we learned how to make paper airplanes. This year, in second grade, we’ve learned how to make paper boats and write on them in Chinese.”

Dad Gene Horne has loftier goals for his son.

“I really like the immersion program,” he said. “In school, I took French for six years. We didn’t really speak the language though – we conjugated the heck out of verbs. When I was done, I couldn’t speak French. Jonah gets to learn a language he can actually speak after six years.”

The school is planning a Chinese New Year celebration in January.

“China has one of the world’s richest and most ancient cultures,” Daly said. “And Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world.”

The program is being funded by a state grant. Three other elementary schools in the district have a Spanish dual immersion program: Majestic, Heartland and Riverside.