Belizean students learn new language
Most of us can probably remember going to school and having to learn to speak and write proper English or Spanish. And while the vision of sitting in a classroom conjugating verbs may not fill you with warmth, the two girls in this next story were not put off by the prospect of learning a new language.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
As if regular school wasn’t hard enough, these little girls spent hours of their summer holidays in a classroom…learning to speak Chinese.
The class is taught entirely in Mandarin Chinese, but the sisters, nine-year-old Geraldine and seven-year-old Alitza Sosa don’t seem to have a hard time understanding teacher Lily Yong at all.
Lily Yong, Teacher
“They can do easy conversational Chinese, they can sing Chinese songs, they can read a little bit of characters and they can do the phonetic pinging. If they are really interested, it’s not really hard for them to learn, it’s really fast.”
The girls are students of the Funducation After School programme and have caught on quickly. After just three months of lessons, today they got a chance to show off their new skill and spoke with Taiwan’s Ambassador to Belize, Charles Tsai, in his native tongue.
Charles Tsai, Taiwanese Ambassador to Belize
“I think it depends on how they teach. But it’s more or less the same whether you’re learning English or learn Chinese, you have to keep on practice, I think practice sometime make perfect, it’s the kind of language you have to use it and you have to keep on practising.”
Elisa Huang
“We have adults who are learning Chinese, they’re doing really good. They can speak to others in Chinese and also the kids.”
And these kids are eager to climb over the great wall of obstacles to learn Chinese for one very important reason.
Alitza Sosa, Learning to Speak Chinese
“I wanted to learn Chinese.”
Janelle Chanona
“Why?”
Alitza Sosa
“I thought it was going to be good.”
Janelle Chanona
“How you remember all those words?”
Alitza Sosa
“Actually I write them in my book and then I study them.”
Janelle Chanona
“When you grow up you want to use that you can talk Chinese?”
Alitza Sosa
“One of these days I want to go to China.”
And big sister Geraldine will be the one holding her hand on the plane.
Geraldine Sosa, Learning to Speak Chinese
“They say it’s very beautiful and I want to visit.”
Janelle Chanona
“Do you think other kids should learn Chinese?”
Geraldine Sosa
“Yes.”
Janelle Chanona
“Why?”
Geraldine Sosa
“Because it’s really, really, really fun and it’s really easy to learn.”
The Sosa sisters made it seem so easy, I had to try. This is me trying to say Janelle Chanona reporting for News 5.
(Janelle trying to sign off in Chinese)
According to Ambassador Tsai, every year his government offers a series of scholarships for Belizeans to earn a masters degree in Taiwan.
