Latest language schools go after the younger set

Summer school for 3-year-old Helen Kliewer includes songs, games, storytelling and vocabulary. But not a word of English.

Helen is going to a four-week Spanish "immersion" camp at Zoom Language Center in Seattle.

"She loves it," her mother, Lauralyn Kliewer, said of the center in the city's Ballard area, which offersSpanish-only classes for children ages 1 to 10. "This opens up a whole new world to her."

Zoom, which opened in June, is one of a growing number of language schools that have started up in thepast two years throughout the Seattle area. In addition to an increase in language centers, several dual-immersion schools offering full curricula in German, French, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish haveopened, including two nationally recognized public schools: John Stanford International School and Hamilton International Middle School, both in Seattle.

"There is a huge demand for language," said Mexico City-native Angelica Camargo, who formed Zoomafter parents encouraged her to expand her private tutoring practice.

The increase in foreign language awareness is part of a nationwide push to better prepare students tocompete in a global arena and to offer international education at an early age.

A major force in promoting those initiatives is the Washington State Coalition for International Education,which earlier this year sponsored a leadership summit to engage state leaders in support of internationaleducation. The coalition prompted the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction last year to adopt voluntary World Language Standards for the state and helped conduct a state survey of world languagestaught in the schools. The group also launched the state's first international education Web site www.internationaledwa.org.

"There is a very big gap between our high school graduation requirements and college graduationrequirements," said Michele Anciaux Aoki, a longtime foreign language advocate who speaks sixlanguages and is founding member of the Washington State Coalition for International Education.

Foreign language courses are not required to graduate from Washington state high schools, but colleges require at least two years of language.

A 2000 enrollment survey by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages shows thatonly about one-third of all students in grades seven through 12 were studying a world language.

A renewed commitment to foreign language education is bolstered by research that shows learning asecond language early in life gives students a head start in language requirements for high school andcollege, and increases job opportunities. In addition, it opens the door to other cultures and helps childrenunderstand and appreciate people from other countries.

A University of Washington study showed babies who were exposed to a second language coulddistinguish different sounds. The researchers reported that 9-month-old American infants who listened for less than five hours to Mandarin Chinese spoken by native-Mandarin speakers were able to distinguishphonetic elements of that language. The study confirmed earlier findings that children are born "citizens of the world," able to distinguish among sounds used in all languages.

Karen Kodama, principal of the John Stanford International School in Seattle's Wallingford area, whichprovides partial immersion in Spanish and Japanese for kindergarten through fifth grade, said children easily adapt to and understand "immersion" language environments.

"Our children need to have a global perspective of the world," Kodama said.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Language center took off, thanks to tips from online

Profile | Angelica Camargo

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Ryder Mackay, 3, of Seattle, keeps his eye on the piñata as he tries to crack it open, at ZoomLanguage Center in Seattle, where the Spanish-immersion program for children of English-speakingparents celebrate the end of its fall program.

A poster at Zoom, which has grown from 10 students during its first summer camp in 2006 to more than200 this fall. Zoom Language Center sits on a gray, industrial block in Ballard that's filled with the sound of muffled machinery and the faint smell of plastic.

But step inside Zoom and the world becomes a blur of vibrant colors and little kids so cute they'll haveyou at "Hola!"

Which is how you're likely to be greeted by Angelica Camargo, the energetic 28-year-old owner anddirector of the center, which offers Spanish-immersion classes for kids as young as 1. Most of thestudents come from homes where English is the primary language. But anyone is welcome, regardlessof their home language.

Camargo takes the immersion part seriously.

"We don't speak English to the kids," she said. "From the time they walk in until the time that they leave,it's only Spanish."

That strategy was among several Camargo developed during the five months she spent on research before launching Zoom in 2006. She turned to her mother, an educational psychologist, and to theInternet to formulate a curriculum based on how children learn a second language.

The Web also proved helpful for Camargo when it came to devising a business plan.

"I never, ever thought of myself as a business owner," says Camargo, who studied law in her nativeMexico City before pursuing a sociology degree at Seattle University.

"But these days," she says, "All you need to know to start a business is online."

After college, Camargo discovered she liked working with children during stints as a nanny, a tutor andan elementary-school Spanish teacher. She said parents urged her to open a place like Zoom.

Camargo took up the challenge. A family she worked with previously helped her find the site, hercontractor husband worked on the interior, a friend designed a colorful Web site, while another friendsubleased space from Zoom.

With that support and a lot of her own sweat equity, Camargo started Zoom at age 26 without a loan."I invested a lot more hours than money," she says. Her efforts have paid off. Zoom has grown from 10students during its first summer camp in 2006 to more than 200 this fall, mostly by word-of-mouth. The teaching staff now includes two full-time and three part-time instructors, in addition to Camargo.

Zoom is not just a neighborhood school. Some parents drive from Mukilteo and Mercer Island.The growth, she said, is hindered only by a shortage of qualified language instructors, a challenge Camargo said she shares with other language schools in the area.

It's an obstacle that might hamper her dreams for Zoom — opening other locations so parents won't have to drive so far, and ultimately, turning Zoom into a private elementary school so her studentswon't lose the skills they've worked so hard to acquire.

"I'm always reinventing, wanting to give people more," Camargo says.

"The preschool part started (this fall) because parents said, 'You need to start a preschool.' It wasn't inthe business plan and it's much more commitment from us and way more work, but those classes areso rewarding. You can cry to see these kids learning and talking to each other in Spanish."

Zoom also has a lounge area where parents can hang out, socialize or work, courtesy of wirelessInternet access. One such parent, Stephanie Pizarro, takes advantage of the lounge, knitting while her4-year-old son, Hugo, attends Zoom's "roja" (red) class.

Although they speak primarily English at home, Hugo's father is a native Spanish speaker and Pizarrosays she would like Hugo to be bilingual to be able to better communicate with her husband's family.

"I think Spanish is so prevalent and it's easier to start now rather than to try to start it later," Pizarro said.

"It comes more naturally."

Other benefits to learning Spanish at such an early age, according to Camargo: Children who grow up multilingual often have linguistic, cognitive and psychological advantages over kids who speak onlyone language; multilingualism allows kids to learn about and coexist with other cultures; and down theroad, multilingualism is a résumé booster.

All these possibilities may be ahead for Hugo's classmates, who are wrapping up a session full ofmusic, art and games. Hugo's mother adds another benefit to the list.

"He has a great time," she says, and soon after Hugo bounds out of class and into her arms for a hug,all smiles.

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Director Angelica Camargo gives Sándor Jonas, 2, a hug. Children as young as 1 attend the Spanish-immersion program.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company