The StoryOur own children are the source of inspiration behind this company.
As the parents of two young and bright Chinese-American daughters, we wish for them to be flourishing individuals in this rapidly evolving modern world. These days, everyone is paying attention to our economically accelerating home country, China. It became evident to us that being fluent in both English and Chinese is a necessity to really comprehend and navigate about this complex and exciting global society. However, the Chinese language, due to the vast number and intricacy of characters, is known to be one of the most difficult major languages to learn. Merely speaking Chinese at home was not enough and so, we sent our daughters to the local week-end “Chinese Schools”. The results were, to say the least, disappointing. Not only did our children not acquire much Chinese, they also told us that they thought learning “Chinese is boring”. How can this be that our daughters who love attending regular school, who are top students in their classes, who even speak Chinese fluently at home, hate learning Chinese? It was then that we realized that the current method taught at Chinese Schools has not only failed to deliver its promises but also dulled the enthusiasm for the Chinese language. It was not that "Chinese is boring" or that "Chinese is too hard" but rather that "the existing Chinese Schools are boring and hard". After all, teaching a second language is different from teaching a first language, and while the method used there are suitable for students accustomed to the traditional way of learning, it was not working for our westernized daughters. This lead us on a search for a better model of second-language instruction. American children, like our daughters, need multi-sensory, multi-faceted styles of instruction. They need a fun, engaging and immersive language environment where they can comfortably use Chinese, for daily practical use, not merely for the week-ends. According to psychology Professor James Asher, the key to early language learning is to integrate language into a variety of fun and practical activities so that young learners will engage all areas of the brain and naturally internalize the language. This theory, called Total Physical Response, has enjoyed great success as a second-language teaching method. Furthermore, we found that according to education and linguistics Professor Stephen Krashen of University of Southern California, free voluntary reading is "the most powerful tool we have in language education, first and second." His method has been further refined into an approach known as the TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling), which has been experimentally tested to be more efficient and effective than traditional methods. We have developed our own curriculum that borrows heavily from the above two methods as well as from a variety of lesser known models. Through consultation with language professionals and attending second-language teaching conferences and seminars, we are confident that together with our impassioned Chinese instructors, our method will lead students to a life-long love of learning and using the Chinese language. Our Brand and PhilosophyHow is “Koo Chinese Academy” different from existing Chinese Schools in New Jersey? Many differences.
Instead of using only one textbook throughout the entire semester, we encourage students to read multiple story-books of their own selection. Instead of enforcing our students to learn a set of vocabulary that may not even be relevant or applicable for children's lives, we hope that our students will pick up vocabulary naturally by reading storybooks of their interest. "Koo," our name is the Romanization of the Chinese character, 酷, which means ‘cool’. We hope to never hear from our students that learning Chinese is “boring”. While studying and reading leads to the acquisition of knowledge, exposure and usage further solidifies learning. The goal of education, after all, is becoming - becoming a better, more capable person than when one started through active engagement and participation. Only through consistent usage will second-language learners develop a strong foundation of grammar, vocabulary and syntax. By integrating action-filled stories, interactive games, lively presentations, creative projects and various forms of media into the process of learning Chinese, our classroom environment will encourage and emphasize communication that will organically lead to second-language acquisition. Young learners will be “playing” Chinese instead of studying it. Our academy also provides a special library filled with story and comic books of multiple levels to further establish and reinforce a habit of enjoying reading Chinese. As the Chinese language and culture are deeply intertwined, we hope to bring the beauty and breadth of both to all who are seeking to understand and appreciate them. |
Parents words
A grandma wrote to us about her grandson who is the third generation of Chinese American: "What great progress my grandson has made in the past 4 months after coming
to Koo Chinese's After School Program! He enjoys learning Chinese, speaking a
lot of Chinese with us. Also, he becomes more confident, more patient and more
caring. Thanks to all the teachers in Koo Chinese Academy, your hard-work are surely paying off!"
"Both my son and daughter love to come to Koo Chinese for your Chinese lessons. They have made great progress! Now they are used to write article in Chinese on their computers. I am so proud of them! They were so reluctant to learn Chinese before. Now they are looking forward to come to Koo Chinese Academy every weekend to learn Chinese." A mom sent us a video in which her son who only learned Chinese for 4 months was reading a Chinese story book. She was so amazed saying "my husband and I just want to share this video with you. My son started reading Chinese book today. The book was shipped from oversea by his aunt last week. We never read it to him. He can read it all by himself now. Thanks to Koo Chinese Academy:-). " A mom who drives her son to our school from Pann State every weekend sent us a Chinese story created by her son. She was so encouraged that her son started liking Chinese now. Before she sent her son to our Academy, he went to several other Chinese Schools only to learn how much he hated Chinese language. She wasn't sure if it was worth the effort to drive over 1 hour to come to Koo Chinese Academy. Now her son told her it is worth it! A parent in our WeChat group said: "Normally my daughter speaks English all the time at home. But last night, she spoke Chinese most of the time. Thank a lot, teachers" A mom of a six-year-old boy shared on WeChat group: "My son started reading Chinese book by himself from last night. Thanks to the teachers!" A parent of two twin sons said: "I could not believe that my sons are now singing Chinese song with computer at home... This is a miracle in our family." Another mom wrote in our wechat group: "OF all the Summer Camps my daughter went last year, Koo Chinese's Lunch is the best, Healthy and more choices." |