Asian Culture Center program offers an alternative to classes

As he waits for a customer's peanut soup to finish heating up, IU alumnus Dan Nash, 32, looks around the kitchen where he works at Runcible Spoon, pinpointing objects in his mind and asking himself, "How would I say that in Chinese?" \nSince last spring, he's been able to answer his own question more often. He doesn't drag himself to class every day or pore over the pages of a textbook studying into the late hours of the night. He's not stressed about exams or grades. In fact, Nash spends only one hour a week in a Chinese classroom setting, but has seen marked improvement in his language skills in only three semesters' time. \nThe Asian Culture Center has offered the opportunity for students and Asian culture enthusiasts in the community to learn various languages since its opening 10 years ago. This semester, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Korean are being taught free of charge to whoever is interested. \n"We get many requests from students or local people saying they are going to travel overseas and are interested in learning a language before they get there," said program coordinator Babita Upadhyay. "As an adult, it's not easy to learn another language, and we recognize that." \nThe program caters to those who have little or no experience with a language but also offers intermediate and advanced classes for those who already have a background knowledge. Program participants usually start off with the program's introductory course, Upadhyay said. \n"We have upper-level classes because some people come here every semester," she said. "We don't just want to teach them and have them have to seek help other places -- we want to provide those services to them." \nNash took two years of Chinese at IU but lost touch with the language after graduating in 2002. \n"I was always really interested in Chinese language and culture, but it's sort of hard to motivate yourself to take a class, and I didn't know any Chinese people to practice with," he said. "It's only an hour a week, so you can't learn a lot, but it's still been helpful."\nOne benefit of the program is that it offers students a non-threatening atmosphere to practice a new, often difficult language.\n"Sometimes students will come in saying 'Oh my God, I just studied so hard for this test and flunked' and want to practice," Upadhyay said. "This is more informal -- there's no fear of being graded or failing, as opposed to the University. Our program is more low-key." \nThough students aren't graded, the program is like a class in that an it's led by an instructor. These positions are both paid and volunteer. Graduate students, members of the community and professors have filled them in the past. \nChapla Verma, an Ivy Tech philosophy professor, teaches Hindi at the center once a week. In addition to helping students become proficient in Hindi, Verma spends time teaching students about the cultural aspect of India. \n"The students who come mostly want to go to India or are associated with India in some way," she said. "They want to know how to have a decent conversation with someone, so I teach reading and writing but answer whatever other questions they may have as well." \nIn addition to those with international travel in mind, students enrolled in IU language classes also frequent the programs. \n"Some students already taking courses need extra help and practice," Upadhyay said. "So many professors and students don't even know about it, though." \nYasuko Watt, an IU professor of Japanese, is not directly involved with the program but said she thinks the program is a good way for students to get practice speaking outside the classroom. \n"I think it is good for students, especially for advanced students who are ready to be exposed to various kinds of speech styles to go to practice Japanese," she said. \nWatt pinpoints a potential problem students enrolled in language courses at IU might encounter. \n"Students must be careful because those who give practices are not necessarily trained to teach Japanese and they may teach differently from the textbook students should follow," she said.\nAlthough this is something to consider, for students like Nash, the pros far outweigh the cons.\n"I've always thought about going to China and right now I'm sort of at this crossroad and I'm thinking about maybe combining my interest in Chinese with my interest in cooking," Nash said. "Taking this class has been good for keeping me up on my Chinese so that I'll be prepared if I ever do decide to do anything with it"