Students learn languages for free
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Asian Culture Center is providing free Asian language tutoring sessions for students interested in Asian language and culture. Currently, students are able to learn Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Tagalog. Director Melanie Castillo-Cullather said the purpose of the program is to provide students and community members an opportunity to learn an Asian language and culture in an informal setting every week.“It is open to anyone who is interested in picking up a new language,” she said. “Most of our students come for many reasons: to supplement or enhance their formal language training, learn basic survival phrases – especially for those who plan to travel or stay for a longer period of time in Asia, or simply brush up on their speaking skills.”Castillo-Cullather said students who are planning to live and work abroad should use their time to study and learn about the culture and language of that country. “Familiarity or mastery of the language does not, of course, guarantee one a smooth-sailing experience in another culture, but it gives one a big advantage and makes it easier to adjust in a new environment,” she said.Volunteer Sandra Huang is teaching Mandarin Chinese for the first time and said she likes the classroom atmosphere. Huang’s class has students from Bulgaria, Burma, South Korea and the United States. “It is a good experience to have students who are from diverse cultures in the classroom,” Huang said. “We are learning not Chinese language and culture only but also those of others.”Michiko Owaki, the instructor of Smith’s Japanese class, said that those courses especially benefit students who study international business.“I actually have had quite a few students who were business students or were working in a company related with Japanese companies over the past three years of my teaching,” Owaki said. There are currently six teachers in the program and some have been volunteering for as long as three years. “We have been very fortunate to have very competent and dedicated volunteers,” Castillo-Cullather said. “We hope that since the program has proven to be a significant service to our students and community members that we get some funding so we can pay our teachers and offer many classes to meet the different schedule of our clients.”