Cheshire World Languages Expanding To Different Schools
January 12, 2010 by Josh Morgan
With classes set to begin at the end of the month, a broader range of students will be able to take advantage of the offerings presented by the local group Children’s World Languages.
The non-profit organization, which used to be called Cheshire World Languages, is expanding in 2010 to Highland Elementary School and St. Stanislaus School in Meriden. The group offers classes in Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Italian, and Latin over a 12-week period. In those 24 classes, students, who can range from beginners to college level, are in grades 1 through 12.
The group is entering its fourth semester and enrollment has increased and, with that, the demand to expand the offerings was there, explained founder Lauren Villeco. Nearly 40 students were enrolled last semester, about tripling the attendance of the previous year.
“There is a need out there. We’ve been hearing more and more that more people are interested,” Villeco said. “We’ve had many people request classes and they want us to bring the program to other towns.”
With the demand came the challenge of finding new locations to teach the classes. Last year, Cheshire High School and the Kumon Learning Center hosted classes and, this year, in addition to expanding into Meriden, Highland School will hold classes as well. The classes are held after school and on Saturdays with students grouped together by grades. For instance, students in grades 1-3 will have class together, while students in grades 7-9 will learn language together.
“We had requests from parents at Highland School so that’s why we chose them as a location for the students,” Villeco said. “We didn’t even send out flyers and had six children enroll. I’m very excited and interested to see how this plays out.”
In Cheshire, students usually don’t get their first taste of learning a foreign language until the 7th grade at Dodd Middle School, where students have a choice of Spanish, French, Latin, and German. Learning at a younger age proves to be beneficial, Villeco explained, and could help the students later in their academic careers.
“There are several benefits to taking a language at a young age. There are intellectual and academic benefits,” Villeco stated. “Data shows that learning a language could enhance test scores and unleash new synapses in your brain.”
Besides unleashing some untapped brainpower, Villeco expressed that there are many cultures in the world and learning another language would assist a world traveler. However, with the diversity in America, being fluent in a language other than English would help in many peoples’ day-to-day operations.
“There are different cultures in our country and it’s important to be able to communicate with other cultures here and around the globe,” Villeco said. “Children who start learning foreign languages at an older age usually don’t achieve fluency. You have to start at a young age to achieve fluency in any language.”
To learn more, visit www.childrensworldlanguages.org.