Hudsonville administrators brought back Jenny Chen, who was to start teaching classes today, the beginning of the third trimester. Hudsonville High joins Rockford, the only other local district to start a Chinese language program.
"I'm not sure every district would go to these lengths to hire a Chinese teacher, but our board really gets it," Assistant Superintendent Sue Curro said. "Some of them travel for business or work at companies that have dealings with China."
That approach is pretty much what it takes right now to land a teacher certified in Chinese, according to Curtis Smith, Asian studies professor at Grand Valley State University. He helped Hudsonville arrange interviews in China through the Taiwan consulate in Chicago.
Belding schools are considering going a similar route.
Wayne State and Eastern Michigan universities have just started the state's first programs to produce certified teachers of Chinese. Most courses teach Mandarin, the national dialect.
A better option
Statewide, schools have been offered the chance for a few students to take Chinese instruction online through Michigan Virtual University.
But Smith believes online lessons are less valuable because they don't emphasize reading and writing, and they teach a simpler phonetic version of the language known as "pin yin."
"This essentially leaves the student illiterate," said Smith, who will take his eighth group of GVSU students to Taiwan this summer. "It's like only being able to read and write by the pronunciation keys in the dictionary."
In Rockford, 60 students study Mandarin under Jeff Hayes, a Sparta native who became interested in Chinese culture when he was a Marine stationed in Japan. He is now in his second year in Rockford, which is temporarily sharing Hayes with Grand Rapids City Middle School until enough students move into advanced classes in Rockford.
Private schools can use noncertified instructors Grand Rapids Catholic Central and West Catholic high schools have 32 students studying Chinese in a first-year program taught by native speaker Kai-Ling Wu, who says other schools are asking for her services, too.
Hudsonville Superintendent Roxanne DeWeerd is receiving calls from neighboring schools hoping to "share" Chen, but Chen will stay busy in Hudsonville teaching high school and adult education classes, she said.
Chen has been living in her native Taiwan for the past four years and taught in Los Angeles for 14 years in a bilingual preschool and after-school program. She said she is glad to be part of a growing trend in the U.S.
'A bigger vision'
"Hudsonville is a pioneer on a frontier to open the eyes of children to a bigger vision of the world," Chen said. "I hope I can be part of this important movement toward a wider future."
DeWeerd and Curro say they "struck gold" when they hired Chen because she plans to stay more than a year or two. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Chicago believes so strongly in bridging the language and culture gap that they pay most of the travel costs of U.S. educators going to China to recruit teachers.
DeWeerd and Curro chose Chen from 16 teachers they interviewed in Taiwan. Their trip also included guided tours of three universities, a high school, an elementary school and cultural sites.
Hudsonville's textbooks, bought through the Taiwan consulate, include traditional and simplified methods of writing Chinese. Traditional Chinese is prevalent in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and simplified is preferred in Singapore and mainland China. Malaysia uses both.
Chinese uses no alphabet. The sentence structure is different. The meaning of a word changes with the tone of voice with which it is spoken. It's enough to scare away a novice.
But not Jacob Bylsma, 15, of Hudsonville, who began learning Chinese online in the fall and is studying with Chen.
"It's different, but it's really not that hard once you get into it," said Jacob, who hopes to go with his father to the Olympics in Beijing in August.
By then, Chen said, Jacob should be able to read street signs, order food, find lodging and carry on a basic conversation.
Hayes, the Rockford teacher, said learning Chinese is opening new doors for some students.
During a recent field trip to Chinatown in Chicago, a tea shop owner invited six students and their chaperone into his calligraphy studio for a free lesson because they were speaking Chinese in his store, Hayes said.
"The Chinese people are proud of their culture and their language," Hayes said. "When Americans show an interest, they are so friendly and happy to share. It creates a real wow learning experience for our kids."