L eal News
W. Bloomfield Students
Learning Languages
KIMBERLY LIFTON
Staff Writer
M
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offered at the high school
level.
Teachers for the survey
course come to the school
from Berlitz — a business
partner with the school.
Teachers are native
speakers of the language,
and course emphasis is con-
versational.
Regular classroom lang-
uage teachers, who primari- -
ly teach Spanish and Fren-
ch, learn the three alter-
native languages with the
students.
"Students have to be able
to survive in the global
world," says foreign lang-
uage teacher Marian Litt-
man, whose students now
onday was the first
day of Russian in
Ken Gutman's
seventh-grade language
class at Orchard Lake Mid-
dle School.
By the end of the 45-
minute class, taught by
Soviet immigrant Judy
Chase of the Berlitz Interna-
tional School of Language,
each student was able to
count to 10 in Russian.
By the end of the semester,
students enrolled in the
same class at Orchard Lake
Middle School will be able to
speak a little Arabic and
some Japanese.
Thanks to a 1989 grant of
"Students have to
$40,000 from the State of
be
able to survive
Michigan, West Bloomfield
in
the
global
schools three years ago
piloted the state's first —
world."
and only —language survey
Marian Littman
class at Orchard Lake Mid-
dle School.
School officials say re-
are studying Japanese. "One
sponse to the program has
of the goals of this school is
been overwhelming. Jewish
to make sure that different
parents, they say, have rav-
cultures are recognized."
ed about the program and
This week, Mrs. Littman's
have been pleased with the
class learned a bit of
brief overview of the Arabic
Japanese culture. In addi-
language.
tion to the usual classroom
"It is fascinating," says
activity of speaking the
Parent Teacher Partnership
language, students learned
President Annie Weiss,
origami — Oriental paper
whose son, Marc, is in the
folding.
eighth grade. "It is great to
Orchard Lake Middle
give children a sampling of
School includes students
different languages. Every
who are Jewish, Chaldean,
little bit of any language
Indian, Armenian, black,
will help."
Japanese and Chinese.
The school's goal, says
West Bloomfield School
Superintendent Seymour
Sukkah-Rama
Gretchko, is to introduce
Set
For Oct. 11
students to languages and
cultures that will be critical
A "how to" sukkah-building
in their personal and work-
demonstration and a tour of
ing lives.
neighborhood sukkot in Oak
The survey class begins in
Park, Southfield and Hun-
sixth grade with a 10-week
tington Woods are open to the
introduction to Spanish,
community 1-3 p.m. Oct. 11.
French, Japanese and Ger-
The sukkah-rama tour will
begin at the Jimmy Prentis
man. In seventh grade,
students are required to take
Morris Jewish Community
a one-semester course with
Center, which also will host
children's crafts and kosher
10 weeks of Japanese, five
refreshments. The sukkah
weeks of Arabic and five
weeks of Russian.
tour will visit homes in the
area and at Temple Emanu-
"All three of these lang-
uages are ones which are not
El, Congregation Beth
studied regularly in the
Shalom, Machon LTorah and
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah.
United States," says Prin-
Children will have the oppor-
cipal Esther Peterson.
tunity to place their decora-
"Everyone can learn lang-
tions in the sukkah or at
uages. All students have
home.
been successful."
In fact, Japanese has been
The sukkah-Tama is spon-
sored by the Neighborhood
popular enough that it is
project, the JCC and Jewish
offered as an option at West
Experiences For Families
Bloomfield High School.
(JEFF).
Arabic and Russian are not
❑
r