She's speaking their language

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

For Karen and Christy Li, two sisters whose family migrated from China to Wheaton in March, walking into their new school was like jumping into the deep end of a pool full of unique American customs, language and culture.

Fortunately, the sisters found a lifeguard in Kristina Li.

Kristina, one of Karen's fellow fifth-graders at Oakland Terrace Elementary School, is the U.S.-born daughter of Chinese immigrants and speaks fluent Cantonese, the same dialect that Karen and Christy speak.

She is not related to the Li sisters, but she took it upon herself to help ease the girls' immersion into American life.

"It's sort of like teaching a baby, because they don't really know anything about the new land, and they're sort of exploring everything, and it's fun," said Kristina, 10, who said she learned Cantonese by watching Chinese movies with her mother.

Montgomery County began keeping track of English as a second language (ESL) students in 1981. Since 1986, the number of students whose primary language is not English has increased every year.

During the 1981-82 school year, 3,349 students were in ESL classes. This year, that number is 13,025.

School officials say the district is working hard to address the needs of its ESL population, but these students are finding guidance from others who speak their language.

"It's common to see kids translate for others," said Oakland Terrace art teacher Barbara Leckie. "Kristina seems to have relished the task of translation."

Karen and Christy's parents farmed and washed dishes in restaurants in the Kwong Tung province of China before following relatives to the United States in hopes of acquiring a slice of the American dream for their children.