Speaking globally: Ashburn center teaches children to communicate in foreign tongues
By Lynn Wolstenholme
Sitting in a sunlit room on a Thursday afternoon on a sea of blue, purple and green carpet, Amelia Miller, 3, of Aldie, is having a word-matching contest with Kiki, a stuffed monkey (played by Amy Kuhn, Amelia's Chinese teacher).
As Kuhn pulls out pictures of clothing from a plastic bag, Amelia and Kiki race to say the name of the article first.
“ Ku zi,” Amelia shouts, as Kuhn pulls out a picture of pants. Amelia adds the picture to her pile.
“ Xie zi,” Amelia says for the picture of shoes, winning another piece of the game.
The final result: Amelia 9, Kiki 4.
Amelia's mother, Denise Mo, has been speaking Chinese at home with her, but this was her first Chinese language class.
She is taking the class at the newly opened Jabberu, an early childhood foreign-language center in Ashburn, to reinforce her Chinese language.
“It is her heritage,” Mo said. “And my husband says that Chinese is the language of the future.”
At Jabberu, Rob Anderson -- president and co-founder along with Shelley Whiddon -- is trying to bring children into the world of foreign language.
“We are trying to inspire kids to be good global citizens,” Anderson said. “We are living in a global world, and it is important for children to learn other languages and cultures.”
One of four Jabberu locations, the Ashburn facility opened in March and offers Chinese, Spanish and French classes taught by native speakers. Arabic and Italian, offered at other Jabberu locations, are not available in Ashburn, but Whiddon said the center is looking for a teacher.
“As we get requests for any language, we will look for the right teacher,” Whiddon added.
“There is a lack of foreign language classes for really young children,” Anderson said, noting one of the reasons behind opening Jabberu. It also was a good business opportunity that correlated with his previous jobs of social marketing and social education.
“The best time to learn a language is at a real young age because children develop a more native accent and they pick up the language easier,” Anderson explained.
Anderson recalled his own struggles when he was in high school trying to learn Spanish.
“I was never able to master it how I would have liked.”
Anderson said that on international trips, he finds it embarrassing that some children from other countries know two to four languages and American children don't.
“[America] is doing it backward,” he said. “We are teaching [foreign languages] too late in life.”
Studies do show that learning a foreign language not only helps children communicate with a broader audience – the skills learned in the lessons also help in other areas of academia.
“Studies have shown repeatedly that foreign language learning increases critical thinking skills, creativity and flexibility of mind in young children,” wrote Therese Sullivan Caccavale, president of the National Network for Early Language Learning, in a 2007 Duke University Talent Identification Program Online Newsletter for Parents of Gifted Youth.
“Students who are learning a foreign language out-score their non-foreign language-learning peers in the verbal and, surprisingly to some, the math sections of standardized tests,” she added.
While the act of learning new languages helps children in almost all aspects of life, Anderson pointed out that Jabberu's students are young children, ages 1 to 10, and sitting in a classroom is one of the last things children want to do in their free time.
“Kids get to learn naturally [at Jabberu],” Anderson said. “The classes are play-based with games, role-play, art projects, music and books.”
A look around the center shows that the classes are based in colorful, imaginative settings with swirled carpets of color, bright tables and upbeat music coming from the radios.
Each class has no more than eight students and lasts no longer than 80 minutes, or 60 minutes for youngsters ages 1 to 3.
Children can be signed up for class once or twice a week, and parents are sent home with a worksheet with vocabulary and “at home” exercises so parents can get involved and help the children practice new skills. There also is an audio file on the Jabberu Web site for parents to listen to in order to get the pronunciation of words down while helping their children.
“The parents are our partners,” Anderson explained.
Along with the classes offered at the center, Jabberu also is getting involved with local schools, having Jabberu teachers go into local classrooms.
Anderson said he and Whiddon also are in the process of bringing an interactive component to Jabberu so children can learn online, as well as expanding the business nationwide.
They also are discussing getting into educational publishing and branding the Jabberu learning materials that will be available for sale, such as CDs, books and interactive DVDs that can be sold directly to consumers.
Jabberu also has locations in Great Falls, Bethesda and Gaithersburg.
Contact the reporter at lwolstenholme@timespapers.com