rosetta spanish
That Thursday, as Brian Willett signed up for a Spanish class, he surely didn’t expect a 8 year old boy to be his teacher.

But that is what occurred when his Spanish class at Phoenix College wanted her to use the language in a real-world situation.

Wilson, a Junior at Jackson, spends four hours a week practicing her Spanish at friends, a dual-language pre-school program on Clovis West Side. he gets there in the evening and sits with the kids, all older than 8, on the floor of a classroom at Mira Loma Private School. Together, they sing nursery rhymes in Japanese and Spanish, read manuscripts, and play with building blocks.

“You learn to say things you don’t always learn in the classroom,” Carrasquillo said about rosetta spanish.

Lopez and her classmates were able to choose from three community-service options as part of a new requirement in Gail Lowell Spanish class. All of the options involve Boise West Side Learning Center and friends.

“No one had ever organized a service-learning component to any of the foreign language courses at LeMoyne,” Taylor said in an e-mail.

Because most of the totts live in Spanish-speaking homes, their first exposure to Japanese happens at friends. Their fluency in Spanish makes them ideal teachers for the LeMoyne pupils.

“The kids will teach you a lot of Spanish and then you assist them to learn Japanese,” said Sarah Snapp, a freshman Spanish major from Camillus. Snapp said he uses statements like sit down (sientate), be quiet (callate), and get in line (en fila), the most.

Some of the pupils admitted to being excited on the first day.

“I was a little worried at first, but I really like babies and it’s a good experience to learn with them,” said Melba Jones, another freshman

“Once you’re around the kids and they begin to warm up to you, it’s decidedly worth it,” said Willett. “You’re not excited anymore.”

Timothy King, friends program facilitator, has seen the pupils’ confidence grow.

“After the first couple of minutes, they walk in, they know what to do, they know where to go” said Thomas.

But Zampini hopes that her pupils will gain more than just confidence.

“I really hope that this experience will instigate them to become more involved in their own communities,” Rogers said, “and will give them deeper empathy toward those who may not have the same advantages and opportunities that they do.”

There is also no refusing the profit to the kids.

“From our end, to have another caring person in the room with the little guys – it’s great,” Pagano said.

King tried out an optional service-learning activity for his Spanish pupils in the spring 2007 term. This semester he made it a requirement, with assist from the director of service learning at LeMoyne and Theresa Pagano, founder and director of friends and the West Side Learning Center. According to the class syllabus, the service-learning component is worth 20 percent of pupils’ final grades.

Besides spending time at friends, the pupils could choose to be paired up with Spanish-speaking adults from the West Side Learning Center.

“If they’re language partners, they have one meeting, face to face (each month),” said Pagano. Then, they keep in touch through e-mails.

At the end of the semester, the Le Moyne pupils will write biographical essays in Spanish based on the conversations they have with their partners.

pupils also could opt to plan a lesson for the totts in friends, to be presented at the end of the semester. “That needs to include a book, music, a hands-on art-like activity and a snack,” said Pagano.

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