Learning to speak another language is an opportunity that not only enriches education but also helps with understanding our diverse communities in Southern California. And students in Anaheim are leading the way with the first Korean dual immersion program in Orange County.
One of the ways for the young students to learn in a fifth grade classroom at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School is by singing a popular Korean song.
Many of the students were not native Korean speaker when they began the program, but they are now all fluent in the language.
Luke Velasco, who has been part of the dual-language immersion program since kindergarten, showed off his bilingual skills to NBCLA by introducing himself in Korean. He said some of his favorite things about Korean culture is food.
“I like the way they celebrate their tradition, spending time with family,” Luke said. “I feel when I learn their culture, it helps me learn more about them.”
Dayani Cotto, who is also now also fluent in Korean, said she thinks learning another language is “really cool.”
Jaeeun Kim, the program’s teacher for fifth graders, said as a Korean American immigration who grew up in the United State, she never imagined that she’ll see her culture represented in different forms everyday.
“It’s really awesome seeing them speaking to me in Korean and able to understand what I’m saying,” the teacher said.