How did they spend their summer vacation? Each September, people ask students how they spent the summer vacation. Thirty middle and high school students from West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District will be able to report that they learned Mandarin Chinese. For two weeks, they traveled by bus to Princeton High School where they immersed themselves in the language.  

Each morning, students met on the front lawn of Princeton High School to practice Tai Chi, a traditional form of Chinese martial arts that involves slow movements, deep breathing, and meditation. They spent the rest of the morning in language classes that emphasized using Chinese for communication. They played traditional games, acted out situations that they might encounter in China, and explored the cities that will host the 2008 Olympic events. 

During lunch, they sat with practicum teachers from Rutgers University who taught them how to use chopsticks and proper meal time etiquette. Teachers and students had lively conversations and participated in activities popular with Chinese students- Chinese Chess, traditional card games, and math puzzles. 

After lunch, the pace of the day changed. Community members taught cultural arts-Chinese yo-yo, ping pong, brush painting, knotting, ribbon dancing, and of course gungfu.  

During the second week of the camp, teachers and students took a trip to Philadelphia’s Chinatown for a tour and a cooking lesson. Everyone made dumplings that they later enjoyed for lunch! Chef Joe Poon not only gave the cooking lessons, but he also took the group to a market, a fortune cookie factory, and a bookstore.

The camp is one of many across the United States this summer. STARTALK is the newest of the component programs of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) announced by President Bush in January 2006. The initiative seeks to expand and improve the teaching and learning of world languages that are not now widely taught in the US.

The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District summer camp comprised three levels of classes ranging from beginning to a more advanced course for students who speak Chinese at home. Assisted by Rutgers University students, the classroom teachers introduced content in creative and engaging ways that made the language understandable to students while using only Chinese. By the end of the two-week program, students had learned new language and cultural practices as well as information on the Beijing Olympic Games.