CHINESE, ARABIC JOINING LANGUAGE COURSES IN SCV SCHOOLS.

Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- Foreign-language teachers once greeted their students with a bonjour, a buenos dias or perhaps a guten tag.

Now Chinese and Arabic are joining the traditional European languages in what's now often called the world languages department.

The new courses come in response to an increased demand to learn the languages as America's economic and political relationship with the Middle East and China have changed significantly over time.

``We're trying to be responsive to what colleges are being encouraged on a state and national level to do, and that is to add more courses that deal with the Middle East and Asia,'' said G. Carole Long, interim vice president of instruction at College of the Canyons.

Long said that in the same nationwide momentum, there's also a push for more courses dealing with Latin America but that the community college already offers many classes in that field.

Starting in fall 2007, the community college will offer basic Mandarin Chinese and Arabic to its roster. The school over time will also develop classes for Chinese and Arabic businesses, said Claudia Acosta, who oversees the college's foreign language department.

For the first time, a 15-day trip to China is planned for June 2007 and will be offered by the school along with three classes focusing on Asian and Chinese history, Chinese literature and writing, which all start three weeks before departure and continue through the journey.

Jia-Yi Cheng-Levine, College of the Canyons associate professor of English, is one of the faculty members who will go on the trip.

``My vision is to demystify China as a country and understand the role it plays in political, economic and social issues,'' she said.

The college is also working with the William S. Hart Union High School District where a language course in Mandarin Chinese began last year at Saugus High School. The two institutions want to develop a path for students who began their Chinese language studies in high school to continue them at the community college.

In an exchange program last fall from Xi-An, China brought five high school students and a teacher to Saugus High School for a few months. The 15-year-old students had learned English in school but had never spoken it with native speakers until their trip.

Next week, the exchange program reverses course with Saugus High School students flying to the same town for two months along with Patty Stephenson, chairwoman of the school's world languages department.

Students have taken one year of Mandarin Chinese at the high school in a course that began last fall. The school will offer a second-level Mandarin class next year

During the trip, they'll sit in all Chinese-spoken classes during the morning. Come afternoon, classes will be spoken in English.

Students will live with Chinese host families where their education will go beyond the textbooks and will reach into lifestyle, customs and culture.

Stephenson said the experience will give students an understanding about China that goes beyond vocabulary words and conjugated verbs. They are valuable lessons to learn, especially those pursuing international business.

``There is more to having a partnership than just knowing the words; you have to understand the culture,'' she said. ``It makes you fuller, more complete partners when you know it.''

Stephenson said that she and Principal Bill Bolde ran into cultural differences when they first flew to China to meet with officials and get the exchange program off the ground.

T-shirts were made with Chinese and American flags on them to give to Chinese officials when the pair arrived. However, the shirt designer outlined the flags in black. When Chinese officials accepted the shirts, they thanked their American friends for the gifts but stopped short of putting them on -- in China flags outlined in black represent death.

A poster made for the trip displayed the Chinese flag somewhat lower than the American. To them, it was considered an insult, Stephenson said.

``They had to learn that we didn't mean anything by it, and we have to be more culturally aware of their needs,'' she said.

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com

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