Language comes alive at Central

Like all high schools, Valley Stream Central offers students the chance to learn to read, write and speak other languages. But unique to the school is a Japanese class that has been appearing the school’s course book for a decade.

In the class, students don’t just learn the language, but are immersed in Japanese culture. The teacher, Noriko Koide, better known to her students as “sensei,” said it is important to give them experiences beyond a textbook.

“I try to take my students out of the classroom,” she said. “Students do not have much chance to speak Japanese in their lives. I want them to see the Japanese people and I want them to speak Japanese with them.”

She takes them on two field trips per year. The students go to New York City where they visit a tea house that is designed to look like an actual Japanese home. There, they take part in a traditional tea ceremony. The trip also includes a visit to a Japanese bookstore, and a native lunch.

In the spring, they attend a festival at the United Nations International School in the city. Upwards of 500 students studying Japanese in the tri-state area get together and participate in a variety of activities, including origami, martial arts and cooking classes.

Over spring break, she took a handful of students to Japan for a week through a home-stay program. Although the trip is not sponsored by the school, it further enhances the Japanese experience for those students who do attend.

For half the trip, the students stayed with host families, while the rest of the time was devoted to sightseeing with Koide in several cities. Through the organization that arranges the trip, Japanese students come to the United States for a similar experience.

Nicholas Pierre-Louis, a senior at Central taking Japanese for the second year, said he signed up for the trip so he could see the historic and religious sites in Tokyo. He also wanted to see how a typical family there lives.

Pierre-Louis said that everyone should do their part to gain an understanding of other cultures. “It helps unify us as a people,” he said.