A Visit to a Heritage Language School

Each heritage language school is different, but shares the same mission: to educate heritage language learners about their home language and its culture. These schools can play a crucial role in protecting heritage languages. Below is a description of a typical afternoon at a heritage language school in California.

The school is housed in a church facility that contains a large classroom and a library space. The space is rented at a nominal fee and comes furnished with desks and shelves for books. The school was founded by a group of local educators and parents of Japanese descent. Their goal was to ensure that youth in the area had a place to learn Japanese and about Japanese culture.

The teachers at the school are people of Japanese descent, many of whom emigrated from Japan as adults, and local college students who are taking advanced Japanese classes. The students of the school come from the local area and generally hear about the school through word of mouth. Students range in age from six to seventeen years old. The Japanese skills of the students vary greatly.

All students have their skills evaluated upon entry to the school. Learning goals are identified for each student based on their entering skills and the desires of their family. Once the goals are agreed upon, each student is assigned a “sensi” or teacher who meets with the student weekly.

In addition to the weekly lessons, students are encouraged to check out books form the Japanese library that are at their level. Parents are also given feedback about the lesson each week and encouraged to reinforce concepts at home.

Some weeks, in addition to the one-on-one lessons, there are also school lessons focused on cultural themes. For example, a discussion on rituals around spring in different parts of Japan, a lesson on how the New Year is celebrated in Japan, and a review of customs around the school year in Japan. There may also be discussions that relate to a current event, such as an election in Japan or a natural disaster that has impacted Japan.

Throughout the course of the school year there are also gatherings of students and families to celebrate events such as the start of school, various holidays, and the end of the school year. These gatherings provide a way to share Japanese customs and enhance connections within the school community.

Heritage Language Schools may vary in their offerings, location, or teaching methods, yet all share a commitment to supporting the maintenance of the heritage culture and language. These schools provide benefits to the students and their families as well as to the teachers and volunteers that support the schools. If you are interested in learning more about other heritage language schools, the Heritage Languages in America website has a feature called the Heritage Voices Collection that has descriptions of many hertiage lgnauge schools.

Photo Credit: Robert Collins on Unsplash.