Peggy - non-Chinese-speaking parent of a former student
Sharon, my daughter and I thank you and your Chinese teachers for all of your years of support helping her to attain her goal of learning Chinese. She is now reaping the benefits of all of those years of studying in private classes after her regular school day. Last year, as a Sophomore at the UW, her team came in second in a national Chinese Language Business Case Competition. This year, she is studying Business (in Chinese!) for a semester in Shanghai and hoping to stay to do an internship for another 6 months. This shows that, if you start young and keep at it, Chinese doesn't have to be such a "hard" language for a Caucasian person to learn! Tell parents not to wait until the kids are in Middle or High School! Elementary School-age kids have more fun learning languages and learn them better! Thank you!
Andrea (preschool parent)
The APLS preschool was my first experience leaving my child in the care of others (besides family and friends) and I haven't regretted it once! My son has really thrived and formed good relationships with his teachers, who are nurturing and caring, with a genuine passion for teaching young children. My son is Caucasian, and I struggled to find a Japanese pre-school where I felt he would fit in. APLS is full of a variety of cultures, and welcomes anyone who is interested in learning more about Asian culture. Besides the language learning aspect of the school, APLS also provides typical pre-school curriculum. Not only does he learn Japanese, but they also work with him on concepts like counting, writing, drawing etc. When he started APLS he was barely 2 and still working on learning the English language. Now a year later, he gets comments everywhere we go about how articulate he is in English. So, not only is he learning to speak Japanese, but in doing so it has improved his English too. It is a symbiotic relationship. I am so astounded by the progress that he has made that I want to share it with everyone and encourage them to start their children in the APLS preschool too!
Eric (Business Chinese student)
APLS is a great place for language tutoring. Their teachers are native-language speakers, hard-working and reliable. Working with them, I've gone from speaking no Chinese to being fluent. They are also very nice people!
Cynthia (parent of graduating APLS student)
Dear Sharon, You have been a wonderful director of APLS and we thank you very much for all your hard work.