WARREN Chinese sparks students' interest

More than 100 students are enrolled in the five classes.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- When students at Warren G. Harding High School decide they've had enough of Spanish class, many switch to Chinese.
"I took Spanish my first three years and it wasn't interesting to me, so I decided to take Chinese," said senior Shannon Howard, 17.
It's easier to speak and to learn, she added.
Lauren Mangino has been teaching city students Mandarin Chinese for 20 years with more than 100 students enrolled in five classes this year.
The district is one of six in the state that offer Chinese classes, according to J.C. Benton, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education. Akron, Cincinnati, Toledo, Groveport-Madison and a charter school in Cleveland are the others.
"I've just always had a love of languages," said Mangino, who earned her master's degree in Chinese linguistics from Ohio State University.
At the time, several districts in the state offered the language using grants from a private foundation. Warren applied for one of the grants but was turned down. When the foundation stopped funding the classes, many districts pulled them from the schedule.
"We were one of the lucky ones in the long run because we didn't get the grant," the teacher said.
Finding that it comes easy
Lawrence Thomas, 15, and a sophomore, says the language comes easy to him.
"It's just something I was interested in trying to see what it would be like," Lawrence said.
He explained that Mandarin Chinese doesn't have an alphabet. Each of the intricate symbols used in writing is a word.
Tim Anderson, 16, and a junior, decided to study Chinese "because it was better than Spanish." He studied one year of Spanish but says Chinese comes easier to him.
Doug Cribley, 15, and a sophomore, chose Chinese so he could understand people he hears speaking in area grocery stores. With just a few weeks of the language, he says he picks up words and phrases from fellow shoppers.
"I took a year of Spanish and I really didn't like it," he said. "No one around here speaks Spanish and I wasn't interested in it. I can't learn something if I'm not interested in it."
Doug plans to continue with Chinese through his senior year.
Enrollment is up
Mangino has visited China five times, most recently in 1995. She said enrollment in her classes has increased the last few years after dipping in the early 1990s.
She attributes the bump to students who want to study something different.
"We don't offer Russian or Latin," Mangino said.
Besides Chinese, Harding students may study Spanish, French or German.
Mangino likened Mandarin to the King's English. It's what's spoken in northern China by the upper class. Although the language doesn't have an alphabet, pinyin, or a system to spell the sound, is used in teaching the language.
She said there's an effort in China to teach all young children Mandarin while they are in early grades.
"It's a way to unify because the dialects are so different," Mangino said.