Most teenagers aren't happy spending their summer in school, but Dan Demmitt and 73 other high school students greet their teachers at 8:30 a.m. with a smile.
"Ni hao lao shi," Demmitt says. Good morning, professor.
Demmitt, 16, has enrolled in the STARTALK program at Howard Community College, which offers high school students a free seven-week summer course in Chinese or Arabic, equivalent to two col- lege semesters. HCC is the only institution in Maryland and one of only two community colleges in the nation to receive a STARTALK grant.
"To be able to offer this program to 74 kids at no cost is phenomenal," said Cheryl Berman, director of World Languages at Howard Community College and director of STARTALK.
Two Arabic classes and two Chinese classes meet from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday though Thursday until Aug. 9. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence began funding STARTALK this year at schools across the nation to promote education in languages crucial to national security.
"My oldest son is taking [Arabic] 101 in the fall, and it costs about $500 at HCC," said Jackie Bechara. In the STARTALK program, her other son, Phillip, and daughter Reem will earn eight credits -- equivalent to 101 and 102 -- for free by the end of summer.
"It's very exciting for us because it's an unbelievable opportunity for the students to be able to begin these two languages that are so important," Berman said.
Arabic and Chinese also are two of the most difficult languages in the world, she said.
Arabic uses sounds that don't exist in English, such as the letter ghayn, which comes from deep in the throat. Students must learn different forms of letters because letters in Arabic script are written differently depending on whether they are at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.
"With German, Spanish, French, the words may be different but the letters look familiar," said Rebecca Buchheit, a 16-year-old home-school student from Mount Airy. "Arabic just looks like squiggles if you don't know it."
The students come from a variety of backgrounds, but all of them share a high level of motivation and enthusiasm.
Tori Taylor, 12, has traveled to China with her family three times on Christian missions. The youngest STARTALK student, Tori qualified as a high school student because of her advanced home schooling in Darnestown, Montgomery County.
Tori hopes to use the language the next time she travels to China.
A few students, including Bismah Ameen, 16, of River Hill High want to learn more about their own roots. "I want to learn because first I'm Muslim, and [Arabic is] the sacred language of the Quran."
Atholton High rising senior Phillip Bechara, 17, would like to communicate more fluently with his Lebanese relatives.
"I can speak pretty well but never knew how to read or write, and I wanted to know how to do that," Bechara said. "Mostly my parents speak Arabic, and I respond in English."
The majority of students have not studied these languages before. "I have a lot of friends who speak Chinese, and the language just really intrigues me," Demmitt said.
"There's so much subtlety," said the Columbia teenager. "It's strange how [the different tones] transfer over to playing guitar and singing. ... You kind of are singing when you're speaking Chinese."
His teacher, Shu-Mei Ku, tries to take advantage of any associations she can make with visuals, movement or music.
"For everything, I try to use some action, some gesture to make it more fun so they will remember," Ku said.
On her classroom wall hangs a poster with the tones written on a music staff with high and low notes to help the students understand the difference between the tones.
Ku writes simplified characters using traditional characters and simple pictures as visual cues.
"In the beginning, people wrote moon just how it looks," she said, drawing a moon on the white board. "Gradually it changed," she said, drawing the character for moon that evolved from the pictograph.
She also reviewed how to say birthday by singing "Happy Birthday" in Chinese with the class for Claire Baldi, who turned 16 on Monday.
But all of the singing and dancing accompanies an intense curriculum.
"You don't realize how much you've learned until you get home, and you're like 'whoa,'" Baldi said. "Or your family starts asking you how to say things and you actually know the character."
Typically, Ku assigns an hour of homework every night. Ku and Jeff Shang, who teaches the other Chinese class, often also ask students to complete projects.
"They have to do homework because it's their only time to think and digest [the material]."
Phillip's teacher Rahim Salih said that he would like his students to spend two hours every night completing homework and reviewing material. However, his course also transcends the textbook.
"Standing in front of the class -- that is not going to work," he said. "[The other Arabic teacher, Anthony Waggoner, and I] use different types of class activities like competitions. In that sense, it is different from a conventional college course."
"No English! No English!" said Salih as he monitored group conversations.
To keep students' interest, Waggoner and Salih switch during the morning.
"They complement each other very well," said Alex Kolodner, 15, of Wilde Lake High. "[Salih] will perfect us and make sure we get it right. [Waggoner] wants to expose us to everything. He throws out a sea of Arabic."
Both also use a digital video disc with listening exercises and writing demonstrations.
Teachers also integrate technology into their lessons. Waggoner and Salih taught the students how to use an online Arabic keyboard and make digital recordings of their voices, which they can e-mail to the teachers for review, while Shang and Ku plan to introduce pinyin chatrooms.
Culture also plays an important role in the content. Ku asks her class to address her respectfully, according to Chinese custom. Salih speaks about traditions in his native Sudan and other Arabic-speaking countries.
"We do not discuss political or religious issues. We teach them about Arabic culture -- the way people eat food, the names of people ... the scarf that men wear on their heads."
STARTALK students have progressed quickly with the advantage of personal attention. In addition to the four teachers, STARTALK also has four aides, one for each class. Teachers and aides have held additional tutoring sessions in the afternoon.
"We want small classes and hands-on," Berman said. "We watch them closely to see who needs help."
Berman plans to apply for the STARTALK grant in January so the program can continue next summer.
"It's like a high for me," Berman said. "It's amazing for me to walk into the classrooms and see the motivation and energy."