When my family came back from America to Taiwan in the 1980’s, my son, Er-Kang was still in kindergarten and spoke English fluently. I hoped that he continued to speak English well, so that he can use the language freely and show the best of himself in his workplace. However, there weren’t any bilingual immersion kindergartens in Taiwan at that time. Although there were some English teaching institutions for children, they did not offer a systematic English learning method. I felt hopeless searching for a perfect school. Later, my American friend, Yve, suggested that I open a school of my own and help children to learn English in my own ideal way. Having great ambition for my children, I founded Cornel English School. The society during that time couldn’t understand why an infant child should learn English. Many parents believed that learning English at an early age would cause a deficiency in Chinese and were afraid that it would turn out to be a waste of time and money.
From the very beginning, I showed great resolution in creating an all-English environment, so that children can stay in Taiwan; at the same time, enjoy studying in an environment as it is in America. I hired only qualified teachers with professional elementary & middle school teacher certification, and used only school materials from American private schools. The critical period for learning is rather short for a kid; therefore, I insisted on using the best educators to help children get the most from the least amount of time. We spend a great deal of money every year looking for certified elementary and middle school teachers from America, Canada and South Africa. Throughout these years, Cornel has been the only private school in Taiwan which its foreign staff can be compared favorably with teachers from international schools in Taipei and Taichung. Besides, in order to help children use English as a tool to learn other subjects, I insisted that the kindergarten program should cover everything that a child should learn, including morality, behavior and interpersonal relationships. In addition, in order not to neglect the learning of the Chinese language, there are Taiwanese certified preschool teachers to teach Chinese. As for the Elementary Program, instead of the wrong way of learning English in the past, we directly applied the American teaching methods to our school. We hope that the children’s English proficiency is the same as American children at their age, so that one day they can study in America and will be able to go where ever they wish. For more than ten years, we used a standard American evaluating system to encourage a high level of student’s English proficiency. We are proud to discover that, until children get into the third grade, students shows better English proficiency than Americans of the same age.
Time Flies and twenty years have past. My son, Er-Kang maintains his English ability and does a great job at school. He received his masters degree from Harvard University, and is now working in a well-known Wall-Street international company, and my youngest son, Er-Chia has graduated from National Ching-Hua University. My two children went to national elementary and secondary schools like every other kid. However, because they started learning English when they were young, they were given more opportunities to stand out from other students, and they both got into National Taichung First Senior High School without going to any extension classes or cram schools. Later, they were accepted by National Taiwan University and National Tsing Hua University, and even won a chance to go to Japan as an exchange student. In just one year, they could listen, speak, read and write Japanese well, and both passed the JLPT Level 1. A lot of Cornel graduates study in the four best universities in Taiwan, or even Ivy League schools like Harvard University. Owing to the great achievements of these students, we can firmly believe that Cornel has created an environment like that of schools in America though Taiwan is not an English-speaking country. As long as students learn earnestly at Cornel, every one of them can become an outstanding bilingual individual.
In order to benefit the society, narrow down the gap between city and country side and offer students in difficult living conditions a better opportunity to learn English, I led our best Chinese and Foreign staff and published the only English Story audio book along with the magazine “Rainbow Time” in Taiwan. “Rainbow Time” is a monthly magazine with colorful graphic design and exciting stories. Cornel has been invited to present the radio program “Rainbow Time” on air by Education Radio, Classical Radio and Sunny Radio every week. It proved to be so popular that we were invited by the Department of Education, the American Institute in Taiwan and Caves Book Store to give a storytelling session at Taichung Cultural Center and National Library.
During the past 20 years, Children’s English Education in Taiwan went through a mass transformation and growth. At the beginning, nobody showed any interest in this matter, but now, countless English schools of all kinds mushroomed over Taiwan, and they even became the goose that lays the golden egg in the eyes of big businesses and land developers. Cornel English School was founded for my own children. We adhere to providing the best teaching quality, never say claptrap and make teaching quality our first priority.
Throughout the years, we served many students from our neighborhood and attracted students from afar. For the time being, many schools run for the purpose of making more money; however, there is no way for parents to distinguish between genuine educators who care and money-making tycoons who really don’t care. I believe that what is taken from a society should be used in the interest of that society. I am willing to devote my efforts and provide the same education quality as in America, so that children do not have to go abroad but can still become outstanding Taiwanese students with an international vision.
