JAMESTOWN-A 2017 Jamestown graduate was resourceful when learning the English language during his high school tenure.
Fu Ming Zhao, who emigrated from China in December 2015, knew the English alphabet but spoke only a small amount of English.
Zhao had some secret weapons to learn English quickly.
“I was motivated to learn English because only one other person at JHS spoke Chinese so in order to talk to my classmates I needed to learn the language,” said Fu Ming. “I also used an iPhone app that helped me translate in class.”
“To learn vocabulary, I carried a piece of paper in my pocket. Anytime I heard a word I didn’t know, I wrote it down and found out the meaning of the word. Then, I would study that list every night. The technology is very good at JHS and I really liked my teachers. They helped me a lot.”
Zhao studied English 9 as a junior and completed English 10, 11, and 12 as a senior. This course load was in addition to his regular classes that included AP Calculus and AP Physics. Fu Ming received the Excellence in English as a New Language Award and the Kenneth Sohmer Award for Excellence in Math.
Zhao is attending Jamestown Community College in the fall to study computer science and hopes to enter the University of Buffalo’s computer program after JCC.