SmartE Chinese Program Grows in Popularity

When 11 year-old Isabelle Amlicke awakes in her Westport home, she immediately logs onto her computer to greet her new friend in Beijing, via Skype. Together they speak Chinese through a web camera, so that Amlicke can learn all about the tones and pronunciations of the Chinese language.

Amlicke has been studying Chinese with a teacher, and decided to supplement her studies with SmartE Chinese throughout the summer. "You can talk to someone in a destination that you're speaking the language of," Amlicke said. "It's like bringing China to you."

The SmartE Chinese program, created by Westport and Weston residents Claire Hertan and Monica Liu, provides both live, online, and in-person Chinese language and cultural lifestyle practices.

While living in Massachusetts in 2004, Hertan and Liu's elementary school-aged children were introduced to Chinese culture and language when a Beijing resident came to teach in their class. When the two families moved to Fairfield County in 2006, they tried to find a similar private program that was not only affordable, but also convenient and effective.

When nothing seemed to fit the bill, Hertan and Liu worked together to co-found SmartE Chinese in Westport. For $350, the program guarantees 10 one-hour, one-on-one Skype sessions with a professional English and native speaking Chinese teacher. Liu, who graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University and has taught Chinese for 15 years, personally selected each of the online teachers that would compose the staff of SmartE Chinese. The staff of over 10 teachers all reside in Beijing.

Liu strongly believes that "learning a language can be difficult, but it does not have to be when the right teachers, teaching methods and curricula are used." For beginners and even those who sign up for supplement tutoring opportunities, SmartE Chinese allows people time to learn at their convenience, in the comfort of their own homes.

Connecting to someone in China through the Internet has many other advantages. "With one-on-one teaching, you can learn at your own pace," said Hertan.

The program hires highly bilingual and educated teachers to "adapt to whatever a student wants to learn," said Hertan. For those who are taking SmartE Chinese classes in addition to a Chinese school course, this element allows the users to customize the program to their own needs.

For a more comprehensive experience in Chinese culture, the SmartE program also provides Chinese cooking, yoga, and art classes for additional fees.

Located in the home of Westport resident and yoga and cooking specialist Missy Brown, students can learn to cook authentic Chinese dishes while simultaneously speaking the language. During lessons with her students, Brown has cooked homemade egg- drop soup, dumplings, stir-fry, and much more. She believes that her self-created recipes "teach the children to be healthier, and provide them with enough involvement to learn as much as they can while they try new foods."

The newly added yoga component, along with the art lessons from Olivia Munroe of Striped Umbrella Art in Black Rock, incorporate variations of the Chinese culture for inspiration. "The art of using your hands besides for pushing buttons is becoming more rare among the generations," said Munroe. It gives "another dimension to augment the understanding of cross-cultural exchanges."

Amlicke has taken four lessons at this point, and is on her way to achieving her goal of being able to speak conversational Chinese. She plans on continuing with SmartE to improve her skills even more, until school begins in the fall.

The packages include:

A $299 rate for five lessons, along with two, three-hour yoga and cooking sessions. For $455, five tutoring lessons are available, along with five art classes.

More information about the SmartE Chinese program can be found at www. SmartEChinese.com. Any questions can be answered by calling 1.203.858.3995 or emailing info@smartechinese.com.