With headquarters in both Beijing, China and Ann Arbor, Michigan, Golden Courage International is uniquely positioned to promote peace and cross-cultural understanding between the U.S. and China.
In a variety of programs and activities, Golden Courage International has taken a leadership role in creating meaningful ways to connect people and ideas in these two dynamic and powerful countries.
Golden Courage International is helping Ann Arbor, MI to take advantage of opportunities that require a global perspective and global connections. The organization is providing a variety of ways for citizens to become more directly involved in international relations, bringing long-term benefits both to our community and to communities in China.
In July, 2012, five volunteer American teachers and program director, Diana Wong, Ph.D., traveled to China and Yanqing #2 High School to implement the Culture and Language English Achievement (C-LEAP) pilot program with over 90 children.
The C-LEAP program emphasized oral English language skills with a focus on pronunciation and audio comprehension. Over 50% of the children were from the Golden Courage program and the others were sons and daughters of local families and school and government officials.
The 10-day intensive pilot program incorporated themes such as U.S. family life, shopping, food, careers and education. The focus was on vocabulary development, culture and meaning, intonations and idioms and verbal communication. Although many of the children take English classes in China, they tend to focus on writing and reading. Therefore, encouraging the children to speak only English was a big challenge for them.
The program was evaluated based on a verbal and written pre-test on Day 1 and a verbal and written post-test on Day 10. The results were astounding. After the 10-day course, the average student scores for the oral test rose by an overall average of 59%. What was most impressive was the level of confidence and fluency in trying to speak English. Students were beaming with pride and happiness in being able to practice their oral language skills with native English speakers.
In the C-LEAP, students engaged in many different innovative interactive learning activities to maximize opportunities for practicing English. Students played word games, wrote skits and poems, engaged in role plays, worked in teams, listened to presentations, discussed cultural insights, created art works, and developed friendships. Every activity provided students with new ways to practice and advance their oral English language skills because they were able to practice within a meaningful context. This makes learning English fun and REAL! Students also listened to special presentations on different topics such as being a student in the US, preparing for IS college applications, college life in the US, and getting a job. The students really enjoyed the special guest presentations by Dr. Lu, Quentin Millette (14) and Maya Millette (12), and Keri Newton.
Lii Yuhan (“A Very Cold Rain”) is an 11-year-old fifth-grader who lives with her grandparents and her mother. Her mother, a burn victim, has lost her fingers, and her face is badly disfigured.
