Sacramento Bee: At Rosemont High, the Advanced Japanese teacher doesn't speak Japanese
Kayla Chung sits in her advanced Japanese language class at Rosemont High School but learns nothing about how to read or write the language. That's because Chung's teacher – a long-term substitute – does not know Japanese. "All we do is sit in class, watch movies on Japan and take notes," said Chung, 16, who is in Japanese III. "I'm pretty sure that's not how Japanese is supposed to be taught"...Rosemont's popular Japanese language classes were previously taught by a woman who went on maternity leave in August. The substitute the school hired to fill in for her quit in November. From there, Rosemont principal Leise Martinez said she has had no luck finding a qualified replacement. An art teacher with a background in Asian studies was brought on in December...The substitute, who is also teaching Japanese I, II and IV, does not know the language and instead focuses on the culture and history of the country...Finding qualified Japanese teachers is difficult. Only six Japanese credentials were awarded in 2008-09, according to the statewide Commission on Teacher Credentialing...In California, 113 high schools offered Japanese courses in 2008-09, the most recent data available from the California Department of Education. That compared with 1,753 schools offering Spanish, 845 offering French and 123 offering Chinese. A handful of other Sacramento-area high schools have classes in Japanese...more...