June 14, 2007

MADE IT
Learning is bilingual for one teen
Grad overcame language barrier to be among top of his class.
By Serena Maria Daniels STAFF WRITER

Luis Liang, 17, had plenty of catching up to do when he started at Buena Park High School.

He had a new language and culture to learn, not to mention keeping up with classes.

“School was hard because there were different people, people from other countries, different cultures,” Liang said.

But Liang, who moved to Buena Park three years ago from the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, was determined not only to make the necessary adjustments but finish ahead of most of his classmates.

To learn English, Liang, whose father is Chinese and mother Mexican, stayed after school with teachers, practicing the language using computer programs.

“Friends helped me to translate the homework, to explain things to me when I didn’t understand,” Liang said.

He made sure to enroll in Advanced Placement classes and excelled in courses he was already comfortable with, such as math.

Someday Liang would like to use his bilingual skills and his knack with numbers to earn a business degree.

Liang said he was accepted to UC Riverside and California State Fullerton and Long Beach, but because he does not have a social security number, he cannot apply for scholarships.

He is excited to attend Fullerton College in the fall, however, and said he is the first in his family to go to college.

Mother Rosario Liang said she is proud that her younger daughters have a role model like Luis to look up to in their academics.

“He’s been very intelligent since he was in kindergarten. He’s a pride to the whole family,” Rosario Liang said.

His mother bought him a graduation card that she said summed up what she thinks of her son.

“Some people have charisma. Others have talent. Some have personality and others are intelligent, but you…You have all these qualities and more.”