More than 30 international families visiting Hawaii this summer from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea enrolled their children in a new immersion program at ‘Iolani School that’s aimed at boosting English language skills while exposing students to Hawaiian culture.

The private school established the Pili Program after several years of growing interest for summer programming from international families, officials said. It’s designed for children in kindergarten to fifth grade, and all instruction and conversations are held in English.

“We’ve always had a high number of international families who visit,” said Natalie Hansen, ‘Iolani’s lower school summer program director, noting 150 international students enrolled in various summer courses this year. “Because our regular summer classes are rigorous, students need to be proficient in English. We wanted to create a program that younger students could attend even if their English isn’t great.”

She noted a historical commitment to international students: Sun Yat-sen, arguably the most famous of the school’s alumni, who enrolled at ‘Iolani as a boarding student in 1879, spoke no English when he first came to Hawaii. He went on to become the first president and founding father of the Republic of China.

Hansen said the Hawaiian word “pili” was chosen for the program because it can mean closeness or the bringing of things together. “We want to help create long-lasting friendships for students,” Hansen said.

The program, which ran on weekdays for two three-week sessions, included activities — such as cooking lessons, scavenger hunts, yoga, hula, hiking and field trips — during the first part of the day, followed by “intense” language lessons in the afternoons. The classes, which spanned 7-1/2 hours a day, cost $1,955, including lunches and snacks.

The program’s teachers, who both hold master’s degrees to teach English to foreign speakers, say their main objective was ensuring the students had fun.

“Kids learn from playing,” said Bella Congdon, who co-taught the courses with Emily Moore. “When they’re having fun, that’s when they learn the most. And it’s great that they get to make friends from around the world.”

“We don’t have any stress in our classes,” Moore added. “Our main goal is to make sure that they learn English through fun, engaging activities so they can continue their learning. If you have good memories in your mind, then those memories will last forever and that will help them enjoy learning English for a lifetime.”

As a final project of sorts, the students will be creating posters depicting three things they learned or enjoyed about the Pili Program, as well as a logo for the program. The posters will be on display on the last day of the course, when families and friends will be invited to peruse the posters as students explain their projects.

“It kind of runs similar to a science fair,” Moore said. “When the parents stop at each poster, they have to verbally share in English, so they’ll be speaking a lot of English. It may be a little stressful for some, but the goal is to have fun and feel comfortable speaking to a crowd and their peers.”

Yuma Matsuo, 9, said he’s enjoyed the program’s various field trips, which have included visits to the Bishop Museum and Waikiki Aquarium.

“I liked the field trips to the places that are famous in Hawaii,” said Matsuo, whose family is visiting from Japan. “My favorite one was Ala Moana Beach.”

Phoebe Chen, 10, whose family is visiting from Taiwan, said she enjoyed being outdoors on her first trip to Hawaii.

“I like to go hiking or go to the beach,” Chen said, adding that the weather is always rainy back home.