美国纽约时报关于中文教育的新闻

魂游天外

October 15, 2005
# B: k' C8 h5 t7 C: p  `% [* _Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING

CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
+ H0 V1 k) h* O$ |$ kUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
2 r3 O" s, L3 ]$ L5 aSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
4 {! ?- E# ?2 [, [* l8 ndangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
flag hang from the wall.
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$ P  G5 R; j: Q7 }, ]One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
& i4 [1 A$ J8 B' [" ~" N! kanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
$ E- E% @. w" S! Gare already choosing it over Spanish.
2 j* K1 m" |$ b( m3 {
+ l  `. O, p( e3 v+ P. |"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."

: N# Q4 {1 Z) ?- t1 [' r) nWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
' j  R/ H( i# ~2 h, X4 c" U( yschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
1 @. Z" `$ K, V% ^; v7 Gone of its most difficult to learn.
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. ~* k  t7 _  g; S# c. `7 n9 {Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
' ~3 A$ l; ]: g* `  u, Kpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
7 ?8 N5 m( H! L4 i5 o* xLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
  C+ t2 Q! V& n5 [Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
+ y% i& {8 o& dChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
# T4 g. N5 W) Nimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
# g  O4 G% A, `  _7 t( t7 G% PChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
! I3 s4 _* ^  n$ \4 Wdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
" N, N- V% T; O0 i/ Dcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
# l& Z( Z3 }7 ^  k: ]- K1 ospeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
8 j. u) D8 w, q1 y" }2 x8 LConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
" P. N; ?+ E5 ]can."

The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
" [  C+ H3 `- w4 [# V* Ielementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
. I) P' H1 [& B; AInstitute in Washington.
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. T# b2 E; x4 @' G9 n: j- W" q' ?"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
1 J1 }; B1 l) Laren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
4 o' `* C/ c7 F5 [: \longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
- T4 ?+ h5 y8 q1 Xready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
9 n+ @8 i1 Z0 ~challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."

9 l! u# ~3 d2 ]# t' i! S3 PUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
; k4 _$ y4 a/ T( s3 z" G! ]secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
: _$ R& y4 q+ E- l. C" J, ecities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
students who are not of Chinese descent.

, a! q+ b; S. h- z( h; HMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
* K+ m8 G4 R; O- J# V. Y! v9 \proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
7 Z8 u1 b+ c- O; g4 L, G  k8 M( _competition.

"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
said. "There will be Chinese and English."

) C1 I8 S7 g; R! s3 F* b% s% BFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
- h; S! T' M2 K, }8 ]! z; L: Lall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
& l# [) t. }4 Z3 r9 Ikindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
& u' K4 I5 k2 a1 c1 vthe school system last year.

' D  U8 P9 H; n0 T3 @9 DThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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"They have a great international experience right in their own
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
/ B6 q0 v& b, D1 dhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
* i# ]1 _; g* ?8 ]6 d* q/ S6 non an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
, r" x6 g' t; l% HService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
* t6 Y0 b/ B0 a9 ^8 |+ yChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
/ s- L) D$ T  z- |5 @average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
0 I; o& s6 H4 Sinstitute says.

Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
) J4 T' D* a9 `grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
deciding whether to take the class.
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0 n. l* f, Q/ e) @"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
2 f+ n- \2 ?. o+ ^8 Z5 i, q( ltold her daughter.

Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
# e# v. e; D( {( e+ d" n! h: g: zclass.
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2 o4 w+ b4 g" c2 w5 `1 tAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
3 V- ]$ w! [1 T+ O2 F! A: w8 Lstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
2 D. ~! k) h* Z" A! v2 A' Eoccasional frustration.

"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.

Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
1 c  e* y) X! N: |1 U: o9 v7 Btaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.

"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
2 I1 t; L2 S; Nas many languages as I can."
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, B4 a( p$ f2 ^. ~0 K. e; m7 }Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
4 Y6 f  z* \: l" ]/ E7 Gskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
# u# U9 t& ^- w2 `; p; Emarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
that," Ms. Freire said.
5 H7 h  [3 b9 v9 W& _+ {
9 z! y+ U/ d# z2 v. w/ |) WMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
$ o4 }* f8 w3 s4 t' y- Chere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
8 P5 p0 W! t% Q$ Uschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
room.

Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
7 @2 m8 K2 t  TChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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, `. N3 S; s/ I3 @"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
4 B% z" v8 e+ e- N4 Y/ v3 ~because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
8 N! b) I! z7 I; f9 j8 h( psaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
Society in New York.
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. z( B1 }- O; n: j- f, r1 h& A( iSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
; b" s5 }& \/ K3 SChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.

"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
own."
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company