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October 15, 20057 v% Y# u H/ l: v1 I
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity4 _& }; Y5 ]/ i! r3 T
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING( V, Y9 z/ s' @! w
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
+ p" g- R. L9 x P" j! g( v1 T9 UUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
6 D" q- S n2 s/ `! @) u( ISchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
. l8 `) q6 J0 j7 a$ ^$ W( B% Odangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese# e9 u% r6 z/ N8 k( Q( K7 B9 s
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
( P- Z! i& }+ m+ K. _7 Danother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders" W4 a( ^/ f% U. @" U5 V9 T
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
- o% ~* H& t0 P& Mboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students- b0 `# T1 L- h J
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal& e8 H. W m1 {: Y* y3 I: e
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city( ~0 ~; ], s# U
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in.". M, l& S( z! I% A$ {" y, h5 ?, Y
2 }" O) y! g6 Z6 f9 KWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
' }# s: N: o; W6 ischools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
6 Z5 A& T; W- J% c! Jto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention5 J* {4 P" @' B7 W+ @! ^: v! \
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to- ^% C. i. P4 W
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students& A1 f) q2 F: M1 q: e0 U4 o% R; e$ B7 c
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.# K: P' ^. o; }( w$ X* e- C5 C, w
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
: f' {1 P4 |" ~. _0 J3 _% Y: zTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on! k( m: d3 V2 d3 @6 e3 V0 `
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
3 H/ ~, R& q: A7 jimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.0 o: T. M( c/ R8 w" G7 L7 J# q
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
. [& K; |4 W1 N3 C2 N4 sChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
% R2 m( z* }3 ^. L* ?1 rstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to3 w3 n7 m5 e4 N) q9 D6 p
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing1 z" S! O; t4 Y. _' ~. U
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director; X5 R' |9 j m% _8 L: H* k
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.4 |& H2 x6 K# N, }/ R$ V% H& ?
j! v" H7 X5 l"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
8 E+ B" m; M# b. D! n9 s3 Xspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
& J1 }2 _3 M1 XConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
. R$ J6 p! B; k+ n: k# s5 A$ }can." " a" r) @5 e! v, X0 {
' Y* r+ I l- WThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
- T, f5 c0 b1 s8 f; pelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
! L# g% Q7 _7 ^: xyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language/ Z; K5 J6 Y8 Y# L
Institute in Washington.+ r7 _3 j. e# R( }" q6 C
. n& ^- ], q+ l) F0 l% { [ u"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
! z6 W" N. C( ~aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.& P. H0 Y, g. m7 S; n+ c
McGinnis said.5 ]( d5 i3 L4 p5 J" {0 W
, M' K I+ S" J7 C* S2 h4 `/ b"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical$ ]8 E2 _% m# I/ f+ f; P" h4 Z; ~
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
7 R2 g- i3 N3 c8 E+ d9 bready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
0 ] h. ~* C$ Lchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and! U' i% ]) s4 U+ G- [5 Q. @
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in1 y. @1 N; P' a9 e/ d7 V
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
3 L# ]" h% l# `& [9 X. t5 G9 YChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
7 D% P# y9 n1 r. l" aon weekends.) N+ K0 L1 n4 R* \) T) h
/ Y" g5 @2 H& E' q U; `7 LThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public& Z, G& z; J: M. Q& a( Q
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
/ e' ?% E# o( s2 F. _" j/ p+ X1 estudents who are not of Chinese descent.4 ]% u" \4 E s `6 t9 E8 e0 d
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said2 `; c2 R/ @0 y- `- O) f
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the9 w y, \9 h: V: Q* P( D
competition. ; d7 D8 c# |7 C: j
9 a ]: z* t: e"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
0 G7 m3 F' O3 t5 e& ~* lsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."" K, p9 P* k8 ` F# t% W
5 z+ x8 b& Y( e$ ^9 K' p" jFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly1 I. U5 W$ ^: s: E. {. P- c" v
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
# U0 |# R% r6 a5 P! S3 Zschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
. J: y5 \5 X5 Xkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students: Y o" `! P2 h2 c. v& W' [
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
' E; D- j" J) }* @9 S( Uthe school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
$ z' i% j5 Y% z( d) I8 jyear 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 own9 G0 d' l5 N# d
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago. d4 d) R. T' X0 [2 Z
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
" l2 q9 T% h% L; i# F: h; g$ }% uhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet$ Z3 o/ _& a" O* t+ d9 Z
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese, a/ W, y; M$ E& [' J; N( J. }8 w
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
0 d2 l5 ]& a I0 vService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks a, S r* a& B+ v* y0 S1 Z+ } V' w
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
' [: E7 `! S ]$ Q0 c+ B& ]average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
/ b& l- ^/ R. F' MChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the) r' V- V( D5 g) {5 c0 @" Q: L
institute says.
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) S' k# f X/ FSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
n' D" ~: a. T7 h. cgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
6 c4 H, v* G; s0 xdeciding whether to take the class.) s0 i; [$ W7 U% D
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she4 K; \& w& G* e% h; w
told her daughter.8 }8 p# I6 E! W! O7 u
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite/ P, H+ B9 D/ Y h( a, m# Z# e
class.5 Y) q& y6 a: N) N
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are& g1 _% t: r- u% W
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
( [" g6 g5 I% `' xoccasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
( G# h% z4 A$ O9 h, qrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he \7 Y. R% V" P' ]
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
C3 J+ l7 g* ~4 l& bChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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& v6 @$ Z7 C) d; t6 e' ["Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul& ~9 _" c5 o! R* f. G% [' J, Q
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
/ C- S1 J+ [& W- K8 s) I6 Qas many languages as I can."( z, d( p9 P5 a) ]
. S4 r2 _, Z( C- D* |% LAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
- ^+ a$ p9 H8 n M! zskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
: S/ u9 S! w7 rmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like- M3 k, P5 S A% U/ h
that," Ms. Freire said.
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{/ m. J" T# v* A) ]8 xMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
/ x/ }' m. A j, s) }- u: `here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each; C9 Y4 {6 Q+ k) E
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking. G+ a, i/ m* E% ~/ d
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make" Z z. p5 ?8 [
room.
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/ a( Q) W3 |. ^2 Z- M9 f- N" y8 mChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer+ d6 J$ K, r& C2 x
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American2 k4 D3 z6 |* y/ ~
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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( Z6 s/ }" T5 m# d"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified) g' O _" }9 l
because of that missing certification," he said.
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6 ?5 m5 P! Q0 t" d( xThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,4 S; U* y& T7 z- l
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
7 u. ]9 L7 J0 W: Z0 K( u# E7 W) w2 DSociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the/ p( ], w; v( Q1 p# K+ a+ o
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
5 b7 d( i3 O9 K/ i% O1 D; W" E' qthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.9 {' r% l4 w: N+ C7 U+ d( }' N
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
$ c) \; @; c5 ]2 I5 Vown."
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! h/ p* G0 o$ h, v* |( DCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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