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美国纽约时报关于中文教育的新闻

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发表于 2005-10-18 09:27 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
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October 15, 2005; _9 V( D% e( V  B4 [
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity) P: C, ]1 C+ j2 g$ _+ x
: ]0 M& z1 g' c2 p! H* m
By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
- j* \. M, v7 O) z% F7 h, Z4 C1 M- A/ _; C
CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the8 A$ B7 j; a; y- F6 R+ g
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
$ y4 Z- o3 C& }( t/ y  n: ~, NSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas+ |- V" A  g) h! ~/ R
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese2 n  o2 @" P. ?0 C1 I
flag hang from the wall.& Q: e# ?9 h7 j9 J- @8 ]  a: j
2 B6 r+ }& {6 W& T* b- \
One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
7 }$ G3 }% g4 J0 J& A0 @( n) |another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
* u$ _+ ]. p- @practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
( [3 n3 H+ y1 q; I& \boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
2 A, {$ T: R0 D- |. A) D; z6 Nare already choosing it over Spanish.3 j7 L  ^& h6 g2 t
3 F2 Z/ ~2 X9 z+ E5 z; r8 k
"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
! j' g5 x- [' h( y: yat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city3 ?5 [: h3 n' b$ M+ N5 `6 o
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."; \5 w5 s' N; n  b! E: Y6 P

3 m3 F- Y% L' j: g( AWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
& w$ \* F; t1 R1 i8 `# q. gschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings! H1 S% S1 i# G" J
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention" F5 H' w' P# b: W( y) a% M5 U
one of its most difficult to learn.0 b, W$ {% Z" E# x
% ^( d2 a  x) f/ @4 R1 S
Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to$ \; |: E  {5 ]1 H( Z
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
% h) G2 Z# Q/ Nstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
) e9 ]& |( H, O9 s3 [. qLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
, n+ [, o5 ^3 B2 aTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on, u" v7 e. ]# h. J  \4 ^
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to! T# o& Y. q9 O+ P
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.7 Y2 P! \; \9 F8 B
. [, e# `- ~! s' x" K# a# T; }
After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
! a4 _+ @0 _1 F5 I3 v0 oChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
6 v& D9 v$ f2 Tstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
0 l% N4 |. N5 b/ e( l& \+ ]develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing1 S4 I5 C) y; O7 t( {9 G
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director" X1 {1 M; L5 f: l" j
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board./ F0 j+ j: _5 x0 Y6 g! O
1 R4 e4 T- N! F$ ]
"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
1 S' [8 L- F0 F) h1 s2 ?2 ~speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
; \, b9 D  b) K' y/ ?& jConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
' A7 ^# N4 C$ Gcan."
0 w" S- p' M' M8 I  O* u1 O2 w/ {8 {7 Y% U; o0 y+ W1 Q
The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from: b3 J9 R7 |1 p; R' i5 A
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
2 D/ t: H7 T; S9 b" k8 \& [years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language- r2 \) V- D2 {, |
Institute in Washington.
6 Y, R7 w2 o) M3 Z0 y0 g2 b( p0 i. ?: i8 S
"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
- i9 x6 O5 d$ baren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.. S# M  A! i$ h5 [
McGinnis said.) @! H( }  j, v/ v$ K1 S" N8 o

+ B/ F2 q  m3 A- G3 t; O"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical0 ^& }. d: u8 ]: R2 K
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be2 g" i( h: P' l
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a6 Z0 `" I) m& d3 h/ F. k9 a
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
% W! u! {8 h* g% l4 h
- u  Z! r/ h6 e: n1 s- m6 ^Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
; B$ Z8 K' I3 O, Z. psecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
% g9 M+ S+ |# Acities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
; L6 z+ z: g5 a& Q5 A9 u/ UChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or4 \3 `2 y9 O- M% {7 ^9 B, P: C
on weekends.
& V5 s+ f$ |' [& j# G) ]- H# c9 g/ U9 S6 B: r
The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
, b6 f  k% _& C- Y% u  jschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
" Y8 r5 Z7 d: }4 i, u! h3 L8 {students who are not of Chinese descent.
# C: P1 r+ d8 `$ N' J4 Y& B2 y* ~" ^+ f
Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
) |* d; [$ j0 j( I, z1 g7 Dproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
3 y) G4 [: @! _) }# S& K6 I. u/ gcompetition. # s  t, A7 N# a: o" t
9 I0 e6 x! ?  C) D+ c
"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
: t( O4 S  |8 g' ]said. "There will be Chinese and English."; S& p, e# z; K7 P2 g; S

; s* V$ J5 I" m" BFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly6 K( z8 M) e! e9 O
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
: t7 U1 e# K2 Z, |+ [8 e3 Wschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from3 N* i8 B' M3 W1 k  @: C5 n7 w9 q5 f
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students4 `- |- J4 l) T
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
. @" [" P7 Z: w$ @the school system last year.
1 ]: K+ J$ b6 A6 c# |0 M
5 X+ x8 ~# t( P' nThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this4 s' @9 h! [# i+ S" {* w8 C" Q
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year., X+ C: D) m1 C% }

) \+ k" ^8 X- [+ e9 i"They have a great international experience right in their own
5 H7 e* m' y: D$ K/ Z) v: [1 |classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
: l: }6 h1 @9 F6 |Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
8 W: P! `! g" e+ V" e4 ~help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
* d$ A; J" A# \5 {1 e# gon an equal playing field.": d9 }6 J: g' M2 A, `5 ?
; n4 `4 M/ S& z9 p! V8 f
Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese! Q2 g  t: a+ d& |* E
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
# I) U) N8 M* Y# ?; sService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
' B  d7 B8 V6 H; I2 m; i7 j) DChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
; M2 w6 B' w2 |7 ?% x- s* B, f1 w/ laverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
# l* j/ p5 f% w3 w1 _Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
- Y4 v: }9 G5 O. V5 N( m! `institute says.' c  A+ O( d( ^; e

) Y/ I1 L  w7 o/ YSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth' m; X& E# ]7 R" c, y# _
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
7 v# w9 ]/ M0 {: K! b- k* ddeciding whether to take the class.
! f6 `% H* e8 ]5 _* j. C0 v7 _3 i) P
"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
( m! O: M8 ]# Vtold her daughter.6 z$ K1 g4 q- K' a6 }6 E

) n- R  y5 @2 x( b" c9 eSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
7 H* W, B1 u5 l* G' H6 ~; Dclass.
9 v4 |: ^1 O  w! c: F
+ ^+ Q5 D6 M$ g* }6 m% ^6 j+ g! WAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
0 t& ^' Y: b: q6 |9 p$ Z0 U" c0 {studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without! q$ b( v+ A" w2 i
occasional frustration.+ a/ c2 i) v- _3 m! n
5 C5 J& i! S) g# m+ k7 C  k
"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a' m& w9 t, a1 u" t) Z7 Q; b4 [
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.% {9 z, _6 J8 y

5 f% g$ f" t: i( aRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he+ a/ |- R& l. L: ^9 x
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with% T0 J( c, ~$ z- |4 P: R
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.+ ^, d6 ~! G: r; T3 x( M

/ x$ p( |+ R- R1 ^5 n"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul! D6 E9 g* [  z
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
8 l- |$ I; j4 ?! @; X7 V4 jas many languages as I can."
0 |6 J( v4 H4 w' Z9 E0 v
2 u7 G0 [: v" q' @# ]Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
( S9 t8 m; B+ c9 B* ~$ x* Q% wskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job& z% u7 d# q1 k. }& M$ W
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like6 ^) e4 s2 p0 c1 @+ G8 g
that," Ms. Freire said.
  o" K4 h, P6 Z5 m* h4 O1 ]
& X* N6 K4 i7 S& U) }& KMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program4 U; a" p( g7 Q% c' U) s9 C9 w
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each3 N1 H7 v& M8 c3 g/ g+ s! B
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
7 ~# F+ R# ~9 e* v3 C7 Wtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make3 ]7 ~" q5 o7 w& d# M
room.& u3 D' F' Z6 W% ^" M
9 d. s* h8 V. e8 _, Z# l% L
Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer: ]2 y: [  z0 w- }
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
8 ~; {! o: \: w7 J9 _' ?; G1 \college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
  d/ Q7 b6 O/ x- S
2 m; ^. o1 p- }+ b"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
4 }- [1 T  G+ M# k# o& A! O- P+ K! G+ xbecause of that missing certification," he said.
+ X: D; z) b: m+ }% B
; y% a" O2 Z% P2 q6 @# g9 oThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
% D" l$ W# f- H+ d) Fsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia* W! `; q% x9 K2 l
Society in New York.9 k/ K( s, i9 z4 F) c1 _8 a
( ?. _7 x! F# W8 U8 m
Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the/ i3 B! V1 d9 Y  I7 i
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from( g+ S, x! L9 J6 g* K, r: g  Q
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.$ N( Y: l1 g0 [. a: n
& ^9 P0 F# c$ v6 L) ?$ ]
"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
* k3 q/ u' g7 ]  `3 U! ?1 Down."
8 ^* w2 C6 ^/ [, x! L7 B; ^$ F8 m2 c5 M# p4 E6 r
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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