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October 15, 2005; S% S7 w. K, a4 ~: A& h
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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4 J' K4 E" d& h7 x: d+ |8 \$ ]By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
7 N$ Y3 w% h2 q1 s3 c& A, iUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary$ _; h0 V7 f N9 f% U! k* H$ X
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas5 U! K6 u; L# @3 |. c; O, l
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
9 O. K( z' ^& ^2 d Aflag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one* W) |9 ^1 b/ ^0 H8 Q
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders9 b% r2 D0 W. W/ p+ R
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
# h8 q; m2 j9 y( B# q$ a, _9 lboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students5 @. m" |5 G. T1 z6 g
are already choosing it over Spanish.. H ], A# r6 G# c* s) F3 `
P" g3 V# o; I4 ?8 V"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal1 M- f7 o0 s/ G& ]
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city! I% H" G: }" {; K, U& R# Y/ }
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in.". i* l7 }# L9 d
4 H3 D6 ~) v: dWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
; a3 h& L3 f/ ?6 o: M7 G+ g$ lschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings/ n2 D a3 w$ E# O
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
) A5 L% n* E4 Z3 X" r: M6 Gone of its most difficult to learn.9 ] c! o# \; }, G; C4 n# A# g
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
@/ R6 R2 t( p) d8 R, Wpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
8 p, l4 G8 h/ I5 I$ fstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.% e% C P1 c. p! u$ l% Y' Z
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
/ R L' J+ c5 _5 o$ v/ r$ f- Y: w# QTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on' i# m' s% c4 j. \1 t% q% A. N
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
4 r: Y8 R/ v/ T" x( Eimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
& |" f( ~$ ~2 Q' [3 L6 nChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
5 Q/ S6 O6 `1 Q+ ]. q. s4 Hstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
8 M4 K8 d+ z) ~1 s, Adevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
- Y+ D4 w; M- B% }: ucurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director- X; L" t& }% t K
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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3 h% _4 @" _# m+ f% X"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of2 e' T n6 n+ h
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education4 u5 |4 S( y/ w" @
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we% s ~7 Q% A, F. v0 A! [* m
can."
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* a; u4 ]; ]3 c2 J) q0 L6 z% W( lThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from; F$ ?" M" A* A8 a* o: w5 o0 x
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
& ?0 T( _) f- ?$ o# ~# qyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language/ g* A! N1 @ f. r6 i% o! z8 W
Institute in Washington., v Q6 }* h! o3 n+ o; U4 A7 ^
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages3 P0 M- n5 [) A4 _* t- v. }
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
$ } ?5 ~& s1 ^6 T2 D: L" lMcGinnis said.
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. V( Y) F/ p6 Z0 t& N: l9 v2 M"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
' d/ F( V9 i, Llongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
8 K: d- o7 P6 n* }( h" F. oready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a9 {% A: v9 F; J' [0 J
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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3 B! E6 |4 O; T9 e+ _, YUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and$ c- E: P* i9 x- W0 E# ?( b, [0 u5 ~
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in/ e; l! }2 k1 b6 N% E7 A
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of+ S+ ?- O% ^9 D4 V- `3 p# g
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or+ W6 e& k- X0 T. Y. z! U* _, ~
on weekends.: ~+ [$ U8 }+ l: z
4 F" T. t$ w- ~5 \, h" b7 pThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
" S6 Q. j7 z9 u7 uschools during the regular school day and primarily serves$ b) W/ f0 @" t* `: G( e# P! k% {
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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2 u J! V$ |% I% x cMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said" }9 a* \& c9 D' ?/ V6 Q `
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the0 |& `( l) k2 \+ r$ ?( [
competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
" O" e. n" g2 lsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."* @! i# ^" l* K- w0 J! y
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
& E8 R$ p/ D+ E& H2 B5 w# y6 Eall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse' ]1 f7 M" }% @$ }# N
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from u! q: {; X9 x/ b9 n7 j
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
- B; Q8 e9 N& N( p! Swho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
8 r; n. a+ V) |the school system last year., m# u" `' P$ r" F( \! }
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
: A- R' F {! w- j# Cyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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" m+ o4 D6 x3 ?8 w0 [$ l"They have a great international experience right in their own: i& M! S7 ], V8 D
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago; P4 P3 h2 d% N$ B. u9 ^, T# R
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to- M7 Z) u2 S0 t, r
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
, E# n/ F8 H0 K) N# bon an equal playing field."- X& X+ d- u, T, C3 B
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
3 f. N! a; q3 y k8 G9 A9 m+ e4 Zclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
# `: J: j3 y- r6 b$ e6 i2 ~" |Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
. c) A$ z4 t* P$ l3 g9 fChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An ?: h+ G; S4 C X( g3 _( K* S
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in" b' K. t3 ]1 e1 f7 l- p1 T
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
: y4 J6 E K( n# R7 j% cinstitute says.
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' w% \; |. l% O- j9 Y, }Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
1 g! `3 N+ Z7 Q- X, D3 e: Cgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
# T+ j* l7 n: f; @- U# M+ U i- Sdeciding whether to take the class.: R. W7 G) q/ q0 o0 T, W+ E; h
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she* ?# Y( J# ]) u
told her daughter.& q, y- V. B* p: M# J5 a. J
+ A n3 }. M q. [) D- G+ QSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite/ _- j1 s2 u+ E0 b3 q9 q. a0 H
class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are& f; W* l+ p7 A% R- z! P$ j
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without# b" T; E9 M- F& R/ a% f/ y7 q
occasional frustration.
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" Q' Q+ v% W' b# d7 m"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a. H. {. f" P/ W/ w) b
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
9 W( d, e% u" D- ?" _/ \taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
5 F5 c2 |/ H8 z3 hChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.+ b" W; { ~2 C9 B; u
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul3 r2 k) `! Z- S9 E% M4 L' G* w
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn7 P$ l2 o1 F- y0 A1 Z) _& U
as many languages as I can."
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0 t# R, ?0 h' @' AAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
8 Y2 W9 ?* j7 l% kskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job7 ?: e/ }. M3 j; F3 R. Y
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like! H4 x2 G/ V" i) x
that," Ms. Freire said." T6 j% B1 E8 W2 y4 b. c1 n
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program+ z6 Y# Q- b. Z) F0 l
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each% w5 ?( {5 ?1 {; e( J
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
, r7 G, ?9 r4 g& F2 t$ L. [time from classes like physical education, music and art to make# {) }( J( R/ N/ Q" Z. @8 O% k
room.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
2 `% X7 V3 Q7 d& F/ a0 u& }Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American3 B0 ]9 [3 k5 b3 v
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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6 L' S* X( I% K3 [0 f"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
" G. H. g J; }# ibecause of that missing certification," he said.4 `7 r S9 _9 k" p
1 \5 T: N! p1 _% U- L4 mThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
2 X/ R# b# U, M6 esaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia7 b" r1 V' C: n3 {% n
Society in New York.6 O3 t. m+ h& A) \, C4 {- K
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
" `4 ~! o$ `% H# s: ~! f0 _Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
7 t% e8 u# _+ a; ]3 I. d; Pthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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