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October 15, 2005
$ c. U: B2 _8 [# X# }. W3 rClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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$ f% U4 i/ z; MBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the2 u" f9 G+ v' n" r) \
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary& N+ S! _9 W; U) r9 C
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas$ M! u2 m6 M& R S
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese& S5 u* Z2 x6 l2 G$ ^0 B. k
flag hang from the wall.
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: E+ {" \& K. o$ {- pOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
( j" g% Q, H2 }another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
; s6 E: T' D* w- o) Q& lpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
3 I# o8 j4 m8 u9 }: I. Uboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students& M3 R) x9 [# w: R
are already choosing it over Spanish.; i7 \. n% i# L: }9 e7 p
" `: r, O9 Z+ g' Y! W/ k"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal. Y4 I V8 a9 _
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city) ]" M5 S& }9 O# M. G
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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9 H9 f/ Q: p0 U& m$ ?* qWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,+ k! J2 ~& C7 j$ A
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
+ W+ ?$ F3 X1 |% ~to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention6 @. q$ w8 Q9 \" |8 }
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to& I" u5 Q; X( F! b$ e2 H3 L
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
! ~" b" V( D- F, k) T9 z M( N8 ]studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
$ M( N' p: t* Y/ yLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of3 |5 A, [" T9 f/ ^1 Z9 S
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on6 i6 W# x8 J( @. I7 w
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to- ~ N* y% y6 L
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.' r6 n K0 [, I
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
& ~( l7 [$ q. R) b% I/ lChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
9 j9 }. R: f# s* X' K, A/ m: Lstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to3 d3 h/ l" Z8 g# J* i
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
* T, ?" C% \* `curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director; O6 S* P2 R, c' H3 d$ Q# z
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
5 |$ h" q" z3 Pspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
$ E- }1 T! W4 lConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
, F$ S7 [9 {/ `/ ncan."
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3 z3 M6 Q8 ]. q* T7 q! HThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from, p% ~( C+ e! L, T
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10# |/ c0 }: d8 e: K6 B( n8 w
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language3 f9 d" l: D# G& W" g% a8 C
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages6 @$ C4 w0 V% Q! J% y( z# S
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.3 Y. w+ `5 r& T0 J0 Z
McGinnis said.& b6 J8 e2 c# ?
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical3 G m% S' X; {9 F' c0 N
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
) i1 j8 i" _/ G0 [5 T4 zready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
& ^' h# ?3 W: t r, J& h! fchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
4 `9 e* K3 h- F' P% o( P0 {! ~* ?secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in- }% N* `$ [+ o$ v# A2 q
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of I2 M) e8 l: N: p6 s: E
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or6 i( g# |( D X: R1 V) Q# ~- A
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public E5 h( h7 a* O+ ^
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
6 }8 r8 I* A g8 Zstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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' x5 {9 x0 P9 |+ f2 c) LMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
0 Y8 R2 }3 l* B K+ xproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
8 `& p' k7 L5 F U0 a- K2 bcompetition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
5 s% K# ~. Z y5 X' I9 H9 O6 Ksaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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: I2 s$ `& g( \# D H. YFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
" D1 P3 G9 R( z4 p/ O- A6 ~all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
' _8 t* k' S) H' U7 L9 ~ H, n$ Eschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from& g0 c6 j6 ^- a" R
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
; S# f; j: C2 {0 Ewho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
% c, g8 O, p9 F3 k; E H% ?1 Gthe school system last year.
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# V$ u, J7 p$ f1 Q. X+ cThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
) {0 r5 x e c4 v* uyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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; ?+ B" j0 D! j8 X"They have a great international experience right in their own
* O1 P5 F) b0 N- c% Y0 bclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago! i2 o* ?* J, x5 [
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
, u4 D* p) ]7 X* r" t$ `5 _! Lhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
1 Y- g# j s. r, u9 U( Ron an equal playing field."
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% k! d3 c4 T5 s+ C' {7 xSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
( |: U: \9 r) x- @$ N. }0 U5 Lclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
" U4 k% J: }" r2 {4 Y0 OService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks( [. g: E8 Y& y2 Q
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
: N: U" j% q- w* b/ Eaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
; A9 S ]: z1 e! gChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the, J6 l/ r6 T% J& L: R. K
institute says.5 R! Q. ]6 w, i# p& S B! Z! y
9 n t/ Y* E, G) E ^. f4 }+ XSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth8 `, `" ]' V# X6 U: H3 ~
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
" @! y3 k+ I* S' Z( i/ jdeciding whether to take the class.6 q- z* Q. P3 X9 e5 l" g# P
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
: D9 G" R; z) D- d6 atold her daughter.6 C2 ?* I5 `: B& [/ x- m
6 P8 \( K( S4 b% MSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite; D D1 I1 K+ v* h
class.6 o# i9 y9 L" I0 W5 T
" k, f9 l/ ~. I. f% `5 uAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
" L% m6 V4 H8 X" i/ d/ Dstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
) u7 d1 d) e. q7 Z' doccasional frustration.; g4 U& z0 S7 w |3 E
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a$ X& Y! y/ I& o- k7 H0 l1 B
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class." Q) L7 @$ ^" F' J1 v" C
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
1 O6 S3 c5 l8 D1 C1 Ntaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
5 u+ w: C, S; jChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.! t7 b! A* t: z% v0 F
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul: g" o f* S& E, m1 T6 s+ Q1 f
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn4 i7 n$ B+ h8 o1 v0 M5 ]
as many languages as I can."3 G* g. O' \9 \" R, }
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
# z7 d U+ |" S0 z$ u, lskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
D( K3 p: z4 u% z% R" o( Z4 Vmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
) k, }$ K! n& Z. ethat," Ms. Freire said.
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' E! a( S# L! @2 x) }5 L6 F ~9 ?Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
- k1 \* `% C: G1 T% y* y, Vhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
" A. |9 @1 c7 o6 ?$ z3 A! qschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking% d+ X, ]2 |8 h! d; B% ?4 u
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make$ h. r4 f! _, Y" N
room.: }& Z; }% d- Y7 A
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
; X4 k" z0 ?3 m$ O0 \4 ?+ `) |1 lChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
% l/ w# |) f, f- |# X3 _college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.# ?6 R8 W( X8 e; P, Z# s
' h, w3 [4 h8 I8 `$ S"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified& A- h5 u! z* E' q" u
because of that missing certification," he said.+ i1 _9 i3 m6 J4 ^/ ^6 b
! q% y- K. N6 {4 D0 \* IThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
* S3 ], C& ~% T! w3 N* F: G. m3 F1 W2 Ysaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia8 `* a' a: D9 v# a+ E
Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the B2 k) R4 {) x& @+ F" X$ X8 z
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
& ^, p% ^# P ?6 A- Z2 sthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our0 a& s- @* Q5 m D% Z
own."; `& Y6 H4 ?+ N
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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