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October 15, 2005; D+ \2 K" A) n
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity4 m# S* N( [) s
+ J" L; ^5 ]" {( i' GBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING- S" r& t7 S& o% L/ v- R$ l
/ v5 L' e" \% e& w# @* z& JCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
3 ~" c2 g8 U: c4 u4 GUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
! O. H; M4 O0 `School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas( d) D1 K) Q7 E( f; ]
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
+ _) T6 L C0 Z. L$ w$ i. zflag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
/ e3 y6 }! H* I1 z# canother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
. z7 n/ B$ ?8 \- C" I v$ O4 wpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
5 ]" {2 i1 U% g( ?% ]: ?boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students# R* i+ h& V! F. r) y
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal4 @9 n) c- O: J G% U. h
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city3 K( h5 T& b' o x9 U, G7 @
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,: L8 s* R X9 f, ]8 A
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
7 {2 p7 v& E" q2 p- ^to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention+ y0 p) p& a% C+ z; U v, l
one of its most difficult to learn.- ]' T) K) `) ~+ v) X
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
( _- X+ B- b9 g7 K4 Wpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students! P4 f3 @0 s9 f g" X
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
6 s# v) _+ N1 E; yLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of. l! e/ \! Y, d8 ^3 n
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
( V1 i5 `! s6 H } mChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
@& r& r3 _% E/ p* e1 ?improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.' o) b9 l7 A v/ b* s: O
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement# M% _- N4 B7 a& f0 a% w
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
8 d4 K0 E* C9 x! M) _; q' mstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
* O8 Z/ H$ K' Z* L1 \develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing8 v) e! E/ Z6 q8 ?
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
8 k# o, D8 X, fof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.+ z8 e. m6 |7 H
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
+ G+ G# n$ S$ \# U- U/ x" @speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
8 N! Q3 d/ A) jConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we- ?( ^* ^0 C( E( M# E1 T
can." + `/ j. p$ {2 G7 f- u2 D
+ |- a K5 Z7 x. ~+ j& I* E0 j& v, UThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
% s3 C1 l( C5 Q; V6 @: j1 O7 [) i% Pelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
8 e0 k: [1 z( t" I# }) ryears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language2 s8 I- V! x: N. h! s9 W2 q2 ~3 k
Institute in Washington.9 y( s# B; J0 D, \2 M+ G, s
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
) o+ f; ?; n6 V$ E+ maren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr./ x: N! q/ d0 J* y7 O, q
McGinnis said.9 U# Q' M7 J- n @
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical, Y; [; A! e6 C" {0 z5 K) }
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
0 x! g# G6 D0 Hready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a8 S4 X; G& ?8 R9 _5 z3 H9 U, Q
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."8 K& v) c: ]) k8 x/ A7 t
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and. `2 x9 w$ m$ O! N8 Q3 Z
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
- ~ I3 A W& U' G; E1 x$ Gcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
" t) P' S j0 e0 y6 P9 iChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or( k4 C3 ?7 x$ t! n, k5 K
on weekends.9 q/ U) e/ R. E7 d" O. M* o
) U' O( [2 Y% j) w2 DThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
2 }2 S! W8 u, }8 I8 m; O B& l* gschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
6 m" V+ L" V& l% s7 Ustudents who are not of Chinese descent." b/ @' Y- A* r: k4 F. _
+ s x2 R' M* {3 B3 W) PMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
6 O" ?# l% @! @, t! P) u/ Wproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
+ {! {. w" _$ Z2 C- V2 Dcompetition. 8 c6 D9 w/ d6 l
! F5 v% k) W+ D"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
9 v' j* x8 k$ U, ?8 usaid. "There will be Chinese and English."* W) X8 I7 m3 f+ b) D
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
$ V8 K5 C5 Y; }5 Nall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse6 O4 I3 M1 B% D
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
# \: D9 L5 b7 E, G- L8 Pkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
! d v F- D9 N& jwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
" |0 i& g% I; ^) x* m$ r" a; {: {8 Gthe school system last year.
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& R! D- A; S: Z! YThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
# t0 L. {7 s$ Iyear 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' q- a& ?% u+ p W/ L B
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
- R' ^+ U; G. qChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
; `8 S& c. @, G: M# r% @* Dhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
% k' W( g9 N+ }; H. ?# g" [5 ~on an equal playing field.", w# B% G/ R, x7 o5 f( V
) H) p8 N4 r% n+ d
Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
' K: U" \% {* Pclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign9 h# O* P M0 `( L5 `" f+ S$ {
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks+ W9 [ W6 h! V i2 O' I6 s
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
% w: {/ f4 Q% u, paverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in7 [, S! x8 B& g$ {8 q# e( \$ m- b: H
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
' m+ y% @% G$ J. {4 i" binstitute says.
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, `$ B$ f- h8 {7 L% s* aSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth9 V/ n- s# F! H1 V4 U- Y$ I
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before0 R: N- b; ]1 j7 w4 k8 P
deciding whether to take the class.) Z" }) t# a+ p- x5 w1 V7 A( M! q* w/ L/ {
, W) g8 e, H% N$ Z' ]; A"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
L4 m2 Z) A7 @1 @, E6 D, X1 dtold her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite5 {3 `3 E, h, s* |) z
class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
# U, ?: G% k2 s; \studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without! j& G, O& G, ]- Z) C# q1 w) N3 M3 ^9 [
occasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a: R2 d) S8 d( k0 Y9 W* q( p
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.: S- n- M4 p3 _+ L. h
M7 @7 z8 h f- l+ mRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
2 f2 {4 [/ m3 x$ y: w1 ataught words to his mother so she could better communicate with8 T: v. t; {4 b# Y
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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; e- b' X" w$ c1 @0 W/ a"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul: A, p1 k- K, R! H- `7 {6 O' I( e7 u
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn+ N0 e8 {! \$ j/ [6 F! {
as many languages as I can."& Q; ~* n! T5 [% R) s. O; v8 E
8 F& }9 e. F* M; O- a7 FAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
* e* u4 E. g h1 o7 _% X4 m5 L/ Hskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job" q% E# q; U, H+ D2 c! R# @1 A* l
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
8 F7 {: O N Fthat," Ms. Freire said. J; m* O* P. D; e7 u3 ^) s
& t9 J% n$ q1 M$ RMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program6 ]$ T9 j* t+ N( k4 @
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
7 d& H' Z* L8 H* b, D9 xschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking- [" n. x2 A; Z# Z! X) f6 ?
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make, T3 v/ y- ?/ x* I: ^) B
room.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer6 X; w* ?7 V6 j' C8 b, \
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American4 B/ x4 P3 U* l- w2 a: \4 W1 y
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said. u4 G) ~/ p7 @! I! Q9 L+ |
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified# {6 \. }" v7 A
because of that missing certification," he said.
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! h: g! ?9 u2 Q6 {The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
% S" t1 ]8 R* v/ G2 X M8 Nsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia8 |' n/ n$ e# D4 n# }
Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
! h7 [3 K# i1 E/ G5 x) r$ {Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from, a1 k& l8 b: L3 _" u8 j+ \
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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( P/ `% j* Q2 P3 Z+ k. S"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
" C* }7 w# w9 X( h3 C5 wown.") \; c, H! X0 @6 t/ X8 ~9 D
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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