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October 15, 2005( @* T# ~7 \6 n+ c/ Q W, I. U
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity& r$ O$ E& W8 \: _
% @" _' J4 `! n! B, VBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the! h P6 T3 d9 S( B( z, a
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
5 E" E) g- Z. l& a% S' K' y5 K" rSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
2 f& r# k$ i" [1 f+ {- G. Gdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
# e& a8 |. F0 A+ B. f9 ?flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one) ~4 i" W4 i4 f i. S+ M& H
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
2 G, D& V$ q9 t" \8 u8 X* @practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
0 l7 {9 d& h, u2 Z, [ N7 sboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
4 \. [; Z" m/ l) z; \3 Zare already choosing it over Spanish.6 H; S1 H/ A0 v* x( V, T
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
" P' r2 D! n% L9 s1 d) ]& ^at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
2 s. C" }1 X8 A7 u0 K' c+ t3 T- c. toffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."# o. u1 A6 @4 h4 H! {; Z8 Z
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,4 o9 E9 U9 Y& q
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings: j& `0 Z8 c9 x) g; m; t
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention* f. Q4 Z' H" {3 Z0 V
one of its most difficult to learn.
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2 p% m! ^; N: f) O+ {Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to4 P, q; p( J6 y
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students, |' U9 b% J# o5 i
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
8 P7 X- i/ j8 U7 {, Y) W4 `" F, PLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of3 ~; t2 R2 n0 C) ~( b
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
7 v2 G2 W2 @) X! SChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to( S4 ]1 q4 Q, E( d
improve 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/ t" d( t" S# b, [3 \) o- x+ o
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country/ Z# p- D) ~) o: q- \
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to) l( B7 x2 q; T1 u( G+ ?
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing' a' P! m& [9 y' O1 N
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director5 g1 @5 N, [3 X
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
- x$ B/ ~, W* U9 B' { Dspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
: z4 e6 m" H5 L+ {; [/ GConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
" p- r. t R& W) j2 B# Xcan." 5 P$ e. t* X6 h( \6 i: `( \9 ]- D
D# ?5 {! k, H; E. }) m3 e3 DThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from) Y% Z5 T( l6 A, Q, n0 |% P
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10% a) D; l4 l. a$ U2 G, Q
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
9 t' a( Z" J8 p( \Institute in Washington./ b. W f W' q
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages, [- }6 p' p+ O) E- ?" {9 X8 Z( X
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
5 e4 e; W2 L; QMcGinnis said.( N2 I: T% P6 p* ~
8 Y t: Q% E* Q1 O"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical( v! [4 N9 F' N/ `( D
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be+ q/ t3 i$ q1 Q3 W% r! T) \' _+ o
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a7 X( x; V, j' S) y2 y8 v5 X. I
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."3 J4 X/ D% E/ O2 l
$ A0 c; @' E4 o' t! x% yUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
4 v* `9 T' m7 o, {0 [# X @secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in5 C- B9 b3 M; c
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of7 n# K! }& M/ N5 k" `% p, ^
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
0 q% M% h1 G: i6 @. Yon weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
a+ p( m. q3 O' F7 Yschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
$ M! W3 f7 C) n# a, s7 dstudents who are not of Chinese descent." [. q( v! T6 d" `8 A% s
8 [; [2 J' b9 N8 ^, |* f: g& ]Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
8 b) S' b) r! V- @3 t& @1 mproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
% c* D) Y7 t7 y& dcompetition. 1 V" O% S6 t: L
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley- V$ ~) q, r7 m Z1 `; D/ J
said. "There will be Chinese and English."+ L3 d# x9 r3 m7 v6 K1 y6 u
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
5 t. @, d" T1 Uall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
; K2 o+ v! C8 W! L( H# zschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from2 ?" N5 `4 ]3 P+ ? m: J- z
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
5 F0 v. c/ b5 x+ @; w+ mwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to, D& B: h1 B# v, c6 Q# B: A
the school system last year.
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3 |+ C. z, x/ O$ S8 q0 Z$ WThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this3 v" r# L, ]& J, O+ l6 C5 x
year 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( f# s2 K3 l: ?
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago5 Y% E) i, U/ O
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to/ U7 p/ d' q f, A. v, t( Q- |
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
2 C( V9 f( l) T/ ^on an equal playing field."* V6 ]$ x, u& d( p
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
9 N4 g4 d) K' W' u/ U, Uclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign+ y# X/ G! Q: w1 Y
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks+ D5 ?1 |3 B. m9 [/ n6 C
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An. D" G- t+ ~3 W; [" o
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
, O/ B' X' M: F) m0 Y- fChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the$ F0 }* p. u1 F: T& R2 J8 {0 t
institute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
E0 G/ n. e+ C5 ngrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
% S1 ~( C* Z+ l1 C7 {+ _, v7 `3 rdeciding whether to take the class., a) _: `) M4 h+ \
4 T% x: ^9 X m/ I8 D" a& l"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
' E$ l/ ], z) ^1 B1 ftold her daughter.7 _# ~. X# N$ I0 }9 s
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
& }& o7 |; O6 u W* U% s/ nclass.0 [4 j$ m' s" B- F5 d
$ f/ c |7 D0 t& B4 k0 x7 f8 q( yAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
" i$ R! \/ Y& u( l% i) fstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without9 h( W5 x1 g1 [; N2 G) F4 X; x
occasional frustration.
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( @) H l7 g# S8 d% p( j; T& J"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
* z$ u0 a- Q J0 ^* Xrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
! ]* Y) O6 V# Ftaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
; H" h+ w6 D0 }/ j ]( q; IChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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& m+ \9 V5 a( W# l) T"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul0 ^* i# y3 ^- h7 T% B2 b
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn' X+ C# r9 B3 d1 I8 |0 q8 v' E& K6 J
as many languages as I can."3 [2 r, T$ a2 s- y$ o! I
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the" s0 |# E- ^/ D" H
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job* s. i, H2 m0 k+ }# b
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like4 `' X5 Z4 |9 ?( `+ K, ~- G
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
- s1 J- q( p: C7 _# |9 k- _1 \4 m, {here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
! [! `( q* }+ t5 p1 p: S0 u0 ]) Uschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
0 i, u/ S+ m: g, Ftime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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- ]9 r8 g4 w$ y# o8 mChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer+ Y8 E/ }' ?5 o" _' Z) D. ^
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American1 Z, u6 ] v2 b/ r
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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" [" e% c1 {/ Z9 Z# F4 E+ L"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
1 ~2 Z3 c9 f z$ k/ ^9 rbecause of that missing certification," he said.# L. o' U4 j. V8 v, D5 I" m
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
) ^ s$ U8 X. Q4 ysaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia4 C# e, R0 @8 A U( p
Society in New York.4 y" D/ |! I' j. {& Y1 X' R0 e- d
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
0 V; K" r( U3 D! v, H' b0 m; yChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from) T- q9 i7 y( F
the 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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! V; p0 n$ C0 I) Y' aCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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