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October 15, 2005
5 x6 t+ u- Z! ?+ B! i; }( p- ?9 _0 NClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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! q7 B) Y* _4 ^. C: p8 _+ S; ABy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the; m3 c" M# X [9 O6 J
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
6 P* o9 J* p) q2 H8 y% A1 M: dSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas5 r1 e, J% f3 G' q# Z, ?
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese1 I5 _3 q/ x) H D/ d
flag hang from the wall.9 d( {) D) W; }7 w9 {4 J
8 P0 L n) ?7 h) @; D3 A: ]One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
* r* O" Y6 h3 I) g- p0 W2 }another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders6 O2 }4 N% }9 t U% g
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker! l# N' {7 z3 S7 q$ c2 F. n2 @: [
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students& p. R/ ^! i2 z4 h, @
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
3 a* Q, l+ h1 `- D. u, Hat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city1 l! w* V0 _( Q$ [; Z4 h
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."5 X c- m! B$ {+ H/ m' R4 J
$ b1 t5 t% g6 s, G: ?With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,- |5 k6 I) n. n- X& L% ^
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings# ^3 V- x( O# z2 j2 m. v$ w8 o7 n& Y
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
: u& c' A* W+ }+ t: V9 g$ [one of its most difficult to learn.
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' R S2 o7 }5 r: e1 cLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
5 r3 x: F k% N1 q8 Tpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students. {3 X1 U7 _! h8 R) l
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
( K; B9 ]. {% M3 Y% f' ALieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
, S- Y7 u% x" cTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on* e9 J0 E% r0 R) o$ N
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to% g, z: ~4 g3 y8 B9 w
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee., n# N1 Z9 y; B5 S# K
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement" _% C' l# r A T* Q; Y7 s! c; {' W
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country5 y! \+ d: Z* l
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
$ r, n! q* q2 \! edevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
+ J' U: T9 s) m O, U" ]curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
g1 B' F% ^2 O: o- R) I9 |of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.8 M4 Y; Q1 x2 z# m, z6 K$ |
. T- [7 T3 z# ]4 w h2 y"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of: X3 G* l+ Z- S/ M" ?
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education$ [/ G6 Z/ D* I3 s+ T& n! T
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we4 p- g: ?# W, c: g8 b: ?, @
can." / u: E- k+ V% d5 @7 n
- H4 c( E5 F! f3 d# tThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from% L' J \' G% g: ^, p R
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
3 y7 k7 J! M$ A3 w& C3 F6 s2 Jyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
5 U3 p2 m% ~5 `( EInstitute in Washington. @& F% n0 z# v; W9 r; G( E
6 O- g; K& i; B; i+ W1 T) z2 g"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
* z' F9 O7 o- \) T6 {5 V' Iaren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
\: m! Y; }0 C$ c% DMcGinnis said.' z% Z; w$ u1 d6 S
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
4 H8 ^8 R$ u1 g) Y1 clongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be- E/ W1 G# L' |, i/ k
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a8 v- b8 h" n9 r
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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) ?) R# ]0 E6 c$ J. Y" ZUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
0 P: U( a% l2 B5 k0 O2 }: Vsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
: R% V" w; Y/ C* Scities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of; W7 {3 K% c8 w+ n
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or, M& g" n% _" H% ?% O# H+ ~
on weekends.1 A; J F' ^ g7 ], K" V b1 y
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
S$ h/ G8 }5 `schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
\. G, V, f" b/ S7 [3 y/ ~$ gstudents who are not of Chinese descent.7 y3 O$ b( I9 r6 C! R
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said T% G& r- n# _% b3 N/ c
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
: ^. p- c, r; U* zcompetition. 7 }/ z4 D3 ]7 \
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley/ D6 Y1 G3 J/ {1 u/ t1 A
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly4 N# ^; K K( k3 P
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
+ i( z. |; l4 A; u+ e: tschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
7 |* r' y& n0 |3 p+ [+ vkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
2 [ ^! z" J% u4 ?( [; {who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
$ }7 `9 `( F. p# `2 W9 Tthe school system last year.
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9 {6 K! ?! l6 `8 ?6 M# K: z8 H! q/ [The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
/ N# J( V/ j- D5 uyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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7 p0 |( t2 W8 Q5 k"They have a great international experience right in their own
6 L$ e4 v) E& V, q2 yclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
; n; j+ o( e1 G- PChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to- _0 q4 \) |) c2 L9 U5 C* a
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
) a# U6 t/ B& d8 ^' q5 K5 b" H r4 x! ion an equal playing field."0 b9 L- `& j) ?: ?
* w# E+ ]. ]2 B4 t) z* sSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese% u4 D3 B. {9 d/ B* w
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
) C: E% }$ k; F; m+ y [: d$ IService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
' b0 s" {1 i) iChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
: x, Q. s5 I8 V6 E9 w* [average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in2 g8 }) C2 F( J
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
' |! C* N" ]2 l X# [( I N M+ o9 cinstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
/ B- `5 A9 [# ygrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
$ n! D- r7 H8 m) G7 U9 r; Odeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
/ h7 `" L) k5 c) ^8 Rtold her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
3 A& ]2 u8 E3 `class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
- V6 ?/ U$ I6 {2 V7 e( pstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without! z _# V: |5 L* N" f. ?
occasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
% d' ^5 z) B" ^% wrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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9 _: w0 I* r' a0 ]( BRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he1 _! T- `: e# U2 {
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with7 Y# g: N/ k0 ^$ X3 q
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
! o! O o- q5 G* y) R7 b0 a8 Nsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn/ b" C N! u. A3 C
as many languages as I can."
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6 q5 f9 d5 _2 QAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the) J, @6 R9 v! c" M, ]$ S
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job; s5 N1 X' o6 i! K( v2 W
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like; v. T+ k( h6 E
that," Ms. Freire said.; D! W( l! _1 Q i* A, _
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
# y8 E4 ^' ~* l- P+ yhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
$ L g+ Q- {. r; p' fschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
: L" Y; _' d+ \7 f+ r4 qtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make7 G, I I1 A; Z+ ?
room.9 K' t9 m+ r9 O0 p! }6 w, f8 v# [
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
9 ]7 H, Q( u% A- |3 XChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American. g) f5 Y& _# s) D$ X
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.9 e' E7 E3 v& C6 f3 d I
: Z$ v( P7 L2 J" p* t"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
( O s) h7 e* | _, rbecause of that missing certification," he said.8 A3 k( o6 Y5 T# v, m6 L2 H
' u2 ~" [5 W$ zThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,+ {+ Z0 w4 a9 n r
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
, \6 u3 l6 U9 K- E8 N' }Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
% |7 K" E9 K2 U- K5 g: ]Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from0 J9 d( R1 f% e4 B' u! g
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: n/ D8 F2 F8 a8 F5 p* m
own."4 g; ~' j) {% W3 C$ _
) X1 W; z& n/ d- p6 ACopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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