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October 15, 2005! m; ~, c7 ^* x1 @$ C! I
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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+ O3 }7 f3 c* dBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING3 i2 f8 @/ S1 m P) J
0 g1 o2 |% t; s3 H' UCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
5 M+ C5 r$ B R' Q* |3 P6 XUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary+ A+ e( Y, y0 w3 G
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
% F' v0 [& k- e& rdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
+ C+ e' s% {( A+ q% v5 k0 Vflag hang from the wall." q3 D6 A6 D3 L
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
) j) @, g1 V3 ~( D- O9 yanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
' K/ m3 N+ N6 J7 s4 opracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
& n4 n( c |9 p$ z' z6 rboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
, l0 S* g1 u1 _' w* C6 p# `" |are already choosing it over Spanish.# B( H$ [4 Y5 ^3 e
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
* b; D- m4 ?2 t( t, ?3 Rat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
$ y7 B' U4 c9 n- L' ~# Coffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
" t! u' Y" Y( V+ \! k+ Rschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
" U3 D3 {; r$ b8 b% Q, O1 bto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention. C# j& @2 z+ e
one of its most difficult to learn.1 y2 @& ^+ x7 n5 O; i
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
2 Z _4 L1 I1 C- U. H( _- apublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students0 _: G# J% X! L% L2 _
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.3 P9 h1 y% l1 P: _
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
# n9 B+ m$ h$ s- H; I' ~# XTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on# q3 W) ?/ R/ k* u, C
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to# l2 h8 f% B. j3 V$ t
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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' @ m% Z- v* x; ~3 z! CAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement# m- S# b$ F0 A
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
# n% k' x1 t6 G; i7 D; @2 q: Jstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
; c. U' t# O5 Odevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing0 j* ?2 B8 L4 H b8 G
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
: {* {3 B9 x6 b* J# e/ l" fof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.$ \7 w" z. i% E/ o" }! K; P4 ]
8 j& ?) `5 b/ V2 B6 x7 s"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
/ m$ T" H3 c* s( ^' v3 `( Tspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education% d) w% V' K+ I% q( F0 V
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
5 T& \! ^' e' f. c# d& L4 L D6 Ccan." ' n; h, N$ a6 k( t. {3 d6 g
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from- u1 |& `$ s! b) r
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
7 ~8 X1 V! z/ K1 m7 fyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
; r* s8 Y1 J; BInstitute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
- u, u' a# h8 M6 o, m5 n" M& Naren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
0 i0 g/ J, ~4 s" d5 N# lMcGinnis said.( X7 \2 E# _, y. N+ ]3 J
% E9 e0 H' D1 w, S" A. L/ r"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
3 _ G* _. E0 u: n7 I7 plongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be i7 s1 x: [+ H$ C9 L! R. ^
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
5 N7 y1 ?% s0 g; ]challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and/ z4 l6 w& G/ P8 i
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in. l; t% V9 z; b5 I
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
7 R8 K0 z8 F: O. y. KChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or) c# L2 `- @1 I, A, s; {* S
on weekends.: D& e. w3 b. N. D8 I8 U. [
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public3 X) K0 m2 {+ k
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves$ I; G" k+ N8 Z& N& o0 U9 p6 E
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said1 T9 p' X' \: d, W5 E( I/ Y6 ~
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the: I, N9 G* l1 j( y; q
competition. ! t. c( Y8 }5 A u% z1 H
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley: K4 U, E! M( ^
said. "There will be Chinese and English."4 P4 t# N/ d9 o: ]4 W+ A: ]7 Z
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
. L% ^# ^; T, i% Rall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse: K7 q! g3 V8 |: w: p# @2 Y
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
/ c+ b. h6 P4 o+ \kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students, q6 Y+ {( ]6 k8 @* t3 w& `0 B0 M
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
5 D9 X7 t4 y+ v+ z. V" L8 i7 u0 u& kthe school system last year.1 _# {. w, H4 t4 k: X( U, L
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this2 ?1 T: g5 c* e* m) r
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
: q& I8 n2 X# O. m% S; C- uclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago3 Q) p" }0 V( g% K% m9 }* W
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to, G, l+ K, v. q7 ^; U7 W& u
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
5 J. s& e; P! Y e3 qon an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese0 ?" o. M) f3 `5 q2 T" V. S
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign/ R) g0 ?4 {" T' {7 x: l
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
4 ^2 D+ ~6 T& }4 R# DChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An/ u8 {- ^8 ~7 e6 U5 I
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
. j( J" s* K, nChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the4 F" I4 }$ ^' K! O* `# B; Y
institute says.
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9 e' {' F' a% _( n% VSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth) [( j" c$ h/ n; Z5 u4 _1 I2 f
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before- S0 a+ x2 r8 k' ~, ?
deciding whether to take the class.2 d0 H+ A5 S8 ^! R
( N ?& _4 q* w( k$ r, ?"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she- F6 }! S5 Z0 z4 g- M+ i
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite r. a3 Z5 a$ _, a$ S
class.
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6 Q5 E8 M# G0 ]) m/ l6 fAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
0 G; g8 J2 `0 q- r6 ?3 Vstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without6 k' Y) P7 }5 I. c, J0 m" ?
occasional frustration.- d6 d& W: q/ g+ {1 o {
6 s( d7 ?' i. b4 D5 u# h; v"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a' W0 q2 c# ^, b6 w: L" C/ ^
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.2 B4 l0 Q) h1 s: f, `3 @7 N% r
" W& A6 G2 R n6 `0 K5 f |Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he, e- T& e4 b* D& k) q; N6 @, r
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with( s7 o9 Q0 k) ]! W9 {/ z8 v
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.4 q7 v5 @ V. I4 {8 `" b4 G5 U/ w
, W$ ?9 @4 m5 q, S"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul* b- y9 d( {6 D- v9 k" w
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn! f9 q# l/ _8 @0 g( @4 x% J' h
as many languages as I can."9 R0 W/ H- N# h( z( X8 Z" N
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
2 t, i o& ]) ]: [! p; R$ q1 c8 G, Nskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job2 o2 Q3 H; ?/ { @2 H9 I8 Q
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like1 Q7 y8 R) V( Z: y3 E5 t
that," Ms. Freire said.
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4 S8 F( r$ D( r' ^+ F* {) eMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
2 Q& w) z8 U* h' l6 h6 Where offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each; f" e; s6 K& o
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking/ L/ b" P1 |9 x( j8 p3 P! z
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
* I* s9 g$ @9 g' k# E+ |room.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer7 u8 E# Y+ H' b# c# p
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
) b( [. j+ U+ S6 H9 n' ^1 x9 V' ecollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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+ S8 _! s! C9 v( B' W# P"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified: c6 Z* j& f: j( ^
because of that missing certification," he said.3 \4 N& }$ H3 C4 ]" }
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
8 Y/ X ^4 ]% ?/ K9 Psaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia4 s9 Q& F4 V$ L2 k
Society in New York.7 W$ u0 b( f- c# ~
) Q1 D h# b* ESix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
) A& B9 E& a. d) oChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from. l- L" [" ^3 Y/ _# x% {
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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I1 L! l0 ]! P"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our6 {* j; c) x1 o
own."1 g9 o7 R8 z& b. W( g% n
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