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October 15, 2005; c/ u7 e4 c- s$ Z6 |/ c7 u$ Z$ M
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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' n( @( k; A ^1 [+ E" I6 ABy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
4 Y. e* B, @* x% h- {2 F
/ R* P% [: N, ~% h _CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the+ H" L3 I: Z- Z i1 U8 S
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary; a D# j; P* E& F; h5 Z+ U
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas4 s5 q2 y& ?4 a
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
& l+ d5 \ C& \% @ _0 jflag hang from the wall.
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]. B9 t9 `. ?# C& HOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
% z% d% ~8 @1 X6 Ranother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
$ E: V8 X) J5 i8 Gpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker9 R7 o1 c+ M" I6 Y
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students% G# p( s; |0 u. I! k# x
are already choosing it over Spanish.: `( h' v& F: p$ V
8 G/ i! V7 m! f- I: t9 M1 f"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
% v# q. L1 c9 K5 J% r5 tat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city/ o) C$ f) s( ?& N5 O7 I2 x: d1 v M
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."# d+ r. `$ [' t1 g4 \1 u
. a, C* o2 C, {9 P& a9 KWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
" P: [- `# h/ [' s" u: A' zschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings1 K X; B/ |/ O, v Y
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
6 h- U, j, M$ Q/ r8 f$ |1 w% O X6 Fone of its most difficult to learn.
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& w$ m! b" O* R4 v. ALast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to& U( |1 f8 ~, w" R" V; ~. A! |
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
A$ Y w5 E) v p7 hstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
6 T$ B9 F4 b5 R7 U( FLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of5 L: x1 O/ q! y" k/ [8 |/ Q$ D
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
+ k, {: Y( ^% eChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to" j& T/ @% k; Y% B/ q; \/ D" d
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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; C7 }7 W* Y& b, y" o2 Q' }+ S$ x) QAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement" M: o, B) \- A6 N1 ^
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
8 d, a1 N" I$ \0 j' Cstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to; q( x2 C: d9 S4 U1 p! P
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing" Q/ j" M3 s q9 Z4 Y
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
( i) V7 V ]1 N0 j6 Vof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.2 P( ~( m( C2 b& x
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of8 s) Q- b. t, h" t; B( {* ~$ H1 B
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
; i' }% l m+ ^/ @/ g, bConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
6 X# y" ] Y0 P+ \. ^9 ?/ zcan."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from. x/ a1 U) P' ?, I, `4 N0 h e
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
; ~$ `! Z7 t5 A' @ ]years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language8 P% q$ w. `+ G9 L& b
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages6 _6 `( ? @, ?: x+ P" g
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
+ \( S5 r3 a; u( x0 yMcGinnis said.8 K' I) W$ K$ L& n% T E, S+ H
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical/ _6 K- I' @4 d0 F
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be1 Z" v7 t2 V; @, B. ]. j
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
6 z8 _# d, {$ ? Z' {* B; U" Mchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."2 A: P" V" f7 K& n
: H/ I7 G4 W9 Z! l3 _Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and) C/ y9 g, I0 Z# P0 r
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
9 e7 D( O' y. j4 Y$ @$ ~; ^; m7 Lcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
- }- A& v9 N/ d. B" |$ h# I3 TChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
6 q! k, M" S9 H# Son weekends.' b# `; [5 q( z
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public$ o b; `# ^+ |- \$ o
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves4 h6 B N, x, S, j! @0 y
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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. b- h1 [2 U# a1 f# F+ Q# h0 FMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said( J: O$ z, p6 j2 W+ V8 k
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
/ e+ \4 p }9 @+ ^ d5 Z8 _competition. % L4 L+ U. J' m! \: M
0 o; ~5 G y% A"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley; J- J ~% A$ Z; H
said. "There will be Chinese and English."$ ^) ~) L0 P% d) K# h$ `
) M& c3 u( _; l3 dFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly8 `9 t7 E4 O! D- `* j( r
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
9 K0 a& \, G" n# a: u6 cschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from( [! i$ p4 [1 M& ~, {- K& [+ u
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students* M4 j' \- O- E
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to' Z( L6 O+ A. t9 b4 b
the school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this" i0 a, R6 P/ r1 n6 b; Y
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.. z$ N! t1 W# I' @5 x* i4 _
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"They have a great international experience right in their own/ l4 g; C. k/ Y5 y
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
: v7 ^# a4 R, G5 {! ]Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to% o% x; l# U/ O( I+ g
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet/ d$ ^+ U7 u7 k) q* }* U' X
on an equal playing field."; a, P# f) g, ~8 L, H) B
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
( n3 _8 ^3 P6 x% q Xclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign) w1 t: s: t. _# Y! `
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
& k; s* O. B" aChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An" @$ X2 Y) s6 l# o% d- I$ N
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in1 W% M; {& R9 u5 l
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the" R* o* M4 r z6 e; C0 L4 V! E
institute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth$ t. Q7 [# M1 }1 ~5 ~
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before4 I0 H2 V' U9 r2 s
deciding whether to take the class.. V6 F8 u" h. z W" U6 a
4 h! @$ ^+ B; ^ S6 [; ?"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
; a. \# p2 e3 p: qtold her daughter.% M; ~0 Y" t- E3 x7 a, f; P
2 x0 K. Y* Y- ]4 c( F C( q1 cSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite' M7 ~/ N+ ]* l0 J
class.
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/ j2 k) s" @% n' gAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are- h3 l' q/ Z8 p$ [0 a, ^
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without9 W3 a( u' e' [
occasional frustration.
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- g* Z/ r% K& k5 D" m"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a( F; Z5 w8 c! m3 L% F$ b; Q
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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) s3 E1 } y0 r6 Y$ l. Q* MRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
# {! [: E6 F, D7 E; htaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with9 A% o% K: K5 ?' F% b4 {% Z/ O
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul6 U2 e+ C/ i1 H
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn; k$ J+ O- h7 y f" n
as many languages as I can."6 Q7 Y" b) { u9 H. |$ A. p
3 C/ S0 n$ `6 l3 IAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the3 m" F w. e. Y/ E* Y& Z# V
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
0 D) ]+ E* y& |, I+ S# ymarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like* b/ k( G* w( r8 ]2 u' i8 h c
that," Ms. Freire said.5 p5 Z0 O! `! `2 J" o7 v
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program, J" L' T3 n8 m, s2 {3 b# v' S
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
- t$ g" i2 g7 w* `school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
( h3 L& _1 g$ d# M' etime from classes like physical education, music and art to make' H* l6 @9 H9 v& G) [
room.- u% G4 ^) D0 v6 W2 s, o
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer, T' E+ ]. ]1 w- q0 I0 H( s8 F
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American( p3 S8 `. `' C# K% B R2 g8 T
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.2 j$ ~: @$ @0 Y0 [
& \) m2 p5 Y+ `( `"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
$ w0 d$ c$ e1 q' m& f5 v) a6 Tbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,% m$ o. o7 \% n1 O" b
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
4 k' U6 i" [' `4 Q; ?Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the# E7 H- |/ W9 U( W
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
: Z# J9 t) {6 u) t. rthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our6 c C/ j# w1 G8 V3 o
own."
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/ w; s, x; m+ fCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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