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October 15, 2005 h( }, X" {0 ~! y+ j: n
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity& F1 b6 L! u% {6 h7 J$ c
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
) x4 }) S' w& {7 I( u- f& [: sUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
7 x! g' C( T2 g1 MSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
$ V7 I7 H7 O# Z4 X' b' Ndangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese0 ^7 Z$ }# X' ~0 H. S
flag hang from the wall." N$ R4 \9 C) q, `5 C- X) H
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
9 e* N, S$ k5 j8 `4 |another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders, ?% m+ q1 X, T' |# M+ a! G
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
1 Z& }- g- K5 { [7 x: Kboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students; E7 @- G* ~, A0 J" V! I
are already choosing it over Spanish.1 Z7 m6 c' M0 P+ m
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal' Y2 m/ L, C9 w- e1 H
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
' m" ^2 y7 h: ~8 moffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,5 M( m1 J+ B6 F& i
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings6 F9 g T3 A- u& C) \
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
. N( W l6 R- ~0 n3 z" z$ lone of its most difficult to learn.
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7 |! z9 D, A+ P* F& HLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to2 Y% p1 t+ v+ U8 ~4 l
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
1 ^9 }4 ?& [' estudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.% M' W$ O: b' R0 F0 B$ j
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of. q4 u Z+ g/ Y$ b
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on5 ` G9 C/ c+ q$ d3 U# _, w
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
P4 s! _1 X$ V, c' limprove 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( {( ]. R. `/ `+ {Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country! S% `7 F ]+ B2 D) V3 A' Z0 I
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to' a7 V+ w* X4 i/ v3 h) R
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing8 h3 E2 @2 a/ S, W+ k
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
6 M* L# {/ z9 z( S8 C0 _) i/ @of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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0 o9 U# t# R; G- u: P"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of; \% Z, a* [9 u. C2 ~1 C8 k N
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
2 ~1 J5 _- C' p. j8 KConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
9 L% g, {3 n: F$ @1 j# Ocan." - v, G, Z3 }' b
7 T6 V0 }) y3 y6 L. ^: \7 wThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
9 e9 i/ n. s& H" ]4 |! ]; C, R3 qelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10% i! ~4 W2 Q" }. @$ \ |$ t
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
; c' g6 D, ^! o; C0 M. Q& \Institute in Washington.
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3 t0 P9 S; I1 @ f, F"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
L' o( X, u! U( `. raren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
5 q. j9 Y. p6 _8 H0 }" KMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
3 g# f; M$ l% wlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
! l/ i5 e1 H0 w6 A& P9 n0 l8 ^ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a8 n! D5 `$ H& R* ^: `
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."; `8 w. l2 N$ ~, u9 t
( b2 S7 t% r9 B2 G9 t6 @Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
- \! i( ]2 X8 [2 Gsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in1 X+ U) h; U3 S6 v
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of K& A' k7 x& J; k
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
; d+ Z+ W+ z/ h5 ?# Uon weekends.( p- ]$ G% U/ H7 |
0 n# g3 Y3 l+ ?1 |$ xThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public( K! s" ^4 C! b6 O- K
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves4 j8 ]* F: [+ u
students who are not of Chinese descent.) E; \6 x8 w# n. f: H! ]2 Q( m* e
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
3 t* Y- \1 n/ X) pproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
4 v% n& c/ `( X# acompetition. % a+ j* M% d6 y& ?( {8 W/ ]
- O f% T% f7 A8 x; h5 t9 f"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
; `3 o$ f1 b9 u" C" k( Msaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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$ }4 X. k8 d9 j a+ [; z* |From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
$ A, O/ e6 ^& I) n2 \( rall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
9 j& V3 X d sschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from1 l+ {0 H# p! z8 ]3 |4 F# \
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students" i7 m1 t( U0 q' B( {9 `2 ]
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to+ e# k; h& [* X8 A; f- {3 N1 T
the school system last year.% c% o9 I7 D7 N( w
/ b5 n( U& s7 m7 f! K/ sThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
$ ~' o! m; o* p, ryear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.; j/ X+ ]: a* Q: J4 J
, u* X$ g4 \, P' ~"They have a great international experience right in their own
: R8 R z5 I- l8 y c" ^classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago, W8 M. ~' P$ g7 X7 D
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
& ^ g7 [# b8 P; h' C% \% Y; _help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet. j- h& F g3 r0 P
on an equal playing field."/ X2 k% W1 J, N" K
4 s7 m+ Q8 v8 B$ g, P5 QSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese5 Z5 M+ g9 g/ ?5 t) M
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign K: M7 `* ]. w" H0 H0 r; t
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
# n. w# z) _- C' IChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
$ }1 h" T2 z; M. L) daverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in! c, v9 R1 \( w# F
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the5 r. }5 P! X* ]- z% b
institute says.+ C9 _1 R( s, w
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
& S( f. l# P$ \+ Q$ ?2 T; ograder at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before$ L9 W) l$ r1 d: N9 `: V
deciding whether to take the class.
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+ j6 R9 h3 A) c5 h) R& w"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
, J3 d" D) C2 U: r; ]" R1 dtold her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
0 K8 C( M) d; yclass.3 h0 ?: N9 f' n! ^" C! t
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
) t# M: j4 U6 t2 j' Xstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
% h5 K( v: C2 [. \0 }( r) V" loccasional frustration.# C6 O/ l5 |3 t) c" C5 \
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a; |, Q( @, e' }( N& }; R
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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% J2 g2 v6 n2 V& KRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
# B1 ^/ y- i R) h4 J: z% Gtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
7 q( m) M6 z3 XChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.3 b/ D1 y! V9 s% u6 R& ]5 j
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul& s# q+ R$ _/ z h
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
, R' U6 I$ z2 {8 g ]as many languages as I can." e( `# e( l y$ T6 d
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
2 ? a+ g# u2 oskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
* \# _# E9 i' o) pmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like: }+ W* r* G3 N+ E: q# r4 @& E. Q
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
, y2 f1 {* w) ]: n8 D, R. mhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
) p8 V# q7 m, D- [" O. ~school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking: _# S: f, f q' u9 ]
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make1 l: I; Y, l! u5 F, r" E5 f
room.3 e, N, j7 e( @& Y3 i8 U
, k. j& R9 a% `( tChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
7 l O/ Z9 v0 BChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American. B( l8 U) O5 `
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.) b c2 z: a! |8 d. _
+ e4 a( U' q; p"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified$ o4 W2 l H. L( s4 y+ W
because of that missing certification," he said.! s4 v2 F" I/ R" M1 v
L# Y: L+ p8 w `6 U* k* w9 E7 p0 Y1 HThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
3 Y/ H; ]8 ^6 Y# h2 ~said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
( h/ w+ t( M( I, \: hSociety in New York.: e( \9 s6 ~1 i5 D6 j
5 Q- s0 l: X- |% D' q+ O6 QSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
8 s, }/ m. ?( \# u3 S9 CChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
' b3 `" f! S' sthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.. @7 ^# c8 ~) X2 M% \
0 |" B1 [3 s$ i1 O3 @ I"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
2 }2 }8 v" X0 g0 u7 c" J/ ~own."
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5 Z8 w8 Z9 \( x* u3 Z k6 x# I7 gCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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