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October 15, 2005
( Z5 E5 R7 E/ N- i5 LClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING9 r L5 `$ n/ _1 S+ s, w% {
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the6 ~9 \, b. }4 X
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary% X( K! ]( d+ }$ B8 e! I
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas1 [8 P4 F& e' c4 H2 ?% o* V
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
8 d" @. w( f4 |* Z- `+ Dflag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one; M1 L. F7 {5 N" q# J' M
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
% ]' p- n1 t* D# M' zpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
# k% ?( z0 L- G0 u9 ^% Vboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
0 I6 H' f/ H) q/ B2 D2 L* Oare already choosing it over Spanish.
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# P# k/ n! Y2 A* N"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal0 u% i/ A% h# F
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city5 b! s2 |' q1 I/ C" J% t3 J
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,- I% _9 a y0 g0 C+ I
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
) |/ r: Q/ }( f: t% k9 M3 pto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention/ g4 M6 ^& c! r- e
one of its most difficult to learn.
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; @6 C% S" n5 r, u% ^( dLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
9 m/ C) \6 N6 F1 j# j* Ypublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
& H# q0 l( R" g/ ]# W: ?- k% Qstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
, [; ]1 e2 C& n$ G) a+ d- x' tLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of) E; Z. T3 @& i7 U+ M
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
' s& A8 U/ u9 nChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
3 Z. f# G9 |4 }3 i9 dimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.& W/ i4 m$ D$ c5 Q
- b! C, b) \, |( n- G% lAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
~2 v: b2 q/ T ^3 lChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
. k9 q8 v; ]6 t5 T# qstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
5 v: f$ b* ~* T# ?1 @& m6 odevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing" d9 R4 q# ]- U# U
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director9 q* n8 `1 E) u/ k# J7 u4 S% P" d- B/ s
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of" j6 M; K% X& C+ w$ v7 Z
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
6 E4 e: T9 j" U+ iConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we. X( k7 L7 V; y6 p+ E4 c5 t
can." ( k |- c4 p6 X3 Y0 ]
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from& c) @( U7 {, J( H3 ^; {: A! G
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10* T. \" q) G% l/ D6 c3 R7 S
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language8 m6 Y( W5 L1 W
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
' Y" Q. P; T$ A8 G- d. Oaren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.* w: D% T$ d, X8 } g
McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
0 @6 h& A( R5 ?9 B1 L% W# S; n; W6 Klongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
) }- R8 z% w- h% D4 O( k! [; gready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a1 V t6 t/ b3 K
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
! Z; D/ }( B6 y$ Z% t" f. [; _secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in$ i% S4 ]. _/ P6 F& H# }- Z
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
2 W# X! N! Z% rChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or% _8 i$ s+ `) b6 N6 T/ v% }
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
0 e5 F- U. b3 i* Tschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
; {% D& {3 _7 {$ ]0 E6 z5 g0 sstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said$ m5 {! V }9 m# |
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
9 G% K# S/ ]' H3 m& ^competition. $ y- i- f2 ]& E3 A6 L
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
' W" M7 V2 f7 E5 Y" ^1 O$ a vsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly3 O0 n0 D6 E8 |
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
+ T' J) n: ?# dschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from- B' ]& @% l* k9 m
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students+ W0 a8 h) L/ A, d# Z- E
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to9 @/ t: [' @/ O( m8 }7 ?
the school system last year./ d7 k+ A7 L* z1 K
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this% j% r/ z2 i% @( D. w
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year., W' L% w+ u) p. W
$ a: n0 H1 A) R) h& n"They have a great international experience right in their own
: i& p! W+ o1 @. V [" n6 U# N# A$ rclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago4 b$ n g$ E# K4 _, h
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
; b5 T8 }! J5 o, q k7 ] S/ h! `help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet6 y/ Q) O* n: ~. A" ^4 }
on an equal playing field."
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5 `0 R0 @5 [) s5 t, bSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese t5 g0 y& ^7 P' }5 `
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
x4 h0 D: r; \" z# MService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
{$ |" \# r5 ^7 ~+ n% g/ TChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
2 z0 d* I& Q, |: Y) S) Taverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in# g( p: h/ x' |0 e* k# U. s% M
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
3 M) K$ Y" e2 }! ]institute says.3 n- N q$ u5 x/ g: S8 R% {( E
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth/ ^, s5 @ X, |8 \8 W G
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
7 Z/ ]5 b* z- `9 {: mdeciding whether to take the class.
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% I( e/ ^' C Y3 X/ I0 U4 q& m"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she& Z/ J1 m& C( R! e
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
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, |' u0 z5 V0 w3 e0 T% kAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
' M4 P }" A0 X; Wstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
2 t& a5 u8 P; x2 m9 Q# I" Y9 P: woccasional frustration.4 I- F& G6 P) u2 W3 H
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
3 e- b: e# x6 t* Grecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.1 Q! F6 g1 L. D2 f0 x6 O7 B. Y
+ `0 ^" w: W1 ~+ F) Z" C. TRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
$ w/ J `6 U. Z) T# S& v8 ?taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
% a0 D& `. ~5 s1 z d% @Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.$ R9 H. h; w: _7 u1 }2 M
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
& H1 l4 U: t8 Ssaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
4 [, `; d! h: ], D# V. `as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
8 @7 T7 E0 Y( {7 j5 B+ O5 X1 }3 F! Yskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job$ g% h. ?& r8 ^4 f% v( {
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
0 | B$ f6 s5 k7 |& y, k5 _5 Dthat," Ms. Freire said.7 {, j+ Q- x7 N/ Y4 q/ m0 @
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
C J! r7 w& T% x8 J* Fhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
) K+ L! i! w. r7 d1 a4 Kschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking- c3 m2 X K% e* q j9 P
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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0 Z5 t1 W; ?+ f0 L6 l1 [; tChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
4 L" T p' {# w8 ~Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
0 K9 U$ U8 x" K) U6 Rcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
% I9 x6 R; G2 N xbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
+ W; ?! h M6 T$ e* Ssaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia$ T. E3 _! ?$ F4 G9 L' |; {
Society in New York.: {% H! P# b4 p& W" M2 N
7 `0 k q5 f' Y% L! FSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the' E7 D7 m% H6 h" R7 O1 H/ [
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
: ~- B6 a8 r' U6 ~$ s1 bthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said./ [7 q) C) S, s( t+ D% k6 C
. [" w1 @/ |7 i$ ?: t; i"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our$ E4 x" n4 H9 C- k
own."
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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