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October 15, 2005
3 }/ T( F$ T3 V9 b& c: h3 vClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity: p& [$ ?: j8 }
( e4 D j8 R5 d+ @By GRETCHEN RUETHLING9 H0 W/ \; u/ t9 d X. S
) H3 ]/ y2 g+ X0 m( N7 ]) cCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the% d, e D2 i, m7 Q; C. i& r) K
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
6 E X0 w% _! _. O$ Z: GSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas1 R' C: S- P; j8 C' `1 H
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
0 _+ Z$ U% i0 j( o, X8 N' Jflag hang from the wall.
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6 b2 K& G1 e) m g7 Y; WOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one7 Y8 W* N) r7 i% h
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders1 \9 W4 Y; P" Q6 O
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker1 ?8 r0 v% h# z+ g* s
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students$ t2 r" X* e9 U: |+ ~1 S
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal J0 |! N( x f; C
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city6 z+ F- M# y$ N* k4 B7 i6 y
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in.", f8 i( y) b- Z0 Z) ?! w% Z. }
, s( Y% N1 P" p) NWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
0 M+ O* o6 c4 @" \% c- X9 ^# {schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings, V5 Y' D% k/ F& @# f
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
% c9 O5 i5 |- I9 @5 B3 rone of its most difficult to learn.
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. B& }/ Z1 n' z- wLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to C. d/ b8 B& T/ T1 i, E
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
1 B2 l0 Z7 i# _6 r! h, f$ Mstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
* X' w7 C! n8 @4 GLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
( @1 Z1 g4 ?9 f1 w' oTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on8 G8 L$ ]3 H; P
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to: q6 z7 b+ k6 N" Q
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.% |- S) S2 l/ l4 }) K- z$ M, F
1 E ~6 d, k4 `# lAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement" V0 s2 D) p" `+ j( U
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
5 Z/ G' ~- r" I' ~/ T& @) Kstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to5 ?% s4 p1 O4 e
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
* {3 Z2 m7 r0 @1 l$ L: lcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director% J$ a, T" R. ~/ @" ?9 `, A1 ]+ p6 b
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.% x) Q2 H n0 g. o) `
# w0 ^: w* H4 A& ?) }+ z4 i"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
2 e; c& w1 d) Jspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education+ U- M/ C6 @' Y& Y* w5 w
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
1 O5 r1 J& n& f, G6 }5 @can."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
! {, q7 |# Z7 g9 i, v9 B2 @' J/ X3 oelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
5 v8 J o7 O) N8 c9 x, |years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language) Q! ]3 E7 ]# k* M8 O5 Q/ }
Institute in Washington.* p' k. e2 O$ {0 Y3 y
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages5 q; W5 t5 V" i: v& K7 l3 S
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
+ y1 S4 s1 v% l/ [* x8 MMcGinnis said.
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: T0 T# |% ?, J3 s2 {" B* M! B$ I/ c: R"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical% G s2 U/ x7 C i1 O5 p3 i
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
* w7 C! R1 q" ]' R. Q5 gready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
. n9 W9 t9 s. `/ {2 @challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."8 {9 F$ d( H% C+ z/ u, S/ u
' ~, [ D1 D6 i. iUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and- h# H" j$ K0 w! w. M, o! [
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
5 R; O4 y; E, l3 l9 R/ ocities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of5 ?/ @* F) f2 [' }
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or, K! t+ m* ^/ ?. O9 S" s' [
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public) j3 ?1 {1 E/ L. |% e
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves' t! N% a' Q0 [1 d0 l
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
. B6 `3 T w6 [2 Y+ k3 lproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the+ ~0 F8 _+ e" g
competition. ; x* f# X, q5 F5 L. B. B( d" z$ \
, ]1 ]0 n1 z/ [( C; J( V) `9 d: K"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley0 P6 I [5 \, C6 b+ {6 ~' E
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly) w5 k: b. u8 g3 r# P5 r/ R
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
, r8 P8 I* l' s nschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from9 z+ q; h( G5 D# M4 `5 t- _/ {8 G
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
& z4 s) k+ v+ B4 q4 a/ |who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
0 d% t# X+ r& x8 P* s2 vthe school system last year.- B- I* Z2 D! l, B. @7 ]
: ~$ K k w: B c5 b+ tThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
. B1 t; s& ?5 dyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.7 W6 K5 ?: ~+ b% b, _
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"They have a great international experience right in their own. r1 `6 G o& P3 o
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago# ]9 A; v, G4 B5 Z
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to2 d1 E _' g6 _8 i3 Y3 ?7 q
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet0 T9 R$ D& |* K: m2 Y
on an equal playing field."+ L0 ?2 X4 q' I' {. N/ ^6 @; A$ A
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
( X+ \- @- P7 s6 ^1 Y# tclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
5 [$ l0 M, l! BService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
6 A, J( N, t8 S$ K5 oChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
, G x. w* ?! N" u, iaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
# U0 }4 C+ `8 y+ \# k. zChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the2 q* j/ Z3 `. l2 g
institute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth- x6 O. |5 Y" `$ P) o+ [
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
" g- V% f$ D1 _7 Q7 Q. v; Xdeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she; n {# I3 s$ g
told her daughter.+ `% N4 E& y& r+ |, \
3 J! D% V. I5 rSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
9 V1 S/ `* P, P5 G/ T6 Jclass.; Q/ `$ S7 n# e) o$ g4 i
$ S1 Z+ W' Y% u# T5 Q' D cAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are: `! P1 j5 h! _
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without/ ?# ^) E L- \
occasional frustration.
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4 u. o- T5 h5 @9 R1 M/ S3 ]& M# i"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a) [9 f3 k# j& z0 ]" F/ c% K
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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& L) V. |% x" y6 W6 lRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
; N7 N- @/ W: Btaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
6 d* z: Q; z2 I" l. H& SChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.$ U" m0 ~' n0 w, S. \* O! V2 f
- g) T- Z2 S/ H"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul! ^+ \3 `! T9 A) P; ^6 `
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
. o( w( q! y) {+ D5 Q% I* A0 ias many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the) i Q$ i8 ?1 Z5 n
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job2 @) G& I6 ~4 o( F, J
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like' T. A3 \+ |7 z0 E" {8 ]! I3 u, B
that," Ms. Freire said.% b- Z, N* n1 x1 Z, m; ~
! {" @8 [. P9 E3 D- _' ^, r X' R) cMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program7 n8 Y" k K2 K& M# v( l2 w
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
. `2 T4 D: ?8 @$ G( k8 B; J; ?school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking3 H: V; ?4 p. G$ t2 W& _" ~' T: A
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
" g/ M0 z& g, w) u) nroom.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
' A4 y( @3 ~# @* UChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
+ X' ~9 x0 Q# g& y. Scollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.2 q! W$ O! a5 C# J1 g5 ~
) l- Y4 s |' y"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified8 Y# H8 O% v5 K
because of that missing certification," he said.* a: }7 p- Q4 M W, u6 J! e7 M: G8 D6 I
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,1 X+ y" J% @7 c% x
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
, e) ]; Q, u2 Z% d. D6 r- FSociety in New York.
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2 b% P m* _/ L0 r- a8 hSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the) e# d3 i# g+ M( S2 Q
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from" b: H+ P0 u2 y
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.& J, {/ D+ {- V+ I5 o u W
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
, i* T5 K" @1 t% L) Cown."
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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