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October 15, 2005# A/ x* I1 L' @- ` C
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity0 @" M- ]5 L8 I5 C- o
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING6 [, {( N$ N; e0 e3 o& K
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the( W% E0 c4 t+ w6 o4 X
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary; {) l" K' f% H; y/ g" A6 h
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas, K# g/ A8 F6 I& @6 ? B
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
Q5 l' o' c3 M+ K" Sflag hang from the wall.4 I; g+ o6 E* g; p) x! l( z1 `0 y
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
. d; U! A4 V# wanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders2 @6 i! J) H6 T( O& R% ]
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker8 E5 ^- S! g' P' a2 [1 }6 O
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students, y4 m) o# V# D S( z
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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' M) Z8 r, g" R"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
: L: N. o/ k# T; Gat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city& k5 L1 t1 `8 p
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."6 o3 W0 b3 t6 u2 ?
: ^; J, a8 F, b! sWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
$ g( l! n6 p* b/ }schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
3 N( M6 f0 H1 P1 [4 G* nto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention+ z8 s. q6 f' A# V3 h6 R6 q
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to/ ^2 h# h$ J) p+ W! S9 e. Q9 Q
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
3 U, ]2 }7 G( G0 xstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.- i9 T, |1 y- T$ B% O, l4 C$ F; L- t O
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of0 S) y9 R; w% D" a
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
( J3 ?, L! ]- c+ u4 R' F8 EChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to# |( _0 y% O- u0 ? ?, Z! _
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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3 s0 b! i; H2 L& s/ IAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement! v" A, |* B u
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country6 o+ l+ Z: P% c: p' C
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to) v/ F8 C' S' F d% ]) L
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing1 y2 i. X8 Z0 W, ^0 n s
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director8 F! F0 y- Q% R( O( [
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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4 f; d3 s# \, l3 c) D) M"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
9 g# t4 n& f& c" ^- q) G7 Ospeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education3 S6 {$ ^& \4 g3 z+ r
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
) \8 l# {( b3 {8 h1 vcan."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
4 t' x& M1 j: f# m" C9 _2 N3 A" pelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10; ~& N/ g# ?, z/ a3 {2 o
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language; {6 A' e0 |. j
Institute in Washington.
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$ {5 \; S& ^' t; x0 n0 h5 H5 t"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages. P/ @( [& V! E2 g& ~
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.$ x' ?! w7 Y- X4 R& E( D/ V; ]
McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
: n: X" \" F" }5 R7 T& N) \longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
) A& I0 c" D' |ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
0 i5 S; n( E( @& o2 H- bchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."3 A4 E7 {$ B2 O- \2 W) r
5 K0 J' ~6 A' m* h% V7 j0 n1 xUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and- S5 @* C* g% E8 R
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in7 W1 ^, o# r& K
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of; b/ c, n& s' ~3 f) D
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
& A3 }: }" x+ x+ won weekends.
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7 r: Y A) H% `. h4 l ?3 f6 FThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public: n$ F! M) F1 S5 c G; _ |
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves$ Y# W5 X& Y! Q+ P
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said; {6 B2 V! y# G3 I4 C
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
2 V1 I' w( [& c- S8 g2 hcompetition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
2 \+ C" o2 C9 L8 qsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly- ?' | C$ Y1 x/ M9 ^9 C
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse" R% w8 c+ X8 b; _ C9 S8 A, X; K
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from- r* r; u, O7 g7 F
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
8 i* M1 B+ Z) A9 J8 Iwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to- s& t5 T# d% r+ ^- h
the school system last year.
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' r& N$ z d2 pThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
. r. `' g8 }1 Q' U+ { }year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year./ r! a( e1 x8 @: p7 m
6 `4 f" e0 f. }2 B"They have a great international experience right in their own" p4 L5 B6 ^2 l4 p- w! d; n
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago m* D2 T& l% g% [ g7 e% ]
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
: ?$ K9 O1 C* ]! Z& w0 o; M8 Ihelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
1 |* G+ W: G& o# }2 Mon an equal playing field."
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. Q9 s' k+ t1 Q: ? XSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese4 O/ k! e3 s M1 f
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign7 O- u7 I' G# s; H/ \
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
. T2 O$ [% J! T3 SChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An K- ^. ]" I! h- i
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in! r. f6 r7 L# L' [
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
- T: E8 W% `/ L* W( u% n" t0 Winstitute says.# N, U0 _. q7 N/ I7 z
, @& c4 u% T$ aSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
$ Q+ W) ~: s( t% E% |7 tgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
) Z- @7 X, {1 P. ^9 ]deciding whether to take the class.
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4 D! d/ R4 J8 K"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she6 I( p5 [3 h# _# |
told her daughter.. Y( Z, \3 g# j+ G' |3 ~
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite% V( X' x0 [, p# a: q- R$ `- j) ]
class.
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; {( ]9 \) V) t1 }! S W+ X N. VAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
2 b7 J" o8 U( z8 Q" c) z% `; mstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without+ E( q/ E- \! ]& Q3 s. V8 j& }% U
occasional frustration.! n z+ C3 p8 Y a, t$ T
% X0 w% ~9 ]6 l7 f3 l9 l"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
0 p5 z* {! a- M6 L" @0 u! u4 }; |' o6 drecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
8 ~- O( @/ Q- O. qtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
: t \" O( C _, ~ U' D8 W2 cChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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1 h" H# T. F: q: k: A/ I"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul. C' l- y* P7 a
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
* r2 U; d% c' e5 U. \as many languages as I can."
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$ X' i$ ?1 j; k g8 G' ]Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the( ^) e. H* }& G+ @& {6 `. r
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
( [: \+ {+ L) f6 `; gmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
/ H0 |( C& ] F& w0 G8 P0 F2 O$ Sthat," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
! C1 Q4 C& z' b& bhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each( n# t; L" v2 @1 F2 r
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking4 D+ M, x- I- ~$ ^
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
! }, J3 T1 M7 W% y1 Y8 {Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
3 _' l0 K5 Q, q/ Ycollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.7 Q7 w5 O( ^' x% t# A- r
0 i+ J$ ~: z6 Q- D' M5 M"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified6 |% s( o, y( \% z* J! k x
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
7 z. N% [( U6 `( L# w/ a6 j4 g/ ysaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia1 u% |' w# R; c8 q& g0 }( x
Society in New York.
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& U' B; q& X+ _% JSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
/ H- N3 u `2 n% n! t5 N' uChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from! \( c$ J! A* v* n9 T
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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8 E4 D2 H; `$ @+ S4 i- |"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our/ z% } V! `6 l+ E1 Y' G$ N" ]" }
own."
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! I" j! Z+ D$ \- v+ wCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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