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October 15, 2005# G' v+ R, ]5 e9 Z
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity k1 ^: G) N1 l, h) U
1 H1 I# I/ }5 Y) ~* FBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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) t. ]) x. \8 f' O" J* U+ z, j1 `3 nCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
0 N/ V6 F/ d5 ZUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
: o' l# d6 D+ H! nSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas- W1 l3 f& Y1 K u% X. x5 Y# j
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
3 x+ U& l ~. A# s0 Tflag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one" b1 S% x# N2 U% P
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders% S" w+ C: f6 ?) A
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
. |. b% U/ g( C$ W) a8 ~boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
5 T& V* c$ f5 K0 V7 |$ Gare already choosing it over Spanish.
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4 g2 M8 T" p. t( h"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
# ]. k: q: b3 Wat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
/ f. g& ~" K+ b0 Hoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."8 j& u4 V' k' x6 F" G* L* I" l
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
* K6 X9 B8 Q g# hschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
1 Q' Y. V- q9 q) [9 Hto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention% g8 J6 N5 m5 { F: A
one of its most difficult to learn.. m: h2 X# K' H
( `# `0 X" K9 r' i6 g7 I7 FLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to0 v( d3 H! K; I, A
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students( L" A, A. f- y* \$ ?0 w. i
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
5 K# y% o% ~* d' x1 D( W KLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
" W8 w( Y) d/ z* j5 [Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
& s1 V; \0 V) j2 u" K" fChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
* F' ~4 X& ~) p8 D% {& timprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement1 E! }7 l7 f ^/ U% n' `$ |+ m4 U @
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
! P0 H: h$ S# Z, d2 U& Astarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
1 G& N4 f( ^ c& W/ j: }2 Q! x7 Wdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
# [8 k; U) I3 wcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
/ u* D9 T6 |/ w+ }* m; O: {2 tof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
4 |4 d1 K4 W% |0 \- n6 C, ospeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education& ~! v+ ?8 F4 K
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
- [$ X( a. j. g+ f, jcan." : A7 q* ~0 V' @4 @3 L7 `" ?
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from6 K- ^+ ]: M7 z' Y& q
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
- D# `, \4 {& A i `years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
+ N3 w" z& I: ` ^Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages$ Q. w" o% P$ C7 N& Y4 s0 a/ Y. v
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
4 s3 i& V c$ Y" T" {" m) y. `McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
' U( t: `7 E) j7 Y2 N$ Olongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be0 Z/ I7 J2 _2 o( [ `, L
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a& C% \; V9 E! f5 y
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# L- S' \2 {6 _7 K9 y
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
1 A! c) c0 ?2 |( X6 \cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
# c B; m+ ~9 {Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
4 W4 W9 ^! G: q9 Hon weekends.
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6 `$ P6 F: {- Y+ `: |1 tThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public9 o* [7 {# z Z1 q
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves& Z+ _" c5 ~! N9 _0 x
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
/ R$ L: |4 q$ n* t2 l) Z6 x4 xproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
/ {& d4 T3 O# e* ^7 ~competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
3 i' D/ H( E- k$ x) X3 i9 Z6 @& Ssaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
* z- P4 Y, a( `$ K5 a8 E- Vall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
5 y1 N1 ]- w9 ~) p7 u) u3 n5 Eschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
& ~) j( r- r9 W5 {kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
: m. J2 w& U9 gwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
: N) C( G+ ~" T7 U* X! ithe school system last year.3 L( _3 Z1 \1 q1 k2 x
/ [& E. t) L( X2 r' G# TThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
+ R1 S. N+ [- J3 Iyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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"They have a great international experience right in their own( ^: q2 ~9 Z$ f" o2 Z" {, h
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
( _3 N; }) a r3 h1 b3 K5 aChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
# Q1 Q: G4 o6 R* f" h0 ^help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
7 E. o5 Y- G# k. T0 [( U9 s" [6 \on an equal playing field."% D7 W; N0 S/ {0 o. z
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese" r6 j5 g+ u2 r% T9 n+ Q
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
, z' B5 g x* |4 ~Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
- F" [3 y1 o& y. l7 `Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
9 `) Y$ P1 q/ r M# B$ B3 qaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in8 u2 u& o- t! N! @ X
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the4 s4 K; f6 j# m# C4 y
institute says.
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5 ~ m- a! ~' p+ ESevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth% n [- C9 x7 n
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before; s& H8 U7 d* v8 k2 t3 M/ g
deciding whether to take the class.
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# l9 B. Q4 X% Q"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
6 j$ u" B. a" q* m: B8 o K5 Etold her daughter.7 i+ m" h: R, `& {* K U u
; h% g$ b9 F5 gSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite+ U3 b& G! ?7 ]* U2 i% ^
class.- v+ x$ c w% V3 v7 H
" j2 \0 M3 q4 `At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
) i l) n6 g) Y1 A' ], v' Cstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
/ A' j/ k" T% A( s* w! Goccasional frustration.0 f- w6 d0 R8 k7 C8 D
% j6 k! G3 }7 Y% l/ ?"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
9 y1 s, A: _" D' hrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
" ?# F4 }# ]# J0 ?1 O" S; Rtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
- t2 y+ \# `: n' ^Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.. j9 N' `; ^# [ y3 g# D, r, J
4 U# E! q, H- V- e3 _# y"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul- {! E" k. M% E; D# A+ O) p X9 g$ V( w
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn& O% f2 O B5 ]4 B+ ~* J! U- m
as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
/ D" o7 {2 g1 K9 q: Q/ Vskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
' D& K# M% H/ e3 w- }; kmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like+ ]: J& k8 m+ N, R
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program# S# e. L# \* W, \
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
0 C8 ~ P! H K" Pschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
2 r s& ~9 O h% t: ftime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
' ?2 E* z$ \1 N2 x# jroom.. G9 t, ?* w+ e; u7 o [( h
. n* ~) k- N# x% ~* OChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer6 U4 }0 ?# d$ B2 f; i
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American$ \% D, J/ k1 v U5 S
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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2 U6 A+ {7 o% E- E9 n% q9 v& J"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
6 R3 G* p8 \, M1 y3 Rbecause of that missing certification," he said.2 G8 t& ~2 Z( h/ S
" b3 F5 l7 f9 aThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,7 j/ Y* d8 L, O% ], Q
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia; F$ i' r6 z3 u! W0 e$ A3 S
Society in New York.3 s$ N- `- V$ ^/ @4 i! @4 h( |9 S# I
( W$ w" {) P: `0 xSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
; `4 ]) Y! ^5 Q" o" V/ _Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from2 J' w( Q8 c3 I1 P
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our% L6 U4 f6 V2 @: [; S+ {* o
own."
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2 N3 `0 L! c- Z# W: T9 u3 KCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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