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October 15, 2005+ z% V: }7 k* P5 l
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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, M+ F( _8 l4 H4 w+ ~' B0 S8 iBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the! ?* G/ _* G; T
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
; J& C. {# a& x8 I! b. ~! [School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
3 P1 `$ A5 @. M; J4 {. jdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese! o9 @7 H2 N: }. y; @
flag hang from the wall.
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# B* W4 O- z7 H# W, J- ]" P, ROne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one2 N: @: e" x! o( h1 }5 b
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
0 d7 M3 a+ C; F' m5 Z) e2 |practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker" V j8 E5 d; L, g5 z. B
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
b0 F% W% F1 ~% c0 R. xare already choosing it over Spanish.$ C/ ^7 i7 l1 T4 t$ F/ |
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
! n: s0 S1 Y, t* ]& q3 Y6 `# Vat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city+ j' Y! Y# v. C# T3 A# L: R
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."* o6 @) S1 \% L6 W4 K; r# i: z2 u' k
" R0 z, Y. d" t# |& }With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
- v+ I" ?% j$ `) pschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings- U5 i. U/ l) @! `( y
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention+ d/ o* A& O0 w* R) }, D0 d4 G
one of its most difficult to learn.5 A8 S9 z6 ?8 `! v9 o
7 [ a- z4 A& ]' |3 Z( |Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
* ]4 D9 J& `) x/ I+ Vpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
4 d+ R7 Z: ]3 z" C6 ]6 l( H* Zstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I., L5 Y) ^, y, j: B1 \: l; l
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
E+ m- z: ^& a9 qTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
5 a( ?, q; M" R% q% `Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
3 l: {5 C- L. \9 L/ Vimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
8 F3 H" k$ P# v- vChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country- ]3 j) T7 u4 X
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to! l) g: |# k5 n* u0 [" i
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
' e: m" ?) y3 O5 I! {8 M* n, h0 vcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director. c0 }# b+ r8 d
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.1 m4 {* ]( {# u2 C% R5 J
9 y9 b8 _6 }/ B' ? G"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
# s# z8 n* v0 _speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
0 I: Y( e1 T" E9 A+ }& `2 hConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we, T1 v5 S, J7 b' [1 p: S
can."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from V |1 l$ C: `2 o6 x' N
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
; G3 t8 {" K v/ k1 |2 ryears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language3 N) x1 x2 ], x. C+ a6 l4 [- X1 q
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages$ v& B! S* |3 N4 t
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
4 z$ i) _' I5 {8 s6 B! p M7 Z8 DMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
$ V* J+ X! ^2 i4 P) N2 dlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be, i1 Z! t: c( Y5 j* ?
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a9 C& z2 a) Y& u4 ` J
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."9 l. j* N. {6 ?
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and5 f7 K. D/ v- D$ p1 O
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
4 ?- p+ M9 ~& f, {0 }cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of4 C4 l h y& Q8 E$ E) _" {9 D
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or2 _9 Q' ~* R T6 e3 U' z
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public# X( o6 ~ U$ q) ]* y
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves c7 `, y4 t' k- I* f$ S
students who are not of Chinese descent.6 i$ Y2 j5 j1 O. P' k* A
# k6 G4 ?! q$ h' HMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
" a* P4 N/ Q% N) F1 {proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the# B0 v( ]: Q0 s* h* I. l
competition. 3 o7 P1 C% k! d* f9 n8 i
7 P6 o7 i! w/ l* m$ J5 L"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley: I2 {% d' Y5 } F. T& O
said. "There will be Chinese and English."9 @( h/ Y) G. E1 V& d. z
5 X: a2 l4 f( E+ o% sFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly8 D, F- V, I+ n( M5 F! u. f% n
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse) W( E( Q8 n% c* Z
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
1 \/ _) Z. Q- V0 Y5 Xkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
# U& @" e( H5 {" Uwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to) `; ]9 {3 _) S& Z1 A4 K& ^
the school system last year.( e$ c6 i; Z: G* W8 }, T+ r/ X
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this6 w; l' }+ u' O# a; `: o. ?' P% y
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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W; _% a' ~* P( G5 G5 x"They have a great international experience right in their own, w+ z" Y; r: X5 c. x
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago* X+ u1 H8 j; A% L
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to: {6 b1 { ^& i2 s% \
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
8 x: z6 W; T- Y, Z# N' l ^3 Mon an equal playing field."& f' V5 B# h9 T5 j5 r J0 @
+ k7 g2 H' r: v, c2 LSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
D, K4 n2 _ B! }$ B- Rclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign; L6 t7 |6 U3 v; D- V7 Y
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks, E! {& Q9 S/ [' E9 {! R$ T+ S8 `
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An4 e5 E' ^0 W) f
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
& F" e7 R X+ ~* _+ U8 n: `7 AChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
8 ~% @9 J. S9 \) K3 }" L5 O8 ]institute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
" d3 m1 S( a5 }7 T' qgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
, _; E) w/ F& N. b. C6 Mdeciding whether to take the class.
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8 |9 C' F( x6 Q$ Q( l4 r+ z$ W"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she! O7 O8 z! h S6 f0 Z, Y
told her daughter.0 J) Q( o0 H) X( Y/ [) ^: K5 `7 o1 |
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
. ?% F! A T9 a) [- ^( jclass.
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$ ?, j" w5 \$ A0 b. \) s. \5 f% n$ ^At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
7 |' _8 o% I( R3 s/ t. ~studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
7 {2 I( @/ v. D. T e2 Noccasional frustration.$ ?) E6 R! ~( i1 _! u
3 V" h+ D) P# l: ^! Q3 u"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
# u+ y* W' C9 p6 i0 I7 Xrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class., s) k1 Z! x) h5 F8 F( _% _
) z/ y% \/ [( Z4 \Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he) o+ P' ^! x# i8 m
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
6 f0 v: E$ V; v; }, C5 E, tChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.( Y+ W- P: [- m# E/ r
3 s- p9 E, s1 q2 {"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul; v! }3 Z8 p5 J' B3 I, |/ ]" P j
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn1 x, ~" [ i% s" E
as many languages as I can."
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7 Y1 I( f1 ^- HAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the, ]( G2 v- @) V9 [8 P* y
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
: N! H N8 e; @market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like0 k5 E5 R: m6 N+ w# s( `) j
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
/ ^: R3 j4 J0 d9 E& B% L% phere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
$ L8 g( J1 o. |. vschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking+ T5 Z5 l$ C( r1 Z2 C1 n
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make- B8 X/ Q4 k4 U; i# |
room.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
7 {( _# W0 v! N o6 W$ EChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American( s' ?0 G1 m+ }7 W$ N
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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( t7 j' G" Y' I/ l"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified' r0 F/ O4 T* p/ X4 Z3 r% C
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
1 r- ]% `: V6 X' Q4 wsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
" Y l& Y% f8 O+ q% z( tSociety in New York.$ J+ z J# j# D! N d5 @
6 `( I4 u' `1 [, |- H$ wSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
$ x$ k, a' i9 V3 _Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from6 Z- \+ X/ ^! }6 q. D' ~
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our1 \ B! D: y/ u9 t3 ~
own."6 p. ^; u2 R, q- X) L
2 c" L! R/ Z$ {' X. e' l! RCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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