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October 15, 2005+ Z. V* g. a. n& V# ]+ j
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the$ v1 E9 a8 Y9 k
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
2 ?/ Z4 i5 [# S3 N+ l7 I D/ G4 O5 \6 bSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas R4 M7 b( r+ F* q6 i3 r
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese* N, s' P$ G; R* C1 f9 d
flag hang from the wall.; s1 g0 C3 \5 B' }0 R* U
/ R C% B, O# e! QOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one- ~2 `9 _( E& b$ T
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders4 m; S5 J8 k5 X+ m: P
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker2 {9 r/ {8 t/ O( ^5 d, o( G/ @
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students* F3 _+ ^+ v f- i( `, {4 \, a
are already choosing it over Spanish.! n& w5 x3 `% I! N5 ?. o, }
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
. U0 {' }6 f" Uat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
, q" J! K7 s3 q) N. R8 P& V$ E( l% X. }offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,: p1 e G2 [% W* a
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
( _& e/ D* Z |, O. }' Pto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
, H) E4 m9 I- i' R& vone of its most difficult to learn.
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. R/ F, V. R* }1 |0 O& N4 o* ALast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
4 @* d! g" [6 Jpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
) a- F! j2 {; E+ S; @- d5 F$ ?studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
: b1 j1 e5 h: I) w) y2 FLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
) d7 D' s) P+ KTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
) W0 V0 Z+ d0 u$ oChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to) Q. V5 m% k! |9 k* U* R
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.' n5 G! l0 ]1 C
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement1 z1 w5 m; i$ ^7 M* C0 [6 Y
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country. K! c- c$ z( ]8 k
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to+ r: R# j8 o2 Q1 g) g
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
2 X8 _6 V, n2 }0 m! ?$ W! N1 t8 dcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director) ]2 n; \, }/ H \
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of1 C; r1 E9 \! t0 Q+ { E
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
8 y% ?3 U5 T+ R4 [* V, Y# ?Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we2 ]9 q& T# v- N. {; o; m6 d
can." 5 C# j9 T5 w) v- M
" U+ m( b' |% h4 U+ y' I5 @The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from* Y, L/ V; b7 m' j
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10- \5 X2 y6 E+ k8 c; K8 q
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language4 C0 S" f% e9 Y" i4 r ^
Institute in Washington.
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9 H# |+ l4 y: t9 H Q8 u! d"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
: P# }- ^- P4 B5 `/ E, Haren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
2 c7 A5 y; L9 I4 `! jMcGinnis said.
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- _9 M; g, @* ?/ Q, f' K8 j"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
( Z* R3 l1 X! k6 V6 k4 D4 S0 {+ rlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be3 v! ]8 N# m# p. Y
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
& d3 Z8 {; l4 K ?% \3 R W1 Y2 pchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and7 j8 V- s6 v* c* [
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in. W4 H1 r4 `+ m! y
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
1 @4 J( [" t! \# D4 F/ A8 x9 h4 IChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or9 { C7 W) U8 M
on weekends.1 J* `2 t4 A1 T# q# ~5 @. g, J
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public u: U, g- f/ H' m, V5 b* X$ D
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves* Y. Y$ G- z( M- P$ X0 s2 _0 Y$ G1 p
students who are not of Chinese descent.& g! f/ O$ K$ I: r- P+ h6 s, j
4 |5 ]/ O+ N0 `6 F/ @Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
! o. b Y8 W, |0 wproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the9 v2 U9 G% {4 z; B
competition. % a& l& g) P. r: e; G k- X' G T/ Q
! r( X1 k/ z- S& s3 J) _"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
6 M& y$ l: B8 @) Hsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
* x# ?- c+ F6 y. O# g/ o' C f* wall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse# M5 k( M0 @2 V- ~- c8 Q+ B/ _
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
) ?3 o, l% r0 J+ O I) Hkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students# }4 C u' R: K, w
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to" ?& H! v4 q3 T6 H( o
the school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
|) U7 O* `' Fyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.! ~" T# D. D; Y5 a
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"They have a great international experience right in their own
- H3 ^: d Q2 b- C4 O0 B( m T t( Zclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
" O/ w( d- `* U( U0 S- d0 f/ U3 gChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
, `1 ?$ P: Q9 c8 }* `1 D- @7 {# i$ Bhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet* F2 H6 T ^* w# }0 L& |
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese9 s$ N3 K8 Y2 J. Q
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign5 A O. r, ~( R3 E i
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks" W" v6 w& h' T2 a- a
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An" ]# _8 @5 ~. \( o' B
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
/ D" Y% _& B6 B4 H5 h9 A1 V) tChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
1 S1 Q+ \. U( ~8 P+ v/ U4 qinstitute says.
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; `: G, P _) D" @/ n! ?$ `6 DSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
8 Q, w* f1 \0 r& ?7 n& q* y2 Egrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
! V+ b8 R" N2 x( rdeciding whether to take the class.9 ^6 Z/ X: a) C3 y+ D( N* f3 T
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she/ N% t; f( ? j- L- v* Z2 ^
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
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- \1 B1 w5 Q5 B2 D( l4 IAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are4 g4 `: Z& a( i' a, B) c( O
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without" b: D$ H b) u
occasional frustration.+ l8 l9 F6 }8 C4 Q7 x$ V! z
* F* H9 B# s- e- }& @" d p9 ?"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a3 `- {& E( W: N& _* f. o$ |
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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. a( |# F( a2 z! k4 l% u: a8 D: v8 \Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he, ]! w! S1 V; V! X; }6 t0 N- K4 Q
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with6 R( L/ B8 m+ Y+ ^9 F
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
! H+ `. y8 L7 t+ {. ~said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
5 n4 ?$ T% ]/ U, T3 Qas many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the4 n0 A5 m* [: A1 f! d8 h$ u+ ]
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job8 V j" m; }+ n/ D
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like7 W3 W3 u" e; b
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
8 }+ m2 t' N3 I2 O( \here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each& C, v7 y+ W2 k+ [/ q$ V; [2 @
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking+ p' s& v m3 z# w2 J0 g2 i; V
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
& P+ ]2 D" p# p+ M d* e+ z3 T' ~room.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer, l" f( J. I# w" ~0 d! j- V0 P
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
2 k' k& Y& n. U; ucollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.! |& R1 @9 ] ~. G" ?# i
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
5 o/ f+ J4 u \& u6 N* qbecause of that missing certification," he said.* h3 _7 ]3 _, A$ `2 o
/ K; O1 ?" F" o% k+ T6 `The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,. N- Y2 m" G' Q: c
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia* `6 x- m: q* A; G0 i9 S6 F$ a
Society in New York.
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9 }) U1 U9 Q2 t5 aSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the7 o! a& |9 |$ u% P( a
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
. [& V$ D4 X$ hthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.% p& W4 M* n, O& S
4 u/ e7 |' b+ D' h5 T1 h0 i) b0 B" }"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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