 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
October 15, 2005
9 D* W: q2 Z! v& p# h; N( c& xClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity4 \5 D$ V' [, }
) n. l8 ^ V% f0 i$ kBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
5 |! y, q7 S. Y; ~ g6 {5 x. f! M# V: P6 z) ^- { `& y( l# B. Z8 u
CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
' E! k. |/ U5 O4 ?" E) UUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
" ~5 R: ~* y& E* N3 GSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas8 U8 U2 f7 A- f5 }5 W
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
. c/ t+ S9 J7 l* o/ ]flag hang from the wall.* ^% _3 l, a! o0 v9 X
9 x7 p1 M& U; M% d" b
One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one' ?1 w/ x5 O3 N P) e7 O: H
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders- Q. y/ \3 g; c$ U# s- V: [, g8 Y
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker$ _! o$ p% c$ F% S9 W
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
8 S- a, p/ g" J# i$ R( Mare already choosing it over Spanish.
" C+ L' i0 I. I# n& b9 Q1 V1 n T4 t2 j& |
"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
/ Q4 D& W+ i7 X: p1 l% I5 V7 _9 iat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city: e1 K0 K- ?$ o9 L) c
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in.") ]1 o8 [3 N4 r) e6 R4 J9 P
* O: c0 j; X) J" b; R$ r5 O
With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,- y c |& x7 U/ e8 q5 T- R4 V
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings' P% A; G9 h) \; s r
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention9 w6 L- C, S% `- Z: R% I! P9 Z
one of its most difficult to learn.
8 l: U# w! W2 y0 ^8 C% p9 I& F/ J
Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
9 {$ L( B, y. b( ^public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
" [9 l- s& `; ostudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
\1 O `- ^8 d: JLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of/ e2 g" }9 Z4 q5 p5 W9 b% R3 U
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
! O0 B2 V' o+ h+ i- M( bChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
0 M$ u+ |! \/ I$ I# Z! ]improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.! p8 [% x4 [% M/ N7 o# N3 O
1 G, v3 h; f3 F" U$ ?! l; K
After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement/ Y- z/ f3 _+ [
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country) o* m# v& n+ j
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
: Q$ M, u; s" ~- idevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing8 [9 I! w- c7 }4 h% Y. g
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
/ c/ t1 }. f4 a% I0 z$ l ]of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.8 h" v8 u1 E2 n2 T" ^0 U
/ ^; B% N! c) _$ _
"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
$ t- ]# v. D8 D/ d, U# Y A: Tspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education, V; s2 w% [1 @# K7 J( _! x/ m5 S
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
2 n" E4 z% E7 K, f7 qcan." , U& T! p/ I- O- d% F
( w0 P& { D/ ^: g6 G* [
The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
& Z5 L% v3 A% c1 A8 ?% ]! r/ J. t7 ~6 Felementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
4 g1 H- ?9 A4 |1 \5 Q. L, wyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
8 \4 Y- r, d2 W& g$ a ^Institute in Washington., v$ S( r/ T" Y% G/ f' R
( N |5 ^/ I+ [: E r- X# c m' A5 B"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
. m2 P9 {1 Z: Laren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
/ h. [$ r9 g1 H: z' y: sMcGinnis said.4 `9 n+ N, o6 c+ G, ~
* u2 _ r/ E5 K3 M3 R* Q"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
% a( `4 v6 R& N! Z; C: i# O+ Elongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
. g4 g5 e! Z% |" j8 j& \0 eready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a- ^7 J/ d# ~% J
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
2 E; S0 Y2 U0 W( V, L1 a& s
3 c, \2 t0 g2 \! r( [Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
- q- E& j- z: g! Y, |: Osecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in7 s/ e! w1 j' u7 P9 l
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
# e, ]* h( r u$ q$ _: v7 K! oChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or' O7 A5 R9 \1 d0 m1 c: k: X
on weekends.& E G' f0 _* E% h! y
[: K, e, C! Y7 S& Q- M9 B8 a( ^
The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
# U1 h# b9 } t) cschools during the regular school day and primarily serves e, O" A& |9 I/ y3 [2 X
students who are not of Chinese descent.* Y. Y( c! e- [* W; ^+ E
0 k' w) U( F. u2 J* oMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
6 @# T `: B3 xproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the9 @3 ]2 b5 I$ T$ ]# }0 O
competition. # F! c# a _- y
9 T s1 [! z% j. |, i9 a! c- B
"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley% r# `/ _& i4 a: a; _$ n/ |
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
6 _! S- ?! Q3 J
3 i( U% k3 y( v# OFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly7 }9 Y t8 [# \3 q1 X
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
4 a5 {, J- ?$ h2 J* i; {9 m( Oschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
- V* E" n" h8 h9 ~+ ]! Jkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students! m, [+ @$ `/ `5 {# _
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to: Z- P3 n8 W" _/ ?+ @& H- e
the school system last year.4 \$ U, H4 d; K0 N2 X$ o
- i, _' d+ d5 \7 X# m, Q( n6 eThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this; d2 m+ M3 K. \
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.& W% A8 X) G: n3 i) s: q
( U( [# r$ R9 d. B' T4 v1 N2 `/ c
"They have a great international experience right in their own& a* A% Z* ~6 V {4 {7 D1 L
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago* _1 A& U3 R; R/ Z: M1 k
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
. H* W7 w6 r% M* E, \, t3 f/ @help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
: C' K6 X4 j' `, gon an equal playing field."
/ A; ~& y7 I/ C) @& W" h; |5 I5 K
* A$ N4 F. h4 d7 g9 u, R( m% \Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese$ q) w* H7 k0 O4 Y2 l3 o( n' v
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
3 q7 Y( s/ b5 s# b5 [$ o# e" MService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
+ P/ N9 D0 r' g; t, t0 cChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An5 h/ D1 f0 ?! v; u" C" l; b
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
; b5 ?7 x$ o0 `" N; v8 \Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the# E+ @1 F2 W3 s3 F, W
institute says.
5 |: P4 t# X* ^3 V1 U
1 K$ n. n$ t- d6 U, [5 D& E* B5 [Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth6 F7 y7 i! N8 y: c6 _6 }% |
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
5 k# v! @+ F/ P% O* O. Ideciding whether to take the class.
2 }5 N5 a( b) H
2 f2 {" `) x) B0 x$ _"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she% L+ K7 X7 S+ }2 M+ f3 O. z7 X
told her daughter.
$ n6 }6 B+ B% h' b3 W
' t6 n N+ I m. G) }Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
! j, G7 `: |9 z' u9 hclass.
! k9 X5 K1 T% N2 I+ g5 V, \* h$ p0 V$ h# k- G3 b6 }
At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are R; |% h. k/ z9 _
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
& u9 h) r- y }. ?! z L6 d1 }occasional frustration.
! i Z: g+ q+ J" x; T# H; x* V3 F4 x9 J) n# R/ u, L. t- `$ R
"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
1 Y" S' B: t6 \recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
; E3 Q! w. i8 H2 Y
0 _+ q. X( G4 r8 L% J2 T% ]Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he1 b$ {1 q, o4 }# p
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
6 u; p+ T% W( }6 M( \Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works./ r) U0 h- a$ q8 ]
- W. A% L; |/ Z' O; `; k" u! |" ]. j"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
3 N- ~4 D0 q: Q- ~. y; xsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn8 @6 O% S) x! q2 ]& r& ?7 i
as many languages as I can."( s# Y/ g1 t9 \6 E Z0 t
" R; Y+ n/ [6 L) O' }
Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the: i* L' H, ?5 \
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
+ M/ _+ t: w! m9 l, H% {market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
3 p' F( g7 h# uthat," Ms. Freire said.
3 u- L Q. e0 _3 D. N. d) p
' `2 V% P. o3 {# rMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
( g/ ?) @* M( h" M- Rhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each2 S4 A5 Y- e( m8 G$ Y) p1 X3 |
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking3 I0 f9 A3 h( s" D0 y* g' Z
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
# B* S2 ~0 ]' Y9 S1 b- v/ p7 D2 Wroom.0 C. A3 y' ?( S$ m" B! B
; D |) y7 I: p* A8 xChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer) G# j0 P$ s# ] W4 B" _( A) C
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
9 `1 C3 J) Z$ ]) _; Jcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
, b& r6 p0 i3 K% Z3 I& e' O9 I9 ?+ v5 |; c2 u
"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
7 m( H: S, ]/ w% \. b$ N0 L# mbecause of that missing certification," he said.
3 B# F7 U, K$ |. X( _( w$ {* S5 E; E% w
The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
q* T1 A9 l! j; c2 o8 vsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
7 J# Y6 p) X/ D i z( v+ ?) h JSociety in New York.' S4 ]! x8 K3 H0 U( i# l6 a" v
5 \0 N8 ?1 q. ~ O. ?Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the! w) q# G$ H2 O: v5 p
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
5 C. M% o" ]4 A: O/ `the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
* [3 |$ B# n4 e; ^0 l0 _2 I+ {5 B) P0 j' O+ G e$ {
"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
) i" z0 B* S$ X9 T5 F6 K/ f; d( rown."4 G& h' \+ x: R3 P. i$ c) F
4 h7 x& v c5 n/ J1 GCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
|