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October 15, 2005) S' c% b. w( G# p r5 \
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity! i+ g+ `0 n$ q) q
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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- z8 B+ r3 W+ B. |1 N* bCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
' n3 p' ?! \7 @; D* i2 ~United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
& g/ P9 W& _5 V: z$ Z X, [School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
# ]2 `: g: X) \( c4 r5 `' udangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
& p/ d/ a& B0 lflag hang from the wall.
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8 P2 H; e% I/ A9 E& LOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
* A d6 w7 Q# D6 G' b+ j7 _another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
$ D4 f# Z& e. m0 K4 {( Jpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
) H" ~- H# @3 P+ k9 K$ x; ~! Lboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
# C3 O4 ~, K0 P7 u5 ?5 xare already choosing it over Spanish.& t$ U$ e0 K9 N! e
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal# \" E& X# T( [# O9 G
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
5 A: k, V* H5 y3 F# f& uoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in." l2 {% N1 Q6 O. s5 Z
3 Q, R( \) S% r. Q8 G+ X: Q! h5 hWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
8 Y1 @6 T; W- W5 {% ~7 Jschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings5 l7 K2 Z1 E& E1 c8 o9 W1 w5 W
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention- f" w4 V9 g: [$ k5 w3 u
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
+ E- T. h: o4 i7 L0 D9 d0 U* }! Zpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
3 M9 n: a: ~& ostudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
# W$ C* R1 b- ^" D) {5 ~- VLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of% `$ T8 L+ [9 s. W& z1 f
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
* m3 l5 ~1 n6 @$ mChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to. X( a2 B, Q: S& ^) F$ l; b
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.& h4 c+ l2 l& e* q$ }% y
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
- ?( {" Q$ N A$ t* U0 {. WChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country! m1 S8 {; f- V9 _, A i Z
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
- p5 \* Z l0 u/ Rdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
5 p) G: v; w! e4 b& |9 zcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director) Q8 d- O$ b- L6 j
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
* [5 H) r% X: S7 Yspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education) s, a' Q; X) b8 d/ B
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from" B/ k2 L# F* x8 u- g4 Q/ m
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 106 {/ P1 W; j/ x8 n( o# t* o
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
3 e* {1 C# L- _1 B8 RInstitute in Washington.9 y! J. \5 W, G0 p
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages, v0 k& z! Y9 K2 `: j! n" _* D
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
t6 u0 K/ t+ T& b/ O3 P7 lMcGinnis said.
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9 G! ?- n% H1 i& c& V"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
- U( T( W& D2 F4 P/ W B( nlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be$ f1 J, _6 m0 r& n: T& }) v: B. I
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a! x! ?7 z: F" D# R$ 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
& |1 Y# C' w) Y H: t$ Jsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
. ^) v' w5 L. V5 Vcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
/ R) Y+ X/ X# m6 X( x2 F4 VChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
7 `) X( s2 l6 ?- S4 Yon weekends.
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5 q7 O$ @1 r) i9 IThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public! L& B' U4 i' v* r$ ?5 ]# s9 ?
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
9 X* [1 Q. } ?& j rstudents who are not of Chinese descent.& s$ H7 [! @, z% t# b4 B
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said* U( W/ L( u* [6 t1 H& C
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the# d( I/ J( `3 h' y3 N
competition. ; R+ p, \5 A& _. K2 {
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
! N8 l" M1 r8 ~" ^3 H. x" F$ N( Qsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."8 t8 t6 x) {+ f& x _& x
% \5 \! ?' B, I$ D: h: n# {4 vFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly; F8 Y1 B0 B% Y4 s
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse+ m) `" k) z( E
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from6 `( Z i* x2 b' i: @
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students0 ~9 l3 z8 o5 y& m
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to5 \7 t6 p# u- J4 ^
the school system last year.$ Y3 B3 T8 _ }2 m. e% i5 z
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
. ^1 F$ h- k6 J/ y9 Z, Gyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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% _* H' q; ~2 V0 h5 k6 y' u"They have a great international experience right in their own
* Q ~1 n0 A# Y% s+ sclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
e5 i; \( M- Z3 C* u. o" dChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
( W, Z, h# C9 chelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet" _. g( n' F) L4 E' I9 {5 {1 L4 e
on an equal playing field."
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4 G* K( w! _5 ~# dSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese% j, p' L: ^% S& w
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign8 s6 v. `( m7 ]" H! T( L: \
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks% l9 v) [$ H6 M: N: U. v( Y
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An4 c# U' c" V9 Q
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in N% G2 D6 K7 p
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the$ y- h$ E) z# ?$ `6 ^) U- m" N
institute says.2 H0 g7 P6 [0 ]$ Y0 E( ]4 e
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth8 P# I- T, V3 i
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before- \$ z$ x# `, l5 g9 g% M$ l# W+ y
deciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she/ ]' I6 A- P; t: b7 f1 [
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
5 U; b1 Z! ^% {. v, @class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
# }1 h; H$ ~ W& h: Ystudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without, |. \- R, T3 _% w" P7 o5 Z, {1 M1 T
occasional frustration./ U7 Q/ f. h, [2 ~6 C; p
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
0 F: |7 G u8 `( h: drecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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) |5 ~, C, S/ W5 ^! v! Z+ ORaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he; m8 R* Q6 T. O$ e
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
- G8 s. Q4 I. lChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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& t2 L4 M+ k& l+ V"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
* [1 s" D6 K: o: o6 ^2 T+ ]said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn/ x% A, a# h! K
as many languages as I can."
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& \( h! S( g( w7 q DAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
' f: t4 L1 ~' C& Y! Vskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job Z# t" M( \/ ~
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
' D1 _: v! H5 {$ Ethat," Ms. Freire said.0 e% h9 L- Z4 s5 _
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
/ H4 I! |" h- i x, b* u$ Rhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
; Z1 m5 G! T/ v( {' n& B4 v% b6 bschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
/ h z8 W% ~. f0 J/ J, \( dtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make3 G. o- K6 P7 s) {: C" H
room.' A7 x |' q8 V
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer+ K+ g* N+ M% V+ C1 Z1 W& d
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American \0 {4 I) N M# [3 t" k
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified0 y# t5 T: ?3 [2 |
because of that missing certification," he said.
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8 _! l0 M3 X5 I0 z5 s- MThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
& E( U6 t& c5 W8 wsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
% Z5 I8 g. b) V7 V) j- a4 W! JSociety in New York.
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9 g W2 n B& v0 MSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the4 c2 {! Y% b4 `2 \6 p4 e
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
4 o# I3 x; G2 C2 q% L* O8 Vthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.' U, b/ J, i: K' \" f& |* D2 p
2 _! c# m+ S1 K5 k$ Y"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our- ]1 K8 N- [) t* y* E* t
own."
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