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October 15, 2005
& U$ ~- ?* |% g# [Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING0 T$ H; q# ?. k
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
4 @- |$ i: @ TUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary* f" V7 t9 Q8 O* s F+ V
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
# |0 [! l, W& H- xdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese8 k0 ^/ o; b; m( b- A$ o5 H
flag hang from the wall.4 l- C& J; ^9 I* {0 G- ^
7 N4 _9 c$ O: n6 l; fOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
; x9 t# R' |( B2 N( I3 `( Oanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders! d" C- F+ g& E+ s x8 _
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker. F# |; h% G. J" H& m1 R. O
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
3 r! ?! j, t; I O7 o4 xare already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
' a0 r4 N; @. ^9 Lat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
0 d. r. Y2 M# a1 roffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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9 d. d; A2 v7 Q* {# p* dWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,! ], t2 m7 U5 k
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings0 z+ s# N* x; l& U& p- M9 g1 _1 E
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
& e* _5 t3 h0 r8 o" U( n& w" Done of its most difficult to learn.2 x3 V, m. R6 ]) C4 ^3 t, l+ Y
% R7 Q# e% j2 hLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to( D9 S' U; F( O' D, }. T7 n* A
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
# u# a9 T( w1 ^2 h5 `/ xstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.4 ]2 E3 @( k {8 I% r3 _1 G
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
. Z! ^$ _( F* kTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on0 v* f9 t9 j! J- P* \) J
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
- U3 Q, n0 l; S2 Y! \8 Jimprove 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
9 ?# g+ B' K* x6 {Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
/ {# F. e6 K% |9 A2 F4 E" Tstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to" p) i8 c2 d2 P, k. y! m5 H6 U2 V
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
# a+ X3 n" H, p$ S7 ?5 R l2 R. E/ j; Xcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director8 \! D8 N$ \+ R% j! d, c
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.- S( A& A1 v- V# T. u) R$ F' V
# \ |. s/ [$ U7 z"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
1 r, @) I9 u3 K% Q9 p: [speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education5 d( ? x. Z9 k3 o
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
# d, P0 a$ d% bcan."
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5 J2 X- \" @' G/ e( C* S4 v7 l$ A! D9 y8 {The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from# s j8 y3 y. ?2 u. i+ ?
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
$ R4 g1 ?% h0 \7 g& U- Y' ~8 R+ hyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language: N( T, I) K0 e) H; O+ N
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
( c# s# t F- B* f) n! D Q. @aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.0 p; Q& h2 K' b r, F* \
McGinnis said.' ?$ e) Y0 q" H. f$ k& c" T
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical/ j/ i: I' z5 Q' Z
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
q" ]& f/ t& K5 k% d" v6 }ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
6 [, p2 x Q& u. i4 D4 q4 `6 qchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."1 W# G' r) W; l A2 a& b; A
( e$ s3 d0 Y! k. I: C/ i; LUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
& B1 v3 A/ j# f: T" A1 tsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in ?/ W7 [* u0 `* T) U( [
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
2 [: m' z: S# _% ]8 z9 J& \* C9 dChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or R$ j- w1 T! r% z4 v
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
+ J( F# d+ i) {9 x i/ e. \schools during the regular school day and primarily serves1 u) o: h0 p& b& m* T
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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8 [6 _! g: n- z4 s1 ^( ]2 O* DMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said# O$ k. N% i; S
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the* Z5 K) Z% \5 |4 _6 O
competition. " S; h# j% @/ v1 ~; _# v% Q
* N, X. x- r4 Q) j% O( ?/ {"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
. n8 v, n: E0 p# Csaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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- M# B* b5 q* p/ J* j& [& c9 \From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly+ _ O; U9 Z* g0 z% e0 n
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse# U" K( R. N& V$ y
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from& N5 H3 g9 O1 ?, l; u
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
$ o0 s. f4 ^) J( t% Pwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to, P3 d8 a1 W' v/ S, t
the school system last year.- Q4 l/ S4 j! D0 h! s- p
8 } R0 L! x8 w ~The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this' a2 t7 t+ f) H2 q8 H
year 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 r" ]- `5 [. h3 A s' o: ^
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
) M0 y/ M/ u C$ R+ e y! }Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
" J3 ?9 {0 x" F- S1 l+ Thelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
+ V2 \8 t2 g( V* o* W$ A) Kon an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese& P5 B7 J/ O9 [. H: @7 F
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
8 X P# [2 o* u5 B3 O. g. bService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks& k4 T& y `/ D. ^: }! f3 e
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
' c- j" L8 k4 X5 Xaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in2 q$ G9 _) V4 t
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the$ z) Z0 F8 ?0 b( k9 I% n$ w
institute says.
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5 y, z3 p$ F o7 V' C* K8 `9 D2 aSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth+ a% E3 h& B( H! d/ c
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
5 x. f% q Q, _2 g h; U/ G' Wdeciding whether to take the class.
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/ K% L9 S; C# x/ Z' a$ e0 c+ x6 x) u"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she1 l* t& L+ s; v4 e: {. |$ h
told her daughter.: {5 P9 v1 o7 A( T0 F j; p* H5 I
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
& {; |7 V( n: h3 aclass." X3 I1 z$ j9 W$ }4 F8 a% f
7 N( ]4 X' I1 P2 Y' W' j, RAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are2 X8 f" W1 ^3 k
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without2 I; W. V2 D5 }; n& G: m
occasional frustration., {6 |- a( L9 {& G, F- m7 I9 t
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a/ H5 B: i: w; B/ w3 H/ F. E
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.8 i: Z" r1 Q5 ^( |
# C3 @- ^! I) D! jRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he2 x* I7 s7 q. J) D% @; T! G" D" y( y: u
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
6 T7 Z5 `, K7 P+ b) \; V. o8 c4 v. MChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.' v2 s: g2 ]: P1 @, W
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul7 f0 j% i0 T+ Q1 b5 `: v
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
5 B* l$ D3 ]- T4 ]: e% f, t- B# M; A' b- W1 Ras many languages as I can."9 L+ Y7 i5 a2 t8 F- J& g
, m' C3 I ~! x" X/ v: }+ vAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the8 b) s: N8 ~1 W: u2 |: G3 p d
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job3 B/ E* l: T! D
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
4 o; @3 o; P! E0 `7 ^) \% p8 w# E& c+ ythat," Ms. Freire said. Z- q- c1 {1 s7 X m
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
- @( O6 p n8 Vhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each% `0 x0 E( V p2 w7 L3 d4 e
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking8 C3 w. U2 H8 g: [: B, o
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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$ H6 K6 L: i# u6 W5 YChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
+ q+ l5 E, k- f. q1 vChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
4 X0 I; K- V9 J2 W7 z# q: @' }college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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H k; S' l' E, |- j, r4 \"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified, O/ w8 Z+ W, `& H
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
' A8 I/ f( t; K5 F ~3 Tsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia) J6 T& A5 @8 w* n5 ?# H" Z" ]
Society in New York.9 ^ _7 l9 E; Z
1 u& ^. \ D7 h8 n, N" O9 w; w& LSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the: t% L, J \! L2 Q
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
; ?2 P/ Q3 H" {. g% `. zthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our W1 j' i* X8 w: s3 o8 z$ B
own." Z4 ^0 y/ s: f
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