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October 15, 20052 z5 {* g3 r- I R9 q. i3 n
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity) G6 I1 |! X x" v" V
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING9 u, ?7 ~$ f4 N% p e5 Q
+ e6 x: V" ~1 R' ZCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the. m$ U, B: _0 }% ~: k, L
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary+ ?& a& w/ ~/ x6 A2 [7 T
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
; U4 Z( Q9 Y/ Y( ldangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese8 F- L" x+ I& `: [2 a
flag hang from the wall.% |+ F3 p# n* D& a4 r+ w5 u% {
* B3 L2 G3 N: @6 [( COne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
( f5 ?/ g8 G7 T; aanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders8 T$ b# p9 a8 m' h% x( a
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
& J k: {3 `' X4 Eboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
, c y8 N6 ?& W# F& v4 bare already choosing it over Spanish.' a3 b2 P0 X* M0 R
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
( q' t+ v7 T# q( fat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city: h5 g" { t/ N, L; \. N
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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# k! x+ f% T& }, c: BWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
' |9 R0 ~+ w/ r! Q# |schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
" l$ b; Y9 O& ]" v B, P& {to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention* O! J: d0 N; G9 G5 r' P
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
. b$ ~: O7 C6 t5 f+ upublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students* e9 R4 m4 j9 \* Y3 ~
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
# v- b8 k+ c4 c( W7 J# b2 VLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of; b1 a) t" h0 W+ y
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on1 ~& r/ ^1 S, p; J
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to+ k/ z+ k6 c" h$ ^! G" {
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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8 z5 i$ V- i3 N3 }$ H- L/ i- N9 k; SAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement! ^+ P: B8 k$ ^& ^
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country: l4 `9 a7 Y! Q7 U
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
6 a. M) p9 Z2 C, D' Y0 odevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
2 u$ Z! t( K8 j. m! D; N# Ucurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director3 [( r5 C* g5 _! H
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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% g: A* `5 N0 Y' l"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of! x/ g) T$ p" C
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
! g( i% ?2 V' ^; l, b9 _# i- hConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we$ T8 m% x# q. a V& f0 y/ S
can." ) V6 p+ h' l' [/ L. z, n) s$ d
/ `' U4 g2 y% {& X$ }8 G& K/ ?, ]The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
. y0 u: ?% N' c6 n7 F; C v4 {, ^9 ielementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10' ]' B6 h7 ]3 N3 c/ [1 K# g
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language8 K" {! S$ m7 R/ A; Y3 A4 \9 @* L% m
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
" V+ z2 X( u! ^9 Y. c4 Iaren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
. W8 F9 |! F$ X; bMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
) q0 h' q. @) b( _( c$ z' @8 Mlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
' T! N! Q9 [* \$ }' tready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a/ d; D8 Z/ I- [! L r; H
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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7 q4 f5 P# a; A# c1 zUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
" L, J: n& p4 o7 Y# dsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in( v% i9 Z: X% a( L6 s
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of4 G( J, J8 ^; g
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
# d$ m1 _6 Z! s/ p( D% uon weekends.
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& ?+ ?+ } N4 u! iThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public& n) G; V6 b: B$ c G7 g' s
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves8 X& O5 e6 c* b+ Z7 O
students who are not of Chinese descent./ v% U* w$ ]8 C3 t: R# k' P
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said5 B3 C, R! ]: p0 h/ N$ H6 p0 L
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
- s; I2 i. }1 x1 f" E: }& ocompetition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
8 z' X6 q2 R5 {* ysaid. "There will be Chinese and English."8 |) m& B4 h- ^$ W- o- n
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
/ ?7 _* ^3 R2 c% A4 tall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
& W! q! X7 T$ A {# Xschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
8 g7 c' Q4 B' S3 akindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students! s& [! {( p" U
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to) e% Q+ Q$ z6 Y4 b
the school system last year.4 o7 P/ T* h) w
% T |; ?4 R7 q! W5 ~2 [+ VThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this5 u0 W" I, ^) c, N
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.! ~7 m2 F: N! u4 q Q) i
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"They have a great international experience right in their own
5 z; A; ~0 R& l9 t. n& gclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago R8 X! ^+ ^6 J6 e' p1 ~, g
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
9 p: Z: P. K8 g% V. v @help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
$ [% W% @! }) C- H& g/ P- ion an equal playing field."
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) y( t* v8 R4 w) A: { a. zSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
0 B" t4 G3 h+ ?& a8 Q8 L1 G; F! yclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
$ G* }$ V0 Y: a" a" p& ?Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
# f3 o" i# V1 @Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
8 P6 D: S3 @$ X" @3 J8 ?average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
' N: k9 |. A. R; lChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the5 K7 t- `( ]" {6 F0 t/ o) s
institute says.
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, a0 e* }1 L7 z1 _, X! I8 \) C7 zSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth$ U( \1 o- A' g; l' s' @ u$ i
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
- e. f: w0 f( u0 A# {, Ideciding whether to take the class.
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! E* o' z" s( M! d2 d"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she! C) c3 p1 I, f9 _7 a
told her daughter.& L8 ?) H$ N6 @& j9 b
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
+ B* ]/ D& u) s5 wclass.
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4 t$ o3 d% Q* A H" \ I1 `At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are% h4 H- j5 A1 T3 n5 _- U6 [
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without0 v0 a8 T4 s# m/ Z9 d3 v) i
occasional frustration.
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) r8 L" V: l# v"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
- e' t2 i2 h8 z. A9 hrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.5 K( e& `: j. R) U2 N3 W7 K9 p3 x2 m
% @ [! E2 s9 iRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he, m5 f H" V& F+ T4 Z
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
% A$ Y) _+ C, ^/ v: _+ f0 Z# HChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
, W, l# }) G6 e. S8 s. f- F9 Msaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn, k* \# \4 t! c- S/ V3 B
as many languages as I can."# F+ E% o3 h$ Y) a
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
6 ^3 E5 V. Q1 P8 L) Vskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job+ t _' ?- ^. Y G) k
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like* Y* F' ?1 u S, U z
that," Ms. Freire said.1 T/ y9 d) {; ~- X4 f, L9 w
# t5 V0 T9 ~( [7 h5 ^# x" [7 MMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program5 e- L" ~' [8 X
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
! \7 e; B! |9 d4 kschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking4 |: v' N+ U& f1 d2 Z0 ]! z& e
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make5 y- e1 z% Y T; ~ l8 o( W) q
room.2 }- `# n' s# A' p+ [" E
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
1 v6 V/ T: v5 S2 {% ?8 @0 m& jChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
. l+ F0 x, u2 g6 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 qualified
7 v+ }7 O" b& g* r" D& k; xbecause of that missing certification," he said.6 }2 C7 h% `8 ]
1 {2 x3 [, g# }: Z: `6 U; pThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,- ]& T: L) v! y6 L2 ^
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia# _# _" E N C; R3 `- |
Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the& p' q! ~$ T8 ^) Z
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from, \' z/ E! c8 x' j
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.- V* N; Q5 a0 `8 a9 z9 c, Q
\- w6 f. m; L! l% n, \"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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" Y, m2 f7 p1 v( e4 kCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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