 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
October 15, 2005
* e4 M- n: S. k$ \9 QClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity6 c7 g7 p& c7 g3 [# `
( S% |+ y& d# M2 \
By GRETCHEN RUETHLING7 e" K, y$ y! e' w) Q1 r" q
: x0 j; f" n5 Q \* V4 ]6 f
CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the! K+ c+ L3 S5 |; }) h5 v0 d' C
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
- P( `- M1 R: T( gSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas# |# \/ @# ~1 K4 s
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese G* Q$ {9 W- \8 R
flag hang from the wall.
; h, g5 f* |: F `+ o) C0 L7 x- r& K% o/ @6 h
One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one, a# |& a2 R1 e }1 h3 w+ e2 {* H
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
' t6 }4 X! S" w0 X4 u2 Hpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker9 D) J+ N; h O& @4 H* b
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
- W0 ~" O; r) H' q3 I$ e" `! Nare already choosing it over Spanish.
8 s+ o* k# b, W, T# Q8 P1 P" v
"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal8 s# F% a" ~" ?5 b: d
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
1 e K5 K$ u2 {# `) O4 @offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
$ b3 b: {9 n' y D v/ `7 k- B6 S; I6 c/ _+ p9 z
With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,/ }/ F! i/ l" g) d4 F
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
/ O0 N0 _8 R: Ato include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention( s( L% { a* T- i" h; G
one of its most difficult to learn.
. f$ e) Q" J; ?9 [4 ?& M$ } {3 Z
0 ?2 ^* N4 ^6 I9 S3 b9 dLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
% W2 F. I6 n8 s1 @public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students, `7 Z6 z4 [+ |3 L: L
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
1 p3 c& k! d1 hLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
; z; a$ l2 I9 E+ J5 o* BTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
7 R7 b1 n! _0 N. n# O$ aChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
3 Z% g/ e; \8 l$ D0 U( w, Gimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.. _+ Z+ O% j# u. B8 i: l
5 F! t8 j( w6 W( J4 \) g. U+ Y7 _
After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement- K2 ]4 e/ ~: U! H! y
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
6 W$ c! P2 z2 ]# R& Pstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
. ^% }: W# X j8 H9 }! u Rdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing7 Y5 \' c! N+ \( A3 W& y" e6 a
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
( z( Y8 y8 V4 s1 N' Z# H3 oof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.# k6 K0 t6 A: c; y. |1 B% t" D8 c/ T
' s! }4 r9 t; ?: ~5 q* Z
"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
5 l, @$ C. v4 I! S: d9 Lspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education( h3 w6 b T) H9 Y: _* x
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
|8 L/ e6 c" f% R' t3 {can."
% ~7 N/ O! A) m4 ~% d6 m' P
% T3 b* ^7 C/ s2 l+ KThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
$ b6 `5 L: u+ @( P2 ?elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
/ |, n; \' j+ ?+ oyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language; [6 d* J q3 Q5 w9 S2 |7 @
Institute in Washington.
$ Z! N$ w- x# A, I6 Z9 {' ?, {' {" g/ C. m8 f
"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
/ d' h1 }0 s( h2 b1 Karen't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
- o* o6 {3 E! K1 LMcGinnis said.5 `* q0 a# N5 f, H' }
+ `3 x7 Z- Y/ ?9 l% {, |' o
"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
+ ?, @" _8 d, a7 O% x H1 alongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be7 ~' z# k3 N8 L8 ^4 I8 G$ f
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a4 p# G/ ?. w$ ~* i. {
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
- s( v. O' j: P* B# K8 v, E
2 R1 ?) H( ]) z$ }8 {/ {Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and! f! a7 @; W) J! f9 n# p
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in' M1 r/ O. a8 e5 t8 P
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
; ~* C/ M+ h' W! g- _Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
- v; D* D5 k1 pon weekends.
4 N# I' U4 }2 z$ R3 Z
. T& Q" M }+ yThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
: V! R# A9 z8 C% i/ wschools during the regular school day and primarily serves# \/ }* n4 C. U" v- n- c# e7 s2 U8 a
students who are not of Chinese descent.
3 [* U4 K! w3 U3 C/ T, t- P9 H
\7 u4 J9 w+ d# g8 D: CMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said) [& [# V7 U w
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the2 C# K7 K' r* ^" ~' y
competition.
4 c! c0 F0 b. n
/ U2 n; m3 B3 ~"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley- q" `" X. ?1 t2 u5 M
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
- q0 C, n# K# ^& m- ^1 w
a5 V% A+ K; R) n% u0 [From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
! `- A$ K- X% m/ N1 @$ z3 fall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
6 Q. e! G0 @& ]1 Z N& Tschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
; y& E* Y0 S8 Z' q1 O }, {kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
& Z7 f5 L$ O5 i% s" P) b W+ w/ Uwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
9 T# t! [- I* [, ethe school system last year.
1 Z* w+ _4 P+ A5 u2 f: }3 H! D1 l7 t( z# _
The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
; N( ~5 y: r* i0 o: [: J, Vyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.& \3 J% Z: w$ l, b5 g+ o
1 K! c! F/ H9 `7 d9 C: P! N, ]"They have a great international experience right in their own
% x+ H5 A( E1 \" U* Q C; [classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago, n5 F1 b( i) A- c
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
. `0 y9 e9 w4 S7 Y% l9 Lhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
; p* m E2 R% lon an equal playing field."' [, f; q- v2 d( \; p
7 A, ?0 G4 X9 F7 g! K
Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
" z8 X W- k7 Bclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign0 Y$ P& P3 E& V
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
. e1 P i/ `( d7 I6 JChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
# K) u/ A/ p/ X: baverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
2 w5 k; v" z% Y3 a3 W4 @Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
& k: p4 t" g. T' s# Pinstitute says.
; K8 ^! P$ g( T/ S. @
# X. V6 @) }* j0 \2 F8 iSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth# R8 J* p; k: M3 n$ T
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
/ n8 [+ @* C+ ~+ A: Y2 ~deciding whether to take the class.5 s' [$ o: r7 v# d! W# j
3 V) H7 ~# _, K"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
3 G) H( o; v- k" f/ U! U: ~* Rtold her daughter.
/ @8 B2 z7 \4 ~2 w$ u' @
4 H9 ^9 A# m7 N( Q, wSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite" A, b3 ]# \2 P& f3 n: O
class.
( v2 t, N( t- o- e+ K
& w5 Q4 i; t( X# rAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are K0 y4 N7 Y1 i
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without; V* @! X( G" M8 O3 U# s! x' G# a
occasional frustration.
& \# C7 r/ Q/ Q0 K* D
" f3 U# N8 a z"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
' j& K9 K3 p# }& C2 brecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
$ H; Q9 ?5 u" E6 k* J1 b, U
2 |' Y- O! N" X, j" {Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he x' g( M9 X( g) H5 P7 @8 B6 [
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
- T% M, r5 d/ E; y& AChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.' h0 u, L, D N4 k w) r2 p/ _8 g
* z y% I0 t9 s' D7 A"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
1 v/ q# t6 s9 S8 w2 Tsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn, j* L3 G- I- G& J3 A9 I( T
as many languages as I can."& ]# K2 [: {) j' r: ^: t: B: r- K$ P, R
. d( `: i. _ v Y0 @) t- ]Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the$ p1 k+ q+ _: Y# p* B1 z
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job( w1 ]: o( T; L$ p
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like& D- F. ?+ p% g' `% F( K
that," Ms. Freire said.$ B/ p2 X/ A, a# T, ~9 R* s- n
( c7 k' r4 p+ W$ p# b$ ?4 ?Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program0 ]& r1 F. _: w' z7 @$ @: p+ x4 N
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each3 ~5 a7 s- h0 P& q" f
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
/ b, p9 U0 G; q7 Etime from classes like physical education, music and art to make3 C* W3 Q3 X& ]* C/ p& U
room.7 Q5 Q+ J4 V0 B0 u- |
/ h7 q, |4 i& g( Z* EChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer, P& h! ]" g' s. ?) ^# R
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American7 w+ v' W# G0 D% S7 ~4 T: H
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
! d) W p3 j7 A9 s6 X5 _- S0 I, i4 ]- m: h( D
"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified/ T0 e& }% T5 B& r, Y) T; Z
because of that missing certification," he said.1 K6 W' Z' W1 V( [
" @! [7 x% a, E! i1 JThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
6 m, l+ _2 n/ j6 }; T2 P2 R$ P( M9 c% K ~said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
) y, z1 T3 s% O% JSociety in New York.) j% N+ n5 g. D7 J7 O" l& Y8 u* h6 A
( l2 ]# K A, d% f9 K" a4 |
Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the1 @+ ^: c, h6 k& m( v8 z
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from9 T8 P4 v( y- [: Q7 B5 c
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
% z2 V3 M" T! x" F
: ` M z" U9 |"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our. S: g5 D# ? e* I+ [6 \6 \
own."
$ s# Y. i% j9 _1 y: z7 n1 f0 E" ~8 r
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
|