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October 15, 2005
) S& A2 S$ E7 S2 n2 J" D6 g' OClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the4 B- A9 g6 B6 D2 U% }
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary* Q/ @/ v! r* S8 K8 E
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
# s: I+ x5 J* Tdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese C) E0 G: G" b' F( W
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
7 s8 H/ U+ h; i! R6 danother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders7 I( I' {2 u' e& R
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
7 l2 h% D: q( z$ i; J! a$ d; eboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
3 \- \! k; O' M: [are already choosing it over Spanish.. s. e$ z- W& e) b5 b+ ]
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal$ d4 b+ i, D6 l
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
$ a( a; ]5 U8 `, s& @/ p% u/ X foffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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0 X( B7 j' ^- R) ?9 L( XWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,( u# {' I9 f" [0 U8 Y" g, u7 Y2 t' z
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings, z9 p5 x* t9 m g/ {
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
# i( C) z" x) V* Y! J- C; wone of its most difficult to learn.
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, ?0 I8 v6 h0 s& YLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
' v7 y' j" |! o/ M% y4 o8 Z. E, qpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students4 u _) G4 L8 U0 {
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.# U7 Q) g# X" |
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of) E' d, n" B* e& b1 `# _8 u
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on% p3 v) q/ h& I2 G1 }% C
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to! J& w) o" p$ D& O! T
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee., Y8 [, v- Y0 v7 ?7 F6 [
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement, y2 [) l2 S* m0 k
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
& C/ R* }' l/ s1 j+ ]starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to, ^, Z6 s+ q4 ^- J, |
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
' _7 l+ l2 C! Y$ ?% V- n( w2 Wcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
; v% G7 ^. R D0 {" @2 Cof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
8 {% o; |; e4 Y3 |speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education+ D. q, X \2 g: C5 T0 h4 V9 ]- o, D
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
$ ?3 ~* Q. @+ h6 Aelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
/ C+ P, n, O9 u( K/ k& ]& K& d" i5 jyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
- f/ t% w7 n& c _0 I; \Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
, t8 g5 _. P7 ^& a- E) haren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.5 l9 v3 z/ x* z
McGinnis said.9 ^5 v' f2 Y: n0 f9 A2 T
! Y: I7 B% H. \( _% n3 U6 L"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical' U' [9 w2 s: z3 d$ t) h
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
# L2 h1 b, ~, u# \8 Yready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
! u U0 |& ]" |3 g; U% T. _challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."! e) v' ?, {* C# h- P. F
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
) _. O1 |1 W& P; S' P3 C- }% qsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
: F D( x1 K* |! Ccities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of! |. n+ l' @/ ]0 T3 Z6 C! z4 Z$ O
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
* s4 p) z# R. R; von weekends.: I8 p, S5 H) R% M% X
9 ^% m1 {+ w" e" M6 d+ [! I+ [The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
% C$ M7 p) k* A- q1 e; Pschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
# p# m" P- P; p/ Qstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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/ j; h4 `1 I& aMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said- {) M% L. ~1 b9 Z7 {/ H
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
8 J# p% E8 [' n$ wcompetition.
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) \. }1 w6 {$ B% f1 w"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley: n; I6 F1 f5 D, W! T2 ?* [& U
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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- Z. K: w/ U# x' e# z6 ^( DFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
2 w' T. y: `( X. X/ eall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
. f0 y1 W3 \$ A! P3 Xschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
0 P7 @( A. F2 }9 Qkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
: e& p' h# r5 M: N: c7 |who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
: b7 K0 I k: E+ s. d jthe school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
& Y. v! P+ |1 _5 u2 Jyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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- T, K9 u: p: R: F6 t5 {# E6 W# K; _"They have a great international experience right in their own0 M3 p l& H* z3 x m4 M8 j% \
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
" a# R! z, E9 g# VChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to% T+ x1 s* R! p. J+ w
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
5 U+ _, E( o* { K$ ion an equal playing field."* U1 }- G6 ?" y: t* p! [9 }7 M
& o3 C: L& F6 K7 e3 o2 k4 TSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
8 U' G" j9 [0 n: T: c+ Cclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign$ M$ L v0 [. n6 T
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
3 p- n. K) ^- |! J+ VChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An; }6 q* _: u- N6 t
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in4 l: m* C3 j4 H! o3 H" F& O
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the( @2 k6 U7 j& D: C) I' K0 c
institute says.$ N( U$ u# d, ^9 w; {: f
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
$ q N% B5 J* ?7 |( B$ R3 k E6 Qgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
. s0 Y9 h O" ~( g8 g4 a- Adeciding whether to take the class.; X( y/ h1 V' |4 g* m7 B
% F) h- F5 A ?. C6 m- N6 @- y"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she$ p3 w/ e9 B. r( r, y K
told her daughter.% s |5 A( V! \9 [( P/ D
2 y6 O! Q- o' _4 XSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite7 i' o1 |6 \# g4 l! y8 e8 e5 W
class.) ^1 I% i: ]0 `/ f9 u5 S* V- u {; A
, S8 D, H5 ]% j; l pAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are- V3 j- P i: c$ |$ t
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
0 m5 U/ H! A: f1 V: Koccasional frustration.; {' y& A0 ?/ `
- e, ?3 E2 K: D* s. I L/ L4 S"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
9 |0 k6 x7 B+ T0 i, Rrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class. _. S, L( @ ^5 I, G* A
' d& t: s* T& T6 U, H! ]Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
8 A% t9 }' A7 n8 Etaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
! S/ }$ F7 c* e' |Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.2 [( A" R, V, q# ?- o7 }, p" y3 l
- o9 [6 F( f y2 ~- H) ?"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
/ X3 U; B |- G& tsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn% N% L' _/ O0 X' e. Z
as many languages as I can."$ N# g, l. o5 U* H5 S+ V3 r9 p
: w5 {& u; M$ c, a& T% mAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
* f/ _' N" e& h" Hskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job% ~- W% l# [* Z2 t0 M; T& v
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
/ o3 `/ X0 E' @3 @that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
" |* I+ z5 m# V3 `. V0 u* uhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each! D" }) z$ w. X5 _7 X# e
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking0 U6 k2 p' U6 K( u; K. j, f2 V
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make6 d. s' a. C5 H% r6 E
room.+ h4 [" q3 R4 ]! i! a
; T/ r; e- ?8 u- n9 r0 ~+ UChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
' @; h/ ~; U0 q6 F% h9 zChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
& @4 ]+ D4 ~/ O' H) ?college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.. l4 m4 D3 |8 }2 _
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
' y$ b: f( {- t7 j) L" S' xbecause of that missing certification," he said.9 H9 u, b8 r- T& j' O9 R! j; h
. Y: ]8 P$ ~2 G2 oThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
5 F9 _* a9 o7 b) |0 R0 L: Esaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia. w2 y. t( e( D9 r/ \
Society in New York.8 p* E$ x: j3 L- Y+ k; ^$ G
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the5 [+ R$ m, h. ^6 C2 y
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from2 f% _! q D: f2 i5 v4 P) p& \
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.$ }+ a/ O" x# H. g' \5 ~
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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