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October 15, 2005# ]" Q0 Z7 y+ l$ Z9 m. H/ W
Classes 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 the& A0 ~- b8 n) d, ]5 Q6 E3 G
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
; [6 ]; E( ~0 }7 l9 W: gSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas& ]1 d- q- ]# s
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese' }6 J! c& E+ s
flag hang from the wall." p/ `6 Z4 d# ]
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
8 D4 w( {- M" ` G7 zanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
8 {2 z( T: O; A# o' \practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
2 R) T4 N" F: A3 y8 R! ]9 w) A; Qboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students: I9 a% v% M3 ?( Y! l( m" I
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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2 A/ a2 B& z) i* Y- e"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal1 e- Z% {3 c2 }0 K( O
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
! }$ S% x% X4 y5 @2 \0 Foffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,. P. U1 r* H4 y3 ~3 F- e
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings- r& F% Y4 q. @
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention3 y* a9 i* k K$ M1 j `
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
! f! U) R8 V, r7 A( Opublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
1 J6 y4 `2 b8 U/ pstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
' v( r9 V0 v# s+ k' f' d3 J0 V& KLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of# R5 W+ F3 d( V& @2 }% c
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
( h2 |8 i# p N7 n/ O. v; r4 BChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
1 @7 R: w9 f- s' h5 B" ^' d2 Nimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.+ e! m; i" y9 s% j5 H0 c5 H
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement8 d, [: V0 _) r" e- ?9 n6 L
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
' d$ t6 l7 G, wstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
# i9 G/ p; l" d$ A% ?develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing1 ]/ n/ M1 {4 I8 Y
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
' L5 Y; { d, S$ Y4 o+ pof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.! s/ i: }) [ n
# d1 {0 C2 P( l"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of U% _) C; k$ G0 J5 I' D
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education) E: V3 ]/ V. r4 u# d3 g6 O
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. V8 i" A3 Y$ P) S1 ]
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10' v3 p2 r! q5 @
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language% i' d' \2 J# `% }( }) x
Institute in Washington.( d- V6 A2 T Q2 |( y" D% I8 l+ T
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
; W) o2 {" {; b0 ^' U2 b! L3 caren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
( @/ }1 @* q# k1 ^/ {% DMcGinnis said.$ }* g9 v! ]) }: l
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical) T5 U$ `, j, C6 p& d. l9 h
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be4 U! t. ^% ~, [- R; O
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a4 j. W: X# N S. g9 }+ e; P5 [. s
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and2 w5 h6 t, C' a" ^
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in/ i/ [& i7 \2 | l: l+ S; p
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
2 k, o: ? I2 ~. r8 ]Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
5 ]. \ T" h3 o: lon weekends.
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! f+ q$ H. Z* L3 s# v# bThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
8 k: D6 _! }0 f& ]: f; h9 R3 mschools during the regular school day and primarily serves4 Y$ \) M! i) @- Z
students who are not of Chinese descent.# q ^* U1 O+ t; ?
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
# J: u" t [. B2 t* x$ yproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
8 I* G0 {) Y$ S9 ]' g' k$ V4 B5 pcompetition. 6 x+ m `# R3 \
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley0 @3 r6 g0 R- L4 a
said. "There will be Chinese and English."9 Z% H- l9 g& Z$ T% ^, [. G1 e
! ?( W4 l p( e$ l8 ?- }From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
" U u. u- p$ e# fall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
' w6 L$ \; m: F+ `2 L/ f6 tschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
; s9 W z) r7 h$ I( a Ckindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students/ z. n. w/ W2 N# \: p
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
7 X% N: T- C: u' n) Dthe school system last year.- T' M% u! P2 y) H7 w
4 N5 T* V ~. yThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this6 c* G$ h5 P' i7 m# i+ ^
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.% z. `3 Z* a/ J3 \' ^. N
' x n3 \1 i) x2 `0 c"They have a great international experience right in their own/ m, R! r6 o0 l+ ?7 x5 N S
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago& s. \ ]# i! u/ b$ t6 t
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to' E- w- R- y/ z; X( U# Q
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
& U/ h6 r6 m1 Z4 _* Non an equal playing field."
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- o5 E+ m( D& _% kSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese8 _7 h! |/ |+ ~& j
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
8 L0 G- A+ E1 Z% m& ^/ F7 u; h8 J8 gService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
. D1 l- ?0 O- L1 [$ N+ A! b' }Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
. A5 @# L# Z- b7 f+ I/ T5 Paverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
9 O: [; z2 ^" T1 [* T: AChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
+ `- k5 r0 w8 X# Rinstitute says.$ D+ y9 p. t- ~ U( E
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
8 a: Z- m- \# y! w) x- W2 U$ \grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
, r( Y l, K) s$ `3 Fdeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
$ Z& z0 k, n! H# O1 E6 g- t `4 Xtold her daughter.
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& H1 [. I" v8 O+ r! I1 \Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite9 b; { r j: }' O& W
class.8 z2 D- B5 P7 y' O6 P
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are8 \! a4 U T# D* S
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without' N8 F/ X8 H" D: T7 v
occasional frustration.& E6 _4 }0 r$ L4 L" r% s
4 S) L, b# O( J4 E, z"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
- K# ]% V- F3 brecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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R+ F9 {+ [5 z m) ]( P: FRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he5 s l0 p/ o7 `, C
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
, ]# E7 p8 }- n1 cChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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2 K2 g: ?4 b2 U+ K3 y"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul8 E |0 O% R9 I4 i5 A3 ]1 F! w
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn: \, O7 |) y7 Y8 k
as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
0 n& n- _/ n5 Y2 p3 P# k5 Kskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
/ t- s# ?4 G" D3 ?market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like# t& T0 a1 o9 n1 \6 @ w
that," Ms. Freire said.
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D' E, j8 E: B/ Q6 R' u: v' AMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
/ W4 n! F' s8 where offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
4 {; i" K4 [; R/ H' S" {. x1 ~! W( Yschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking0 D+ D1 u" O3 V3 k8 M' P f
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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1 N5 t6 b+ O1 ~, c- K4 C+ @Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
' \, ]+ y0 D9 QChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American! M+ y& C" L" S! ^- Y2 g( S
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
% F% _& \5 f# U$ \4 Obecause of that missing certification," he said.8 s2 G7 U8 u0 | _& \. x
8 Q* a% K7 P- f* I5 t* u- F- y9 ^The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
6 q0 [+ _: ]6 b, Gsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
' y. u4 Y0 G+ J0 n. O y' SSociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the0 C3 H$ U1 }; O# ~" v3 ~& K& g7 w; d
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
3 N3 i7 d% d5 v9 G: t* \9 Cthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our' K, r e: @2 u# t, k
own."
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8 Q7 a! x3 _) CCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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