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October 15, 2005+ y8 S+ M: }& P: b$ E
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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& z5 e3 B$ w* c YBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING5 Z3 l5 o; \0 B% ]# z
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
; y3 w4 t8 ~) V$ Q$ O5 z* T2 ~United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
: {7 |0 q- K" P/ \9 {3 VSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
6 G1 i4 K7 K) Q% ~: Udangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese2 F7 S. i# {4 F! _/ P! i J- o
flag hang from the wall.' V4 D1 K- z% [/ X S; Q5 [5 R; p' k
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one* t% _! J5 c& V9 C" k2 p5 t- f2 w
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
1 s& P7 I1 ~4 M9 A: ypracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker2 I% s5 b- o7 E) r. M
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students8 T' @! r, v- s* p5 F
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal" [! T# v0 e+ L7 s# w M' h5 F
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
; B2 ], o. D/ f+ e8 q+ O {offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."! a' S9 n, @, a
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,6 F; _( M, j/ l7 w
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings" Q m6 q" L8 S6 e' K( |
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
0 }* W/ R; x8 p' N/ `/ r+ fone of its most difficult to learn.- x9 a" L/ D0 \+ U7 h9 Y1 {
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
0 A) C, W5 G# p1 npublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students/ P/ ^2 a0 O9 M% ?
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I. L5 G* ]4 a+ O4 S
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of" \# O4 a$ U& i, m/ C7 l
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on6 N4 Q& H" F. c
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to: V6 z2 C4 x3 x
improve 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
, S3 ?% W! j6 I1 SChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country, S& n6 `, @) w5 ] l8 c- g# V
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
3 O3 P5 E- C5 [develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
3 ^7 Q, A6 t$ t5 O+ b4 @5 _curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
/ f2 g) p( t. ~# H3 A6 @4 s7 Gof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.7 |2 m6 c: F- j' j% ?3 c9 o
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of- ?$ _6 H% B |0 @& b7 ]
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education) I( L: P8 w! K0 @$ h5 [
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
. e( v8 X; n& m) q+ zcan."
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0 C1 f$ \: |; }The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from) _, o1 n( ^1 R0 k
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
; p* T- x L: j, r& G Pyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
2 z, G7 N6 z# U3 K5 WInstitute in Washington.7 \, b( P' m. g Q p9 z9 @# @0 l
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
! r6 m8 L) B8 M: M8 maren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
* d* r+ r2 L% iMcGinnis said.
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/ X" l: q: h6 a8 r) u9 S, e"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
& D J6 t O( h0 y; I l, o" }0 ^longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
- R" v9 e( q0 |/ q" r. Pready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a) i" e/ K/ x; c. {& I3 q
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do.", e* ]7 m8 @ x6 T; v- H: n9 r
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and! T( b3 _# K1 V7 i( K$ c1 l
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in# a5 g! |* s+ R5 C
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
! ~8 \! E& k, ]$ q8 ^Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or3 n+ y9 c& w: G) d( x; E: n
on weekends.
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8 d( r9 N7 b8 j' P9 h3 d5 \1 sThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public5 d! Q) h7 a; D* x/ ^
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves& f+ b" {8 v: |/ Y- A/ x) t9 m
students who are not of Chinese descent.! R& M; k( C( B+ O5 c2 I7 T6 v
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said0 ]' M, Q) \- Y
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
, a6 p3 ^* y- ^& U$ Icompetition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
! C1 Q) Y; ?- S: l; X. ?& V3 asaid. "There will be Chinese and English." |0 D; R2 J( d
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly7 [1 h3 l, P7 V% Q/ f9 B( }
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
7 i# Q4 g; }% J- C+ d! `schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from) v2 v4 g8 e/ J& A- L+ i
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students1 O: u8 c# l6 Q! K# A
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to" i, w& v. g: P* f
the school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this w0 D$ }& x' L# m; w
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.4 ~: a- o e$ S
) P5 P) J3 M( a& {; V8 B6 H"They have a great international experience right in their own
6 _& [/ {7 b' r" x( ~8 e, F! L+ B5 ^classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago5 M% ^* w7 E9 s$ q) Z
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
' N4 Z) @. q5 N4 B2 a$ R3 ^help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet, Q- Q6 A+ D3 @
on an equal playing field."
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! T/ @8 L. u4 f- W* R; k' SSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
3 l( P) j: X/ g: ^5 B8 Aclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign9 z8 Q" w. \, Y7 K2 a* i3 m3 j
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
6 \" u2 X# l& X& W5 Y7 X LChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
3 @ `5 ]" A5 [: B8 z3 _# Yaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
/ Z; `& b7 c6 S. M Y% cChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the3 ]4 }3 r5 P: D. M5 z1 H
institute says., P$ A+ B, h. C8 r1 W$ s
9 c t5 ^" a; O% T; V5 {Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth. V0 ~- D/ M) _4 @
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before" e8 [3 @: |$ r
deciding whether to take the class.
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8 b: Z7 o2 D# A5 @5 n7 `"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she& F, A3 X% s E, m
told her daughter.& W& T+ C( n) T0 e D" D( E [# b
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite2 Y' \9 L0 s6 @4 Q: F9 V
class.0 ]) R2 P; L6 V
0 W/ C0 x0 P) C: y$ D" `1 ^At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are% @4 P1 I; ?! m; t. u4 z
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without$ J: Z0 ~9 V1 p
occasional frustration.1 Q: ^ I$ h; }# P8 m( X
1 o% Z/ W2 Z ?' R"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
1 X; `+ d+ y& P7 K2 Brecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he/ I, K+ W6 ^+ C+ x" s0 f. m/ x P
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
+ y1 F4 w) [" U' K+ T& N( UChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul0 ~5 l/ R! X9 ~. \
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn! b" g* J- q& w
as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
8 K% v( G' Z- O% Mskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job8 U7 l1 ^: O# S2 D( C4 h0 I s3 a* D, o
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like2 Q# J- h2 ?- Y. x8 e8 t
that," Ms. Freire said.
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: L# j; d: y% j- `- bMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
4 W- I2 V, D3 k- Ehere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each6 M7 n- w- R; b. {, Z5 J3 s/ t- s
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
9 m x( E- c) Y Z1 [1 {) {3 htime from classes like physical education, music and art to make+ g% [' w- o# h* n$ V+ T8 A
room.+ G( X# f, W, |* a! x$ W. u
) B* `( [+ X& I6 T! m0 c$ sChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
# W8 n# s& K3 w# l6 _. V8 l. hChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American* F& @. G7 }/ j
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.( m+ [1 t+ Y+ W! K: x
9 |7 x: g$ u9 J" u8 y"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified/ l# L1 u. R) h8 {# e3 A
because of that missing certification," he said.8 k; a; `$ i4 D& O$ }
' b: ` {1 _2 d+ M) dThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
6 A4 K: U2 ~. x6 ?( _( j6 l: L- O7 |said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
5 I$ o$ G1 D. PSociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
+ D" v2 b! N/ S3 }) ^% S! [Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
$ }: L9 c) f* n% jthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.# t+ I @4 L5 W1 P
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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