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October 15, 2005$ [8 I. f8 e* ?, D/ i( O) M
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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8 l8 r/ u3 `4 j2 DBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING; Y( Q9 o$ B! N( l+ N
. O& L5 R8 I- v# Y: ACHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
) h5 g* T: x. l4 @) OUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary% C8 ]8 h# s5 {. s2 F
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
4 A+ ~+ o/ v5 S7 _" Tdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese/ r) A, Y" W; W1 {& {2 ^2 l" [
flag hang from the wall.0 n6 q3 X% I) w P% T
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one% m7 H& Z. i5 t$ }. J) o
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders3 u9 a6 w0 D( t( q( X
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
- P0 E7 e R3 A# Y8 n8 s- tboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students# e q0 I) l3 E2 R% `" W0 S$ w! [
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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$ v- ~3 g. @& [: X9 M- e4 _& m"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
' a& ^+ v1 m, o, S% yat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city/ f( B: V% M3 s5 z
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,7 j, Z2 n5 F2 H- u
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
4 Y6 A& G2 ]6 X2 j# {to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
R0 [0 c; {/ k2 r4 m' u' sone of its most difficult to learn.0 o1 i6 E. b% M
. A) {! H) a, { A& j7 Q* t5 WLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to. Z4 Z- j$ X- O* E8 T/ l2 W
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
. T* b5 H, c% G2 s5 E4 wstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
7 ~) K }/ d/ |9 |Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
6 I5 {8 Z5 a9 @7 o% `/ sTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
* }! g/ o! y8 |4 m6 ?8 f" ~Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
* \/ K4 g9 Z$ d' o+ F0 w: x' Fimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.: b- G: L. `2 \2 `( y
0 m7 ?+ q* m$ V8 V% U5 B# AAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
7 q! |7 X" z! AChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country" Y3 s8 q8 h0 s1 a4 B& f
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to+ u' W. o0 y4 H. s* Z3 S$ c" j" e
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
; C& | q; i) t6 r! d9 d7 N4 Kcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director+ }0 G) F5 ~2 d4 |( Z& O* r; U) Q
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.; g7 u) L7 |5 h% Y. O6 l1 o
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
8 X; I! w( a7 O1 s4 q0 W9 i9 Aspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
3 S9 `; B# x1 g) yConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
: y! q9 }' k6 q8 s8 Z4 tcan." & m$ R9 j! g$ m: L6 q
0 s- J( v* w, N8 C$ z3 L6 Y2 b* TThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from/ r% n& c. n& {
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10/ R. h2 Z; L% P4 s6 k6 @9 m V6 L
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
( M& u3 W" N/ q0 ]. ?, N% \8 n4 n' xInstitute in Washington.. ], u9 L0 l1 m& @/ q
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages# h; @+ X) _8 d S* X+ p
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
' j$ t8 ^# G/ r. e* aMcGinnis said.
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% d4 k5 ]7 h. W6 D; B"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
' j: B2 L9 J8 ^" Alongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be2 f8 K8 A0 T& D, D9 y- J ]
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
- v4 |0 M4 @5 ~& Q( Q& C% \challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."$ C/ e3 P' F/ d% C) g9 A
( c% v' K4 U6 I+ `' i5 P6 ]% f9 X6 pUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
2 b5 @# C5 F2 n) _. Isecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
6 a) O$ Z$ W4 J9 E& a W. \/ e& Wcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
5 s; L+ p& E* m3 L( @! ^Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or) N9 X/ F4 g3 f/ `
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
. L0 r1 H& U8 m* u# gschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
7 U# `" b4 A' @; ?. f) _students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
X7 n E7 d1 d- Oproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
, `% U* k2 m4 G( u8 wcompetition. 1 M" O4 A4 r9 K: `4 ?. d) d1 y
% y" b. X- S& `7 X4 E6 S! v"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley" E3 o l5 v ~* a% \* p9 x
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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. a2 G( p* ~2 B/ {5 P1 }+ zFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
( B( L# E3 ?9 B& |! O+ C# }all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse" ^& T% G5 w d2 G- A+ q' {" d
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
+ e4 }5 |6 w% j2 Y( jkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
- T4 C9 w& J3 H) t: _* Gwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to: D0 p) [/ B; p4 o8 t% [6 l
the school system last year.2 W" d! L, e3 |; `6 k/ r2 z2 w
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
- y# }- F3 J7 ?year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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"They have a great international experience right in their own
$ g( d+ B5 B1 |/ nclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
, X7 T; p7 M6 {5 K7 ?% r+ pChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
8 D% z1 [2 n1 ?( ahelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet0 f& Q1 ~* i& X
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
# U) `/ \4 o: x. N5 V' Pclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign" e0 @: {9 w3 f w: v
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks' F8 ~3 ^3 V$ M0 E
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
9 c4 X. Q$ c7 k- }average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in3 s1 b; y0 x! [
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
/ k/ r" `5 b9 q; linstitute says.$ A$ ~# @/ F) i- M# K) n; ?
) i( D. @ Q- g6 R1 U$ Y9 xSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth: D+ m6 C8 l( ^# L
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
5 S C0 H9 y8 i' b* D* ^* sdeciding whether to take the class.2 s) d* @: C7 l9 E
" _/ b: I( y$ O: D"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
9 _; |# B, @$ I/ p( jtold her daughter.
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' H1 k+ ?$ Q0 D3 K, @Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite/ @- h& ~/ r N( C# V
class.
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6 t/ K5 ~( x+ U; BAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are5 |8 ^& N/ ]. N4 m
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without1 n4 g/ Z7 o6 K# o: w q& w: m6 x
occasional frustration.: D1 E: Z4 z# t! s( k
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a& z& x# P' k" E8 @+ i
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.1 f# c5 g1 h% ^# p
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
+ I$ U z% f* |+ b7 u9 Z" Ytaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with, m( P9 ~$ g! z# H7 R
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.: l1 Z |9 y+ u! O" x/ o2 |9 v$ P
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
+ n* k! @3 @! }" _2 o rsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn" ~) z9 P, G" T9 X' G
as many languages as I can.", r, l/ O2 D+ l& z) i$ S* R
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the) C i$ d! B' G. r5 V/ m7 `; ^
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job7 F, Y# t+ B1 h5 h% A
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like$ a7 x J3 N$ c1 d1 e
that," Ms. Freire said.
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5 _0 ~8 M% B3 a2 s; k! s) PMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
9 T! y+ [$ [6 q/ M( x6 ?" u& Uhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each$ @. s* D/ P! H3 p' g" \( L
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
* b5 {2 @1 X9 c, [9 h! q( Btime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer* y- Y0 n8 F8 o) o6 ]2 p0 c
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
. O$ h# B8 j2 k7 Hcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.' F* p8 Z+ i3 _/ \2 B# @
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
# `1 B9 U/ y7 Qbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
8 T0 `/ n/ W# |4 ]5 V g0 j. Psaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
; e+ [0 Z% m: V h! b1 dSociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
( M" Z/ A, b* g: Z9 q' yChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from& X7 K) z/ ?8 _8 S
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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& R# l \ d( q9 N$ M6 h$ J"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our; M9 i4 j* L# `! z/ \: f5 l5 z7 K8 {
own."
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