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October 15, 2005
* B% f/ k: s8 I+ V5 ~2 hClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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0 G$ R3 e+ l, u3 `- D8 tBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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9 y! f7 S# ~& {- O- eCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
, B" v6 l% s6 m! g- PUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
/ b7 F4 N9 Y" R. h& V- ASchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
% ^+ A7 _( e) [5 adangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese+ X3 E7 E9 e9 U- u+ T
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
1 ~- Q! Z% R! U' a% X: F4 Nanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
: Q, K7 t2 q2 b6 A9 v# Upracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
; y0 g; A* i1 Z \; J" Cboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students3 b: u0 D0 l$ R, }. w: |6 ?
are already choosing it over Spanish./ s ^$ p; j! J' L' A* P
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal0 ?2 A c' Q/ ^; M. H
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city# w: K+ ?( {- j, S
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."2 Q0 T" H7 H7 [& P: o6 Y' a Q
& t* a0 ?+ y4 }With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,! `& N+ n# `+ L2 c( R
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings( v8 S. ^2 m$ R/ j
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
- n/ q2 o& b# B* Gone of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
% r5 I: ~5 ?6 u6 M2 m# Tpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students% ~! g9 h2 c+ ]% z7 t3 _
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
9 |7 |: q7 a* g5 F' m, {Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of1 T) z; y1 |6 K! ? D: p
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
2 l" t* A" l+ }/ J2 jChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
! L# D7 L$ \: v) g) }/ q4 Ximprove 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 Placement0 u$ R: I1 F6 R2 c. m$ }2 S% r7 C1 K
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country! @- M5 A$ M! m/ i
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to+ ]+ |$ P- B6 C1 x1 X$ l+ i
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing+ `/ e P8 K3 ]1 S" ]# r
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director% D0 n. r) @, D' A1 H
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.+ U$ ?( u- l0 V
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
* `: U( x: g$ F! Ospeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education% i' S4 U4 r$ [) E
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
3 e ?* A% p6 m" Ecan."
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8 b& e' C- J* c& F2 u6 FThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
/ z2 p7 e+ c" r. U; i2 |elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 102 @ q" \" I1 ^' e- k& s/ U8 W
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language" J9 H! M7 N& w
Institute in Washington.7 y& w% _4 [" ~
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
! [8 V" {* I$ A7 Paren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
j" W' L! @7 z4 S9 K* ^1 eMcGinnis said.- [3 I6 b# Y+ ?; t" C l
. L& J I/ Z$ _+ A: H( s# [; t( R"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
0 e% t" @+ _9 t' rlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be2 D8 l2 H2 t# q! D* k0 |7 R5 ^, z
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
( ]: o- A% y5 ~5 r: {2 vchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and) Y. I* J# O7 F
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in! Q1 E, \8 j! ]2 a, B/ I; [& V
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
3 \7 V9 A" a) N) w% s6 ?7 zChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
* g' z5 V" s& ?on weekends.3 }* L! z1 ^# I
6 f5 m; m0 R y( ?The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
2 r D* G3 Y7 m Tschools during the regular school day and primarily serves' X! e' [* h2 c( r4 w: Q
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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: t- r _9 i9 Q- j4 E dMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
! V& e2 ?# @2 I6 h3 ^) [4 Iproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the0 p ^! O: w- u, V& H
competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
% p1 Z6 d4 r$ L" i9 \* qsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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( L% V: m* H( e4 Y9 a" zFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
- Q8 o% k* ?4 s8 ]+ Z* D1 ?all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse. H# A& ~; C; T% _
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
1 B+ S0 A! t8 J2 \9 [! Nkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students5 H( W8 f0 [2 `* ` t+ U: M9 R
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to9 f+ E9 e; e9 g- S. [& F
the school system last year.8 Z7 J- a) L/ |8 b5 ]
4 ~, w( z1 O2 Z$ S, hThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
( e5 J2 V: b' Syear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.! _1 u0 Z2 o6 ]8 c$ a8 X' _9 X' k" g2 T4 t
' ~% @! L9 A8 w9 S8 M! @: w"They have a great international experience right in their own+ g9 v. f* R4 ^7 B5 e
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
) ~/ k" Z# x% i- cChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to' r3 |; s7 a6 N
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet% i- X% n5 @1 I# K
on an equal playing field."
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9 S1 K% Q$ Q2 n( a, p: lSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese3 \9 }" ?2 \; [* ~& W
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
0 r2 {4 F, r3 q$ o& l9 yService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
0 P8 D9 j% X; Y7 F0 \, yChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
4 W) ?+ s+ ?) Q8 qaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in1 Q$ U( P2 ]1 B, d% g5 k7 g
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
* `- o& l+ ^% p4 Z' s- N' Cinstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth3 z3 i% E) U2 W1 Q. c. t
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before4 ^2 T+ G; W6 q' X; O6 Y6 U" `% S
deciding whether to take the class.
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5 i+ u- s, V" H9 E; |6 F: @) }& P+ D"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
+ m! @. ]; S5 K5 i# C! }told her daughter./ t) k1 l) ~: i6 G+ w9 y
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite& j; o' Z0 H: _4 S# t" o7 x, y0 a- N
class.$ C. x9 {( J4 Q7 z: e: W" @
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
% H, a: |. r; @studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
# b9 N- u# B" r' ~# B/ Q- t8 j# Voccasional frustration.
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2 G% l- S2 P0 J6 c0 J. B"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a7 ^# {8 l8 V' f7 @7 F6 i( k/ O, l
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
9 l$ H) D& o, _! a0 _taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
" P& v9 b( s: c/ E7 FChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.* |/ U0 M/ Z7 U) o3 C
' Q2 M. x( Z1 C, e* F$ E"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul1 z$ F# y( G O& H( {
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
' C$ [: M8 |( V V, T* Has many languages as I can."# Z4 O9 n' c* Z
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the8 B* P$ L# ?, o" U, R2 Q! A
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
- h/ j% ^0 b `, U! Z$ ~0 Zmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
# _# L* L( a Zthat," Ms. Freire said.
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. x$ D6 }/ o/ I5 hMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
4 Y3 } ^5 s) E4 [4 |0 W3 D3 n4 bhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each* i* E6 P0 z, _+ M& L
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking$ w, q' {9 N x, o1 J
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make# H9 a- ?( o d. z# l4 }3 Q( `
room.7 s7 e; m+ i) n# p, U4 L1 U( O. B# P
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer+ i/ B1 s3 l9 n8 ]7 z0 ~- W
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
+ ^9 S$ H& V2 G) h2 `0 M& w1 Hcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.; [. x! Y/ |6 E. d6 R" f* j
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified* `" g7 F) I- \) T q
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
! j4 |: _7 ^' Nsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
- g+ S/ j7 k0 H& Z `1 VSociety in New York.* |5 o2 K! ?$ P" }; u" N) T
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
" }# P* J. W8 j! w7 K' [Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from, F" P' `; O' k, V5 X" a( N
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.' f# v" L: y$ V
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our! r# n4 Q* E, m( K% U" K+ m! `& q$ u& V) p
own."
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