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October 15, 2005) J# t+ W0 i# O4 ?/ k1 D: A
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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^; |7 W! K+ c4 X" u8 _9 QCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
5 y/ w' j. R$ d0 D( {: {) G3 ?United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary% t3 U$ a3 R# e7 a4 ^: v
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas7 J& e5 P/ u$ U3 a' b
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese9 @% I* e# `* E( |5 T
flag hang from the wall.
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% g; b# E( h* L0 IOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one/ F) `1 m! x6 h, t" S+ G
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
! o8 x2 w; ^! xpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker4 q& w: i; B7 K6 e
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
( v a+ [& n) ~4 B6 A Gare already choosing it over Spanish.
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" L0 U E6 Q% u' p- j9 N"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
# W, Q& p+ `1 r: _& }) w" Gat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
9 M4 {' \) P. s/ y4 x+ a5 doffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
: }; m" ?, i- Bschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
4 p( x$ U& p2 h& T0 Z3 Z2 Sto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
% ^$ ]; K8 P z& w2 H+ Q5 L5 n! kone of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
# o+ O& U) T+ g) o/ n9 K! {! zpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
5 k: X! E9 z1 Gstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
; O% w& o% Y' w6 uLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of9 {/ h6 T$ H7 p" d. x
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
% W- H. K/ @, ~6 t) z7 r6 H$ GChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
! c7 x$ d7 {% R" Q6 {0 h" ]improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.: q! D, H, G! c* ~/ D" E0 ]. G. g
* R1 w4 {* @$ e2 S5 P, K* _- yAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
7 H4 L& X5 E$ D" s- n; @+ V6 QChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
% \4 P# O$ K( e$ a# @starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
3 B- b- V& C7 X+ Q2 Ndevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing( q& S/ @4 x) b& }( s$ U/ l9 B
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director0 V7 ]3 P6 R, ~
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.' C7 Z' y0 }* g/ W/ t. e; h1 w
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of" k! X4 `0 o. i3 v& g$ t3 K0 [
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education6 J+ q8 F. E2 z/ j
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
! D$ k, W: A$ {( y( W3 i/ a' X* Z+ v( ^elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
! G: X4 }& Z" T ?years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language6 [# F# v: B ]" Y4 W
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages0 ` U5 P: _ D# ]: W B2 j: k1 \
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.! \0 c3 u: {: X8 G8 O
McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
# i$ h+ z' @# m/ h+ ~3 Llongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
5 r. C! @- m# ?/ eready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a. R) J6 ~3 Y" D4 R8 i$ z
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and, o; j/ |0 O& D, }$ V2 L$ b
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in2 P" ]/ s* W5 N) O: r$ R( a4 ^
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of/ I0 f5 L. H: G# \* L, z0 V% i
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
, b: z' R/ s& R+ M9 [; l* P' w" Ron weekends.5 o! d- \) X0 C1 L. l* _( w* m
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
% _/ u- `$ l2 y: Hschools during the regular school day and primarily serves. Z2 @: ^- l' ]3 ~% g; J
students who are not of Chinese descent.+ B, d2 V- {4 _$ A& D- V
/ L# }' m0 c: \' Q& UMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said( {. y9 ^0 r) f0 k7 @( @
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the; M9 v* z$ q N( z+ o
competition. 5 \+ N B: @- S+ D% ]
* \, |. a/ \4 X( z( u"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
6 u+ R: U$ I$ H6 @0 Y. Lsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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5 h, @9 a4 U1 v! v% MFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
' Q- }* {- Q2 U( O% j" L0 nall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
, W# \1 [; |' y# d5 M" Mschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from- s, {6 |" W! C( A. `8 b
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students* z2 ~6 z( R) ?' O; b
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to* P4 L/ D7 Q& b& S% f+ Q* p
the school system last year.- B- }, ?, G5 {4 j
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this4 B% b/ R- q. M6 F$ e. C" U
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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* d% E) `5 e/ V" U% ]# L0 Y* N"They have a great international experience right in their own
" |1 ~; D9 a7 w) e7 Rclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
8 E% } r. t8 k' K3 f- |Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
+ F( a# z$ @# d; [help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
8 Y& M$ H+ W; t2 son an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
( x* c. C! z4 P: q( i- ]classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign$ Q+ F% B6 `& v; K% O% Q
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks7 E& G- `8 v, Q9 u' d8 X1 ^8 m; b
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
9 ^; w" V$ \6 Laverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
4 B+ b2 p+ V; }; IChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the: Z. D$ i9 d! Q
institute says.
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- z7 [ h1 c9 D* K- I2 [Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
. @; S9 f0 d6 R% D% qgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before3 y: I" D4 K5 }; R3 ^" H: X
deciding whether to take the class.
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" i( {+ t. ]2 n"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
& z) f7 B* I9 F3 d1 M ]6 Q ~told her daughter., w) S) @, k" s
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite/ f: x3 e& k0 \" V5 E: b+ u
class.
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. h! P6 ~: s" O; rAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are! H. e! ^0 \+ L2 a" x
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
7 }/ J# E' h2 z/ Doccasional frustration.5 R3 L! H4 w, V" H3 Y" o& }# I
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a: C7 z( b# ^+ K8 l
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.9 f7 a9 i) c/ | H9 x. I# m; h, ~
3 ]! |- {( u$ Q% A5 V DRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he5 d# ~4 _5 M$ @9 B* s
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with2 @1 F1 r" @3 B+ D9 X4 k/ }% { a
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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, J2 J; V4 t( y8 ?"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul; m1 E6 j2 G1 q( J
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
+ }4 c" x. W$ o. V- eas many languages as I can."
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) j, o2 T9 u5 d. A( M5 s" u& yAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the* a0 @1 }. {9 s P. Y0 g) j1 T
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
! w1 s9 J7 ]6 C9 Xmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
! A* k5 Q% v0 P7 b) Zthat," Ms. Freire said.% m+ J6 Z+ e( C4 a- m
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
7 ]: q5 h3 d& Nhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each! z$ e$ j! U1 p: c: m# |1 d
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
. U+ Z) O. J/ p6 ]; dtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
V4 n% P0 j! ]- @ W! U( M3 m. Zroom.
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6 J" ~: e7 h: m7 y4 \Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
' t# Z, M. `6 }Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
" X0 r! X& ~' G, Z3 H$ Dcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.5 j0 Q5 L; F1 g2 T
* v! g8 x) H. |"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified2 ^! V6 S0 u% A8 Y( u F
because of that missing certification," he said./ f" {# h/ E% j
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States, i* s/ H7 [$ y# O$ j: Q# y* G
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
; L: e+ a+ w) Q8 G7 _2 n+ ySociety in New York.# g1 t# k1 T3 e0 |9 _. t) e s
( O( q' G+ j1 w- g, G* |" a# bSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
- Z9 R5 A+ r }Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from, [" O' \0 @' W( V9 ^4 m2 \
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our6 z: x% \8 W- T1 I
own."
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