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October 15, 2005
* T1 a# P8 t: \0 }7 X6 LClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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- q# \* l( L. f4 UBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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1 |# d# y2 D; y& j5 NCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the! E9 |+ R# _! K: x
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary$ `+ m, D* W8 ?# v
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas/ [5 X7 x% D1 a& {
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese+ E: F6 n" {* d5 u/ E
flag hang from the wall.
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& o) I# E& j! |$ P8 |One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one$ T- s: A* }1 |# u
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
2 f6 y& @# F9 Bpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker' U3 |) @, C4 T9 C
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
8 \ a+ g4 f$ H) H: u1 b3 Sare already choosing it over Spanish./ V: c3 k3 q; _
& {2 i- u b1 x/ g B' l7 o; H"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
3 k7 `# n1 I3 Qat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
0 _! F$ c, @% I) N& E, poffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."% t9 q1 _) W: i
1 y! Y4 j, [, G. `3 bWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
3 @8 g3 |) f: j n) a: i" a$ dschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings0 E6 Q3 W* V; w, L
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention: l4 N) v1 w9 T+ Q, ~
one of its most difficult to learn.. z. c0 q, n$ p+ J& r9 w1 U9 g( J
% l6 h: A* D8 _1 rLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
. S! `! O9 p- j9 X% {public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students4 ^6 n, {3 `& z0 \% y( o
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.* x R; O- h: V" u3 u/ }# u& m$ g
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
! @8 B) J" V. {2 g! ^+ FTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
- K5 R, }2 D) f, _Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to& j: `: k0 G! p' y; C3 B4 u9 K
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.+ B& O$ ]- Q! P: G' [ p
" \: [7 d1 @7 X! f$ VAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
% U- a2 h( Y( u. p. ~7 ]1 qChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country) J# m; ^! Y/ u) M* I' t4 F
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
% ]* x1 J8 A, ?' Rdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
" \" M+ c1 l8 e! hcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director/ T% T( L: f' t* u3 b* C- h
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.7 Q/ n8 h2 I! Y8 w
1 A8 I1 s# y" @/ f* `8 n0 ]"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
1 H0 ]8 w: t, f- e" R, g( ~, K" w2 dspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education9 \9 Q: d# ~1 Y. B" H$ u# O2 L6 q
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
1 _* {* d" G% p. \4 Tcan."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from: o3 T; E' }" T' p7 N' W
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10# D) H2 Y- m9 w, E: |, X& p
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language& w9 N6 c5 i ^1 x+ Q2 f
Institute in Washington.) h+ t$ h7 R9 N
$ ?! A* L' e0 o"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
; c" o. j' O7 _% h! H# daren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
: n) m6 m: D' ~6 xMcGinnis said.
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, U5 U S! ?- ~0 f5 `6 h4 s) L2 w"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
. j& x) ^+ B$ Z, S0 y% T \longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be; `# B. p& g0 e1 }
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a" ^) P. N! y+ G5 x2 N( x
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and1 \7 E9 f9 t8 A) \+ w/ z, K
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in1 x9 W4 c/ a7 {* C/ E1 P* i& r
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
' O. L; {) A7 S0 {0 s# jChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
$ R$ X( W! X, R/ r, o Bon weekends.3 N' D+ B- A8 W- e
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
5 W' U% v1 {3 mschools during the regular school day and primarily serves, n' s0 p7 Q. o$ i6 V+ x' O
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
" l; a% ?1 H+ I- Z' M. f# Qproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
2 H7 ?9 Z6 D; Z* z- n, r s( fcompetition. ! M, ]0 \. h4 u# X- r
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
& [4 G8 T2 T# Hsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."3 }+ Z+ R( P& V6 N4 @5 d
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
" {% X3 k. J& v) G) {all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse8 l: G- U6 n7 n/ \, C
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
& L" a5 x! i4 `& k/ X. t9 Bkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students' Z) i3 k4 v# ~
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
! a8 {& L7 l+ y3 z: b. L0 ]) wthe school system last year.
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. `# a. R( e1 ?8 @1 Z/ P* HThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
- }. y. y [3 T* n2 v4 c. t% n# byear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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6 _0 k' ]1 f- E& |2 ~"They have a great international experience right in their own* t6 ?# @/ E8 N
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago1 K% Z, C @* k3 S# Z
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
7 R+ Q, n7 _7 J' m+ K) m/ r khelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
3 F6 Y3 v) E( P9 B" j con an equal playing field."7 f, c% W6 A( e6 A4 f1 l
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese Y/ U! ^3 y. z: [; v* l7 @
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign5 Z, E; }; l( y! y
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks b0 y8 v0 U1 r
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An) L4 S2 `( l4 D D
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in* N" [# T) Y. l9 z8 a3 k
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
5 b; Y1 q0 i& o7 Y" rinstitute says.
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( ?# S& E' v f4 I ZSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth# \9 `( P# }" z/ T# l
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before& f! q; T5 e7 D7 k; X3 T7 ^$ U* Y4 J
deciding whether to take the class.5 I! i P1 H9 h: N& [. Q
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she( K6 {. D% |# |" X" X6 P
told her daughter.6 a. g; q/ [& p; M& S/ R. c5 s
+ ?6 ^% l2 _3 O5 ASahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
7 a9 @2 q& B2 n* \* i3 G8 O8 ?) {class.! J* Z0 N5 X# j3 ^" t5 A
/ c$ G- A n+ B8 `. CAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are7 ^7 P7 q/ I {: r" {4 `4 L
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without# U0 S+ H' ?! H+ X. N
occasional frustration.' M' ~7 U" a9 B. G8 d" n
* `5 N. N3 }- ]1 @, c8 E"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
! X3 V M1 _* v2 d8 N6 Irecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.6 N+ [2 ]5 u. ~6 ^4 H8 B1 B
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he: T7 F* g. L4 D+ G- ~0 g8 @
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
1 } n* |$ M; i- j' w/ w3 TChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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2 q( C/ i2 [2 g"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
& f, J& H# b2 _said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
' g7 f2 ?' X; w% yas many languages as I can."6 v7 w2 L9 p- N. I) t
& p+ M! ]5 [7 M. zAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the; ?8 Z& U( A/ ]$ _$ Q, K
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job/ Q* N2 Z0 m1 @# u9 z
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like, r" x' r" t4 T2 Z" R
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
" D; C5 p; X6 E" Vhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
m/ L& [( J, R- a) `: ]& f1 fschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking8 K' c& H% [& a6 d+ | R
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
L( u4 t4 n& A4 x) l/ eroom.
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1 |) n8 b% o! k' @5 k* fChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
2 ]' I4 K1 b t5 PChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
5 {2 n9 }0 D) I/ w" f- Z3 Scollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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, L* I0 e$ K: _& S8 M5 Z! A"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified/ |0 I/ m9 B/ d% S( [& e; J
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,4 ~9 {% _, _6 E
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia9 n# X! \( P% Y3 L7 y
Society in New York.3 k7 D. ^) V8 k. O8 k
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
6 T4 u: @% O- t |; s, C: k/ pChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from8 U6 ?& I! R/ J5 u6 |# i: ? |5 n& g
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
6 H- b) @' Y- s) `own."
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4 i- o! i5 f2 Q! x0 oCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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