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October 15, 2005+ p8 e5 A, {+ t6 O+ t( \
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity7 \% M& b4 ^6 R* f5 r4 G; u* Q
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the6 |. J- y/ t5 O
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
; Q3 A! ~" ^$ x" dSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
6 e9 w$ O4 v' y* ~$ tdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese5 ]$ r1 [3 \: a% j
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one8 v: K2 E6 w) ]1 o' }0 d
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders7 i4 }6 e- O N6 h
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
+ R/ Z$ Y' ^* w* S5 \2 B Kboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
& F' a5 {7 U- oare already choosing it over Spanish.: M3 X* I# [. J; P
3 o; D: s/ ^% y"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
; G; Y+ v8 O& E4 bat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
9 @8 S. [& y4 ~7 b9 [* coffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."* r0 ^- s' J' w
; @: X+ g4 v5 v" B+ Y1 |3 i( K, Z1 DWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,6 B/ }' r# C. |2 Y/ F! Y
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
/ c/ A! T1 g3 T. Kto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention4 J F( V* q6 d q' ~1 E$ Q' l# H
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to6 H. S% P5 s& s1 J D3 K
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
2 Y/ o9 N8 p9 {% W9 B; `# Ostudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
9 b( K$ y" ~6 K& E( HLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
1 L5 l! I& w7 F+ a `! q6 HTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
. J& v. i" u$ ?, D/ YChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to( w" y. y% {9 G K; m7 E8 |
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.: t/ M/ S% I, O1 M$ o; u9 o2 r
1 I! T1 H8 g& y$ u" q" j1 }After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
+ J7 Z6 h. m' Z0 `Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
" n' k. E( Y, Kstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to, T$ Z+ |) q; H E! t5 f/ | f* U
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
, h7 l2 J1 M4 Ocurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
9 y! o7 ~3 Z+ D1 G2 yof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
) f3 @: `# v* o. T* U3 Y5 {speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
2 R8 J9 N. @0 d! TConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
; B& d; ?# `" l: t- [; T7 Dcan."
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! T; Z# W( C7 u) K- IThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
: `1 {/ U4 c4 f X- relementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 104 X( }2 C: c* a6 X) X4 H$ U
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language7 ]7 v, ~3 f8 F% K, B6 ?" B( v
Institute in Washington.* q1 a& `6 ~+ d- \; f
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
" w+ p, }1 A- D# i9 c: [: j2 Daren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
' ~; J. \! y" h _McGinnis said./ |# G+ G7 B8 C% J
( C( k' m5 w- K- V1 j"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical: H2 O& D8 I5 t1 [
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be7 Y1 n* E- ?( Z! U7 O
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a# |8 g# |2 |) A! e
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."2 C. {9 H7 L5 Q9 S6 O
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and' \: A9 ^" D# Q9 P
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in2 C. `% E0 N, h6 x y
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of3 O1 D: X% P+ h% Z% X: l2 a) e4 X
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
/ o$ `# H' q- z0 u& Z0 S9 Ion weekends.
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1 `6 j# i3 b* x' \9 [. G7 TThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
" _& U5 W' a7 g# d zschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
/ F' N5 E4 n+ k; Jstudents who are not of Chinese descent.+ k4 q/ p4 F8 H6 z# D. \
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said" u3 m& c6 B" A' } ^
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the0 w. z9 C- f; h
competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley+ Q9 i- Y* ?" M6 M6 p
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly2 T7 K! @' ^8 J9 G
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse, h3 c8 d5 L- a) O, {$ E
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from3 L, c4 C6 ~, J ~0 e+ g
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
: ~ B% \: M% A! i H7 w( Fwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
, L3 E& x- N, P, Gthe school system last year.9 _- I4 A2 `# e" w F7 s& [: j6 {
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this4 p5 x1 M* G# B, x, @# [
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.: w7 a5 ^* `! I1 x( Y5 s' _
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"They have a great international experience right in their own2 p- `& J1 y2 ^* p5 E
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
" p; a6 p7 W, x/ D- ?3 kChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
7 L$ V, U+ a8 Ehelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet& ?0 N* X. ^' f% ]
on an equal playing field."+ U3 e4 j+ F6 x$ A# N& o( C; R' r
# d4 |7 `5 L4 [Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese7 W7 l3 v& F# p/ r2 z
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign' D+ v& z) \1 t8 D3 V
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks4 e! C5 A$ t# L: W1 S0 @
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An2 ~) b# N/ `8 j1 g1 N4 ]3 M
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
. p1 l2 a) c; k2 ?8 |" t# {& F/ eChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the% Z, p/ `8 y2 R; O" U
institute says.8 F$ y& w: x# R* q! l- Z" w. c
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
$ }0 ^3 l3 i! i0 G% I8 Fgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
. s# G+ C' v* o8 H5 `7 k& \deciding whether to take the class.! {5 S' O5 U i! @; ]0 y
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
# I5 X! J) V9 U8 l+ }* a8 k& Dtold her daughter.7 R5 |# ^: i! G% ^+ S) z% A
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
, `. O- k4 Q. V+ F& E: I: M' Lclass.* A, Q* _) L+ v! R; r
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are& g! G' [6 o" P
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
, ]& n, ^! q6 @' voccasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a- x& b4 _. `3 A8 c/ @. B! K
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he5 |+ W5 p) X9 z( X
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
! \7 K4 K, [9 ~4 _Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.% Y/ w2 J2 J' E* M
& ~+ e& P6 ~1 M3 I"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
7 B' V- K* G3 v& d0 dsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
, n; \9 A4 H) W) \+ o- ]as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
, @, S/ B9 i T" e9 \skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
+ P, J+ u$ ?4 P) R: Mmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like, u+ a0 N- n$ w1 p
that," Ms. Freire said.& ~' R9 d! J7 q6 k k2 l' H |3 ]
) m) r, g7 e6 K$ nMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
" S9 L# E8 U6 Y4 i6 Y. o v2 B5 There offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
; t$ ]. ?# v0 }4 k- |school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking* C- E' e! p! U& T% M8 O
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
8 V2 q1 h8 v7 a% U+ H4 }2 F! L! qroom.% w6 h$ g7 {. @0 { i2 T7 S4 Y k
9 `# y( q+ \, @6 Q4 n$ x+ e tChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer+ H9 F7 |% }/ }0 e8 I1 Y
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
/ Z1 P5 U- N `+ L+ E" [) Fcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified8 F6 X& F$ Z; l7 Z* `3 G
because of that missing certification," he said.$ Q# ~$ R6 [% d
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States," ^1 w1 t# h7 i5 |3 W" A
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia9 j6 x) V& u, R) C+ g4 D! K- a7 G
Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
/ x8 G% ^6 b3 K, n" \9 hChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
+ o o* h2 i6 h+ ?the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.* E+ Y/ j; ^' [& O4 \3 N* e$ P
4 h) f6 `1 B* }/ g, s9 W+ o"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our: s3 B) Y) o2 N# l8 g/ d
own."
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& Y+ d+ ]$ |7 y! b; _3 ^Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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