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October 15, 2005
3 P* N7 T8 a# X& f- ]# n) zClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the0 P6 s) R: n9 O& ?6 }
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary3 w: s1 B: ?- r( U/ D
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas1 O( i1 n7 O$ F- A9 N: L
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese% L3 l) a# g. M6 O6 t
flag hang from the wall.6 p3 `& d( m* x2 x1 X4 g) b0 q0 P
: c7 ~4 c/ z9 I# f) _5 _One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
& ?- N! }7 M& m' y ]' Vanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders9 W4 S& P+ i, Z3 g5 C- [
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
8 B9 p- Y4 g& U3 N! Z6 a8 o" oboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
: m3 s& G- [1 I4 @, eare already choosing it over Spanish.
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; ^4 v# C" ~8 g& {% D"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
( c# B/ H2 j; [at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
1 U( }' s& D6 Voffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."$ P& O! g7 }6 O% e% P# B0 k
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,# r% K: J4 {+ |7 e. v
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
, I& v8 ]: L [8 P: D: Pto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention0 u t: b! ~( e9 B0 O
one of its most difficult to learn.5 c9 S2 U" U0 ~$ `. L3 r6 e2 x
i/ Z3 S) E- u2 r+ ?Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
" W# K) @$ q9 a5 Tpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students' F- t+ |0 f9 v" U9 k- m
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.. T' G( Z( f( L- C
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
9 m0 W9 W6 Y: P) t v. wTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
' y+ \% x' f! A3 }Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to6 _6 ?# C8 c0 n
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.3 k0 l8 e2 I/ B2 |
* F5 E% k" m1 {4 iAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement' }, {$ ~/ q( {2 C6 t
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country8 M! I- [# o' o
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to( P: F7 v% E$ n
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
# y" X4 \1 U3 T/ ?' h) |# z' H6 Rcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
1 ~2 H8 l/ j, ~6 H% [4 _of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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* m$ K5 \' m. C. v6 G- l& o"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
. P1 r/ u: ?# V6 C0 s- I6 cspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education( [/ m0 `/ o% {/ X
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
) i: K. w7 T6 i3 C! H% [. @can."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from) w M* c I0 ^; F$ f5 U
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10; d: `+ P2 i. H1 [6 G. X
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language! \! P1 `* E- ]- L; u/ r8 s" i# c4 p
Institute in Washington.: G2 g( m8 k1 e' I' I/ F
+ ?+ O5 `& D) I% ~3 Z; U"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
?. {1 |! I( ~2 M* c9 karen't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
# d8 a' H# V( s: r4 p7 aMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
" s6 K: u$ H9 s: Hlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be; H6 }+ l* C8 s8 B
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a- t, a; F: y7 \1 H1 i
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."% o; v$ c9 I) f# f8 V" l8 p
( H& r$ M ?7 ~2 m6 i4 EUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
; C2 Q# H; _8 Q- csecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in5 @+ _/ F% H4 a7 S2 O
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of0 h" M5 I S9 @1 _
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
. A. ^# h( Y% `" l3 aon weekends.5 A, L3 l; b+ a& C$ @- J' E+ t
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public# |, i7 E# J8 T# h9 o+ g5 C
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves$ Y: \, I4 Q) Q0 v! }% E0 r
students who are not of Chinese descent.' N1 k4 O3 u$ p, |
/ A8 ]" c1 y( n O* k) VMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said+ Q5 _, F0 p7 k; z! z: \- t. t
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
2 J+ }, E5 z ?competition. & w7 B) u4 N/ U2 i: @& n
8 V! l. R0 i7 R6 O# H T+ u4 j"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
9 n! O9 Y i" @% H; J$ z) tsaid. "There will be Chinese and English.". m W+ Q2 p' @# v' o6 y! z
- m3 M: a5 H- d& O8 W, MFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly/ Z0 o0 T1 K, z6 [5 }
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse, o! l1 J d g; H" Z
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
P% v) V% N# F! [8 {6 `kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
$ g% z% Q. W4 @+ I/ X* v' @' gwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to: }- {) E) g/ ?4 |$ t3 a% U4 T
the school system last year.; T* {4 A+ _8 w( F/ @
& g3 k4 o7 k+ D, ]6 nThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
; U/ T( ^8 r6 k: Q" d# q* dyear 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* }* b- C( ]* P% R- y Q
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
1 }: a6 J3 z* MChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
7 ^; l& e) W- R" lhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
' ]) D- ^# ?2 ]on an equal playing field."9 ]) J: r$ @: e
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
: H" o; U5 |. w {classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign8 y& Z# j0 m- v# Z+ k$ `
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks4 R' S1 ^ F0 D; C8 G6 X" ]
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
; P0 o9 L) B L2 Yaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
, f1 p- l& ^8 gChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
3 A1 }$ o; Y6 ~; T: M* cinstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
' s! E8 Q6 |3 c& R+ Egrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
0 x& X0 y5 _ N3 S' pdeciding whether to take the class.9 f% X. k% a7 j
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
' n9 i; Q1 I# `% v+ C+ r" Ntold her daughter.
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# w A' }/ Y9 qSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
2 f4 G4 b: w3 h: F2 C mclass.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are* `$ x7 b4 q. s( n
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without3 R5 Q/ e) ` Y: X: D( B$ G' t
occasional frustration.$ [: R2 P8 R. T) } t6 v& ^
$ x I9 u5 F- u) N- U' P1 v$ L"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
5 o; h5 W" V# ?7 n7 V6 K- E, s' Jrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.$ @ k# b# q6 a. s+ @
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he. O% L( j3 t; [! a3 {: w
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with3 f: C4 g- t" W* V" o
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.6 Y- g {3 t: ^4 K
3 {: v: S2 f5 S* `6 a8 p"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
9 v3 w: u; w( _7 m0 T; U$ g) rsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn$ f4 R9 j) |, g, }
as many languages as I can."
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) f. z V# c: s o% K7 MAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the* M" _8 }- w; v
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
; `8 A" k1 L8 d! \2 S# f, @1 Dmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
7 i4 w- v: U# h Z5 \- Zthat," Ms. Freire said.6 t- R6 G! ^/ O! ]( `! S: R9 Y
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
+ m; g% m3 ^2 `1 [6 v9 T5 @, lhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
0 I9 D, C& [/ F5 o1 jschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking. p: i. v7 `% H' N+ C$ W
time 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# K% U- a( x, e
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
, a, H2 x8 E+ ^; }5 X+ ocollege, 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 qualified$ o% ~- _; t7 b% p0 E4 M8 o
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
5 E6 Q, [) x4 |" ]' C4 k0 psaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia0 q$ C; a5 T+ z
Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
% r7 M' f. H0 O: m1 mChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
! ~3 B# k7 G) J @; [/ | vthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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' |5 v3 w! ~8 t6 N6 @7 F"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our+ [ O" ?, u( h7 @! i
own."
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1 o7 v1 l4 ~( rCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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