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October 15, 2005. Y2 R3 E% @. ^
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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# c9 b9 q; t) a, t, M" QBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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3 x2 i" e2 W9 Z( n' T1 K. aCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the4 A& q4 [! B( J( [, _9 Z) u& k
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
# q" _4 N$ Y8 [; p0 }( l5 vSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas; P4 {6 z0 w N
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
+ e, ` i6 Z' S; S7 D d! W3 Jflag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one' W2 D2 Q' Y5 w/ \; l: N3 W9 h
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders" Z [; A4 H" c, r$ Z/ f( W
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker; ~7 h" d. u# N' _
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students# ?4 T0 Y( P+ _
are already choosing it over Spanish.( A5 Q9 h+ _2 l! d, v4 a
, ^9 ?/ E9 t( k0 q' e"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal) c0 G& {$ [" l4 f4 B% d" l
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
- Y/ n+ }$ d5 S0 L8 @" ?& moffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in.") l; A; k2 _; W9 i" Y
" H& j0 b1 f8 @; w' i* K( ]With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
. C7 [% ]7 \7 xschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings4 Q8 S6 g3 K/ w) T
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
& S6 o. t6 n9 U2 [' Mone of its most difficult to learn.
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1 d4 V; \$ u3 N0 W- |/ h1 p6 A dLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
& A, g1 f9 s' n% i% o( b/ e* ^public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
" ?% G0 K9 r, Lstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.) x$ K9 a8 x1 j9 M; j0 `: e
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
1 o( b: b8 p# ^% I+ ]Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on9 A$ o& T) ]* z) B7 `$ v" L4 J
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to/ S& A' n* o8 p" P
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.' V: Y6 p, g+ M
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
. A w( Y" t& J kChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country" G6 k* \' e! ?1 \
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
6 y0 ^8 ]& r/ cdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
! ]! ^ T [* r; @curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director0 j: ~9 |9 A5 k @' }/ v
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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5 e" N/ f. ]% U2 C9 T"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
' J3 ]) A2 S* P' W) y8 g# |speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education: T" A# ?* m6 u, n9 T
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
+ y7 Q1 s7 l7 q1 h6 |2 o! }" L; d9 Ycan."
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3 y! G% r$ Y( |5 `+ V. yThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from2 M( U8 z/ A1 E u( [) F. ^
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
) Y& ?0 l9 _4 M% E! n Ayears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language+ L+ ]3 g' j' E
Institute in Washington.' c" _, ]) h7 @% Z# ]
# Y, X& `& R- ^/ s+ i! T"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages2 q( H/ k+ W {8 m6 F6 e% |$ U
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
# O4 a! M, @& R$ q5 O/ k V+ N# gMcGinnis said.) I5 ?$ l9 W( t' _8 m
0 M: |' k8 E1 m& E8 T" T- q8 _"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
& e( q# q. p* Plongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be# w! k; T* V1 Z, [+ U/ ]; j* @/ F) f5 C
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a, c9 L3 l0 k, h. f# R
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and2 y1 m$ l8 ^0 h/ X- I j" B
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
" w5 N. q3 X8 r5 N) b8 Icities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
4 @8 R" ? R0 _% g" [Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
7 P( t7 c# v1 C4 c- m3 Yon weekends.
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) R( w) j. S+ wThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public- g# o# M4 k+ D& Z) r. J. n
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
. ?1 \2 h1 H( ^$ p1 s( cstudents who are not of Chinese descent.7 _2 P5 P. P( U' r! |/ D, V
, h, n$ d+ j& A6 k; b3 a6 q# SMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said) U1 N' h8 R# {0 A+ I- C
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
" F8 @( _8 G" m3 t/ O' wcompetition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley) y5 n: R" ?5 `+ y9 _4 u$ W3 j
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
% D! P8 y% G. _. S- O) tall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse3 S& O+ t5 L& p. u- h
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from3 y/ ^( T' u7 X1 h
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students% K0 o" F. W5 _4 D1 z8 E Y4 y; Y
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to% j- _4 n1 v/ \2 R+ M: B% e
the school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
; B" A$ E9 J* h L5 q2 syear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.* c! D2 C0 p# \3 I
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"They have a great international experience right in their own
+ E" _, K2 R8 \& z: L2 n) lclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago7 X% e' o% |& N- W( x' M
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
, `# K5 |8 h+ W0 ?* \" E Chelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet5 [ z4 n1 D2 ?) R1 T8 s
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese1 \; I( F& v$ I. j
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign: ^( f! j6 i6 I) _2 D" M4 \5 p
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
1 t; ^( i5 j! n2 w( WChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An0 ]- _1 B3 `4 \+ K8 y3 H4 I Q
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
0 [8 j, @& a/ U5 ^9 v" hChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the: H" K6 K2 a# v1 K% b4 v3 I! a# ?
institute says.7 a8 J9 \" I% @
2 H; J0 L; ~. |* fSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
, A4 H' d0 d; M. Z; t& Dgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before( C0 ?/ Z! |; v( r9 h: x Z
deciding whether to take the class.
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3 |2 N% J7 c }/ Q"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she1 |/ h \: m# s+ Q. S
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite/ p6 l) r7 L+ |! E# {
class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
1 Z) v- J2 A7 @( {) Z3 M7 qstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without9 Y/ v* g' r) q1 N
occasional frustration.
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8 T% Q) M0 _$ J9 F1 q& ]"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
! z) g% k7 d- a6 z/ v; \recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he0 Y2 `$ O- X& L: f5 j
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
* H* W) U6 b8 j7 R, W4 AChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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4 C+ w C( J. \# Z"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
( q3 f( R$ h) F1 rsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
! _: ]$ |3 s& V7 p" ?as many languages as I can."2 h. q8 w6 y* d: Q1 ?9 h4 e' `
& p% I: }& t1 w: }9 T$ S# v& aAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the6 B+ r, H2 S/ D/ @* K
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
, h2 K" [. v$ x7 K4 }$ ^( o) Nmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like( X% X9 b8 U) e6 Z8 A8 u" v5 m
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program* w" C, j7 K! E( H/ \; s6 _
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each9 [$ Q3 n# o, J: k, D" Z8 T3 z: v
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
5 {2 b" y) T U, `time from classes like physical education, music and art to make0 \4 O3 j& C C9 O
room.9 J, B+ ?4 @& S1 z0 K0 ~ ^6 `
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer' z4 r: x4 ?8 N7 ^5 n
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
0 Y0 `) T$ ^0 Acollege, 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
% x- ^* q7 o w! `because of that missing certification," he said.. A! H6 C% |) j$ L
, h! e& }7 ]6 s8 U) t+ p4 Q8 f; aThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,# a0 p5 f* t& {$ K+ B
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia5 m% W6 O& j/ y
Society in New York.8 L- L: n: J9 C( z5 [' D$ O
7 w' ]5 q0 i: g# M- ~Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
) g1 A& N: m; _& @7 }, ZChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
% i% p9 D7 M3 U* _& S$ |the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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( L8 t2 Q, ^: S9 q3 `"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our; s2 u9 M) z* ^- W9 W# _0 _
own."
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5 C0 ]/ f* \& B2 |6 G+ nCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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