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October 15, 2005
: ^8 d6 C: F8 `) A0 gClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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: k+ ], \" S# C, L5 BBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING6 K1 h) J! M' W0 o. y1 h
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
% ?6 _5 |# y+ z0 a) q# W0 x0 h( ZUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
% D, e+ S8 z' P6 ^+ iSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas0 B( m' j `2 O) H$ J
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
' A1 ^( y0 X1 F2 \: T! X4 |flag hang from the wall.
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$ x2 b" j6 D: \. POne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
% ?0 x% x& d0 _7 e( T4 N, ]# Y# C, sanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders+ o2 I. J$ q) o- v$ o7 v
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker6 Z' T4 N. y G) u+ K
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students. J: A. E6 ~' ]! g# z: @; O' ^) H
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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) d% S$ i1 k4 e0 B; B5 r"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal7 T- v8 V: p+ a, l
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
6 ` S2 C' o( coffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."3 M' S" P2 J9 K3 e# E( ~8 i4 {
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
% A* K: N) c$ E6 e! mschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
, g% v" i- B" y9 F3 R# Oto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
: H4 }! O9 l, Fone of its most difficult to learn.5 @+ Q6 [6 y; u, m
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to! i+ N$ V$ d8 Y( G9 f: X! ?
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
; z0 I9 Q+ b% M" ?9 ]3 S; j( Mstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.6 @5 G: _3 _: r# d' ?* t, y
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of/ h9 y5 i. g: l8 B8 ^
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on/ Q u7 r. T, G* h% K+ s: w
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to/ x$ h, R3 C" \5 M* u! J% h5 y
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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+ m. B& D' ^% h* qAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
% U- `& e+ D- ^" ]# kChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
4 W3 U' h4 y7 D1 `+ D x1 {) lstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to' S" m, B+ n1 g8 _: A# S
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
a3 T% |( H4 Y8 J" J: ocurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director% ^- @* K! E( a1 \8 G! c
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.% e5 K- y& \5 C1 e0 y4 ^ {1 o7 R
0 d; ~8 m' t L6 k"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
, W4 Z( G' J! _ O9 l" nspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
6 V8 \/ v' P' u q: D' `Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we. o% M. R5 u7 C0 R- h$ N- ^+ U8 k* q
can." 7 \ r5 h) }+ ^" q/ Q% o
1 n) L7 _4 B" I& \4 _5 k6 VThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from# P8 o- c! [& n) F a
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
6 C/ C6 _/ E' @0 Tyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
6 ]4 f6 K& ?* d, i; |3 }0 l! m' SInstitute in Washington.
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' y7 \2 O- O3 H! a/ ~8 E# x"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages/ f( }3 N. P# W1 K* X
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
4 R! }# R7 y! O3 {3 RMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical/ l/ q8 ]8 q% j% I
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be/ y, E* x; @7 N+ F' T
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a7 [8 }2 v" D0 m) Y; F2 j
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."* ? D" ^8 K& g0 R
$ a9 ]6 ]( H9 v' O) zUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
* a! z6 I8 j' g" a; Asecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in9 O# H1 S/ H: F3 F
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of3 g8 w ]3 h- i/ a" q
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
: O: j/ r! {- m/ L! gon weekends.: T% {) g Q( }* ^6 Z
% @+ _( h$ T9 a+ iThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public V7 D/ Q6 x4 u/ w( X9 q3 E; j
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
7 E {3 Y5 C7 i- I% mstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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% [( q. Y' d9 X, e8 l2 \Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
& d" [# P; ]% t* G2 Lproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the0 h1 Z* l# Q& v" D+ b$ K( W9 u+ X
competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
+ W$ ?0 Z" M2 l/ \said. "There will be Chinese and English."- f9 p& |* b2 ]& b8 |& F
* o; {2 j; {& C/ _5 l. g U @From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
' ?: w7 ^% r2 w- G% p- j3 uall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse% A1 `6 e8 e5 ^& [) Q$ s. K% a& E- O& }
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from0 F: c5 g$ f1 I3 R: G
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students9 v, t# L$ D) \- b$ x
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to. D! i5 Q+ G5 |
the school system last year.9 _5 e! n" Z6 v) W. ]& B
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
6 @$ F& c9 N/ pyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.& c7 k, |; X: i, i2 Y1 i
]- X6 p, F" p, G! j"They have a great international experience right in their own
9 [! `$ Q0 l- [1 F- f% `2 @classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
& i" v2 ?' A4 Q$ R, J7 f% [Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
7 Z& }. {; t6 V; N# Y2 Y/ vhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
# P+ j, R! H6 E& gon an equal playing field."2 c, K! {8 Y( i1 `$ h
+ ?; G! D: J* f: R) Y% M) MSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
4 u2 N' l$ i8 f0 v: {classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
, S4 u9 t3 w/ bService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks6 b6 x) i" I! ]( I6 R! ^; o+ s
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An# P9 T C% Z2 w2 u' Z" D# l: d
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
* X/ i* @9 r8 }# C: YChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
4 ^3 E n; O4 W! N! A6 Cinstitute says.
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. J( i! |/ E# F% r" YSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth8 }8 e/ j0 k. q8 `- ]$ `. V7 x ~7 K; ^
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
0 _1 ^1 c; Y) G/ J# l. qdeciding whether to take the class.- y. P G) F* y& [9 m, N. C; V! O) \
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
" H8 J) v) Y) r3 G$ K& I4 r- B: ltold her daughter.7 n6 d, |! @! {+ F
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
) n# {4 N5 l& {8 l% \( n1 eclass.2 I/ s; Q' i( s* t2 W7 h' W% Z" T+ w. \7 Y
) i' W$ V+ w/ v: [6 A: q% ~' ]: pAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are5 l- T0 N# L0 F
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
+ x8 H. i4 z7 a# \; t* Toccasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a! e1 C. T" Z0 R
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.8 {: `# e2 s. H% k$ i
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he8 ~' {, @6 J1 r
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
, ~7 m- z. \8 S+ O' LChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.5 H: Y6 d3 x. N$ N
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul6 V* P B3 Y: p4 {
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn% k5 S" \) w u! S
as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
- x c9 W4 Y+ Rskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job, w: J- v5 E H1 |
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
5 l" K$ L, j6 c! M# W( I8 ]/ c7 \that," Ms. Freire said.
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8 v% _: d7 C4 I% x) S, vMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
/ D+ f# D4 `! A5 Dhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
& E# f H* Y$ t1 U+ Oschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
; ?, t3 d: M2 B) I3 }7 {# d% C+ T/ Itime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
2 j/ Y, p) ^2 q: Mroom.: K0 s) p' I* }& J( ?8 E9 ^( \- m
: G- Q3 B. e) r+ u% A' K' ^9 mChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer3 m( _% @- e0 R/ L* ^& V
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
$ |, e6 N3 ]3 I, b5 a n$ kcollege, 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
8 n7 I. i* ` Z L& Y1 _because of that missing certification," he said.
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% u' [5 J2 E7 o8 q! C8 tThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
$ Y$ A; A( ]8 s3 C0 j4 ^1 x) Osaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
' R8 D8 z. s3 f2 @$ z7 qSociety in New York.; w9 W0 E1 M4 q7 T! A9 z- {1 s
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the- Y7 y( j9 t4 l5 a
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
4 a' N, _) f! n0 i" [) D8 ?4 T- _# Fthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.7 i0 B. K- @6 X- i; v& f
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
1 q4 K# w# k- cown."
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% h* b$ x. }8 Y9 A+ y: qCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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