 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
October 15, 2005& K$ |; s6 x4 }' d
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
9 {8 Y% B8 ?( V3 H/ r
% @8 g/ M9 t; M6 w) `! uBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING: v! m# @0 q$ f& D
% W; `4 L: d8 @) e3 e- W7 I4 [8 j
CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the- \* x( q9 e& K7 L# E) C0 E
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
6 w- G& X3 t6 B5 qSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
0 Q+ m! P5 k7 d6 A8 J! ddangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese8 e2 c) A+ E' o$ j
flag hang from the wall.! _* U+ @3 M4 d: T! c/ X+ h. K
( T/ W8 x1 C k9 C3 cOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one# G0 w8 g; V6 m3 h
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders' Y# x, l* Y& j6 \" q/ E* U% o# P* S3 X
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
: G* n' o5 Q$ Y$ E4 n9 |3 Z7 _boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students/ t# P6 q+ O2 ~3 z6 h8 I2 p
are already choosing it over Spanish.- y- ?8 l3 |5 H* E/ h
3 ~& W) [% a0 u: P! V6 d
"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
/ q5 S# U* G1 W& O& R, J2 h) _: qat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
& Q& F* U$ r2 r. I" o9 O- h+ U3 moffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
6 k- }# w& e" W- O3 O" ?
; F0 c9 C6 y B4 P6 t6 cWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,0 g' |8 W% Q* _3 ^/ d2 X/ h6 H
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings" {# O( G# L" c% l, V4 g/ y1 \
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention, w5 z: s3 t! x" y* Q+ p& ]. P1 @
one of its most difficult to learn.
7 Q- v4 T0 I: z1 ~* b& P8 U ]; ^5 x/ Q, ^
Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to2 z( S' Q1 X% F- ?0 Y9 o$ n4 s2 q
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students& ^- \# x O1 g0 R1 u( Z( H
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I., Z; \8 h! R$ h; Q& d" F
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of: ~1 R% l1 p; q; G$ U8 M
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on! m2 v/ w/ R. @7 O' M
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
* q/ f' D' ~$ Gimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
& ?) `( c+ W: r K
" u7 w% |4 K) T- U* HAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement+ i0 @5 n) d9 X- N2 Y
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country* I; N( M9 l i5 V0 h
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to/ }8 s9 b. ~2 n' A
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing5 J1 T& l) m) Q
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director5 F+ B2 E/ l. U+ F
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
1 w9 {% q& A5 M
5 D) H! p/ x! h"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
: d- D7 m U- x# Y# W! Y2 vspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
6 @$ l, e* v8 t4 J9 Q6 |! f& j# W; SConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
/ ], H$ j! q w; m; M) A6 T/ h% X( F/ _can."
! Y# `2 w+ Y7 N! G
' ]5 y* W% d# `" j" {- kThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
3 `, _; p% m) `) Q1 ?' G) Gelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 109 k/ U, A+ J3 b" v
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language9 Q% t! T6 q5 o- ?# I+ R. } Q
Institute in Washington.
) l) D% b8 i. I4 T1 K3 Y# f& V
$ A0 @1 T; D) S"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
/ [6 W: v# `- Q, @aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
" b8 d* k) g+ o9 b7 c1 iMcGinnis said.
* N B# i( e+ v3 R
6 B, I; ?! h0 F% E; q"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
6 P. }3 P/ o$ e7 I m* V: ^longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be: d4 `& g9 `+ h7 s- y b* I
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
- s8 V. Q v* w# j' b4 D3 r/ Schallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
; ]7 ~7 t) ~4 A
" H. Q2 W& g+ H) d* IUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
. n/ D" I# c2 V' N8 {secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in) L+ C# U# b* y
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
1 e+ @# ^( I7 u8 F9 }Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or! ~8 C/ |( R* q7 Y
on weekends.
) l; v' U9 q1 _! q8 C3 U0 W0 l
* v: k5 ?7 x; o- ]8 y$ E* }; rThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
. Z! u0 `$ Z7 K8 `3 V+ I% o* E/ R& [schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
- f1 P; `! n1 _/ Vstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
) \: }# g* r- g# S0 A- K; |) z
' h @3 W) h7 |& ZMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
. V* P0 w& V- Q" ^% q! Q1 Q; \proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the" g- Q5 j# o- _5 H) g
competition.
! m1 r, @. A, |1 E7 C1 O
: T; o; M( i4 a: t6 L"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley" e, i, U, |* W [& x* Y
said. "There will be Chinese and English."5 f- @; J. u- }
" P$ p- j R; `" H' ?
From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
4 E0 ~8 M- M5 M/ p7 M6 ^all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
F+ ?' h% w Y4 uschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from( T# p0 D8 p# O {
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students. V: D1 q# f% g: F! }7 ~7 u
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
! \; u. H6 {+ w, v8 [$ vthe school system last year.
% R5 o7 Q, Z. ^: U) c& @8 d4 D' ]: W1 M* I! t: g
The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
4 J: l c" Z* M" X3 syear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.% E1 H( v- F( D9 ?; A- s" @) j
6 C2 Y; w P' @( s% ?"They have a great international experience right in their own
( q* H, D7 M+ E8 J$ i( h. tclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
/ @9 {* r+ @! t: L- ^# cChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to" V, s# F0 N% _4 U7 y/ _3 h
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
# j( f: _: C0 y5 V Eon an equal playing field."4 c3 K- M# \, K6 G9 ^& h
6 @+ E3 ^! g: X0 a: T5 tSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese3 C1 X# J2 c N }0 O/ l
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign' P0 L- w C3 T1 P, y! u9 S( g
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks4 o% b* J1 `4 N1 ^; b, M
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
9 S5 |# I0 s) ]: b1 yaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
( D* O# }/ B6 W( K! z% u. [9 q5 ]Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the5 P$ S1 @# l8 z8 t+ y6 [
institute says. m" O" z4 A& s' O$ z* \2 g, G- V
1 }: [7 d0 O8 c- ~Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
6 t4 O# W/ u* B% u- D' B4 P$ Hgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
* D. l' ?1 s9 j: x( \, Vdeciding whether to take the class. z/ [0 T7 S7 {1 I- T
F' S$ L4 K# J( v9 E0 }2 H( n
"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
7 N* x5 Y, y) s' k& _: p! }told her daughter.. C* W, T( t2 O. ?& _( o
! ~; x/ _% i0 X0 f& A' A, T) pSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
4 ^+ w5 l9 I- j, Q5 Bclass.
1 ~& |0 P3 [% z6 ?# _" P! l
2 ]3 {8 g' L, Z J/ U+ zAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
( b; F& Y$ r4 b ~8 J7 ?' R' t8 fstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without" y% U1 J" V; \8 ^( x( \
occasional frustration.# d1 W; j/ s8 u+ ~. ^
/ T. M) m6 F" L, h; t& ~# i"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a( O: W8 D2 |! ]0 S! ^: W7 S
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
( X g$ D$ v0 r4 Y; u
1 ], O$ h/ e6 K, m* L9 cRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
?1 O( M3 P! Z- X$ u1 }taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
1 t' {+ Q% u1 c R2 h' CChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
( W! }4 q( z% S3 q; G% X5 D
% [/ J/ x, J4 u. j"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
8 t9 \$ f/ c# F9 [ Ysaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
. N! V0 }3 [ U4 b9 u$ [as many languages as I can."
8 l) v9 O, }9 c, j
# a2 R" {- _1 \; @Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the8 ~6 I2 c4 D4 h& m( W# ]
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job2 Y) D, g5 _# j& S3 Q9 \
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
4 } b) t1 o9 k ^8 b! V' hthat," Ms. Freire said., q* o8 x+ c( x- B/ v" S
. r1 y, W' K" Q6 {/ hMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program: ?1 r7 @: G+ c; e& p. b! Z/ B
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each5 ]+ u) |+ Q" M9 K: ]/ L
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
% S" G. {5 D( f! ]* [time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
0 {! z* q. n8 v# K3 O+ D- d" Droom.
* _) G# T, K2 |+ ^1 |+ F" t4 U" e9 h' ^9 U
Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer8 I% _- Q9 R* E0 L; E7 u- F5 B2 g
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
0 O; N$ Y9 ~# A6 |college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
. g2 \+ S* P$ x7 R# H) O
3 y1 Z( f7 Y( e$ G3 m"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified" P6 M5 @# Q/ n, ^& q
because of that missing certification," he said.. K9 i; N9 {" p% f( R
3 d" Q1 D8 b5 p
The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
2 |% d8 e" m( ~/ ?0 n" G6 F; l, Csaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
/ k+ O, `* H( T, Q! ~# @' z- }Society in New York.
3 b( P2 E) f8 r6 Q8 u. U# p' Y/ V6 \' |& J2 P5 ~6 E
Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
1 ]6 S2 m" v# v } I4 `! p, G1 yChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from6 u7 y1 _! }! r6 p
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
0 s! C6 W! ?! G6 s( l& w0 w
; d1 `. n4 b4 z3 {"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
6 R( |' W4 O+ x1 ~0 K- ~) vown."
4 K7 |2 }; J! U6 @" S) g& s" [, `/ Y7 ]! S( ~
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
|