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October 15, 2005; ?# \! [+ J p6 ?$ T
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity+ l- f H- A' t9 [/ d! S; H# M
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING7 \7 y" t U% e: s
9 c0 h0 ^) t, t5 ?. A% N# N! dCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
( d. Y# p+ s6 C. }. x. H6 S& W# m! HUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
! o0 ^) }3 a# P7 ~: }, QSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
) k& s% @4 |7 Z' gdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese- m$ X) z8 r: q3 ]# F5 z5 V
flag hang from the wall.
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: G, ~3 i' [' d# J/ {* j/ Y# EOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one, P" u, Q2 @! _" K
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
/ j8 q( T8 o- G1 Mpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
6 T8 N0 j3 v, Mboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
: Q* M, \* K- e2 }are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
/ N6 O) c+ q2 E" A0 y( {4 ~6 Jat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city. P* a2 w$ ~5 `. y& ?$ ]* G. Z
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,. ]0 G# Z% p# Q& B) u3 |6 d
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
( x. d: Z( d0 U& k$ wto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
* X4 M5 j9 _% G1 \' k7 h, D }one of its most difficult to learn.
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/ I: C6 r* ?5 E1 |% \ R& r( aLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
% o" f! R- J. I, R; h/ o* Tpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students& ~: t n( u/ v1 ]
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
- u0 X# ^6 k' B$ L/ \Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of+ f5 h `$ S& M1 |2 o( i: F/ k/ b
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
/ q, ?& a; ?) ^( D+ w( {Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to& W! Z% D0 @+ g$ @7 @
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
# d9 I: J# ]# J; bChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
7 R8 S( M. ^: ]" z: Y3 w( mstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
& N1 ?( s$ {1 Gdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing2 \% O3 \& P; n6 u
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
- O6 n' \2 Z) [( j7 x) Cof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of+ n7 b+ Z: R( M$ i
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education; B* W0 S, _; Y: s4 F$ |
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
9 A- R0 ]9 C N4 Z9 Q9 Qcan."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
9 h) `1 W2 e1 W0 J4 P3 eelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
! e( n) V/ t4 x. g3 qyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language l2 Y) X$ f1 V: S2 X H
Institute in Washington.
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! E$ f+ y" \4 x i"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
2 O# u* b9 w% _* ]# [. o6 b: v/ Yaren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
4 o/ q8 T" j" e- b5 w8 JMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
5 C0 p: p1 e6 J9 v% v rlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
$ [( R; s8 F; U% [6 jready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
& g, d! x, M: p8 z. A$ D4 Wchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."0 F& {$ f8 s' _ |. N
Z# G9 w. c3 \Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and' M, D4 O$ P, F t* a8 [, d
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
! A( n) J7 P* u4 S! F8 U6 ecities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
- C2 \3 n4 e s, e* e. a5 OChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or7 J+ A5 Z- ~& ^2 h
on weekends.- }- L+ b; a. Y; Y" g; M" i
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
/ {9 ^$ P' f& Z m4 U$ ischools during the regular school day and primarily serves) {( H( T* A; {# W j' H
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
( \. D( a6 n1 P6 J! F' L0 W. r1 Z. Jproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the; Y9 ?! z. ^( H3 E2 u; W/ _
competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
5 h" @! L) a' xsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."% Y9 Z- g% a8 R! V' l
* O% `( |- \* l% c t k" RFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
/ e, S2 N* b; o$ Y8 a) Z" zall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse; k, z4 ~( J; r& P! l3 z
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from8 l- V" I0 X* S' K
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students% C5 T8 \% h+ C7 X3 e6 X- a# E+ t
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
$ z* v9 }9 ` }! p& p( `6 hthe school system last year.9 |6 x0 i3 u. F% \9 V$ @6 ]
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
, h8 f K. J( n. A4 N syear 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
- ^6 t8 s6 X& ?7 g! P3 I; s( O# oclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago0 y6 ? A1 Q: d, q0 F# Y1 h9 \4 F
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to2 @+ W% R* d9 A
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
: y7 h4 P% S" q5 R/ I; o" ^on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese, Q8 m1 q1 G0 {$ a! e
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
1 D* U9 ?* [) F. J* I: P+ }Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks' U3 |# A# `+ `& T
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
( b( B3 N$ v4 Y; {3 qaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in! A! D$ i M5 b: k( S- [* u' U
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
5 q% \+ `, s ?2 g! _! E/ l Zinstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
# f9 c3 \/ o" F6 u8 @grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before% B5 l+ O2 h1 E* E
deciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she& l8 P' k& r7 X) i T6 ?
told her daughter.+ {* a- X% f7 s7 ~" q6 f) ?
& }( m. ]/ G" c! mSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
+ b$ `6 R1 j% U" L2 v0 Nclass./ f" i7 D2 K' s3 g x$ [1 _* X
1 ?& r$ i0 l8 d6 MAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are+ J) ?; I1 I6 P+ R8 {, p. N
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without- j2 N9 p" ~3 M) a" B* y
occasional frustration.- |6 X3 Z( ~$ u9 q# w
; |2 J# Y6 u+ _ A" W5 `) [* E"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a. `1 G" n5 F9 E% L. d! ?
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he) p7 ~& e/ g% h# {& m
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
t4 |3 K2 D( @& A( w/ iChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.5 |+ T$ m0 F$ R" o
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
( X' R5 B: ?$ T8 m7 Asaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn: \0 l5 t g N6 P& G
as many languages as I can.". V* `; p4 G& O( u
9 J& G5 a1 M0 `- ]Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
5 D2 |$ D6 i: `5 Nskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
% c1 V, _ y o o A6 }: Fmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like9 n! B( o: X7 \" }3 ^2 a
that," Ms. Freire said.7 [0 A* o8 s' F1 S
7 `+ r) }4 x. k) H; H- y2 G0 x7 xMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
3 L9 C! E0 W9 a8 S: fhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
4 ~6 v6 N. ^& h1 E- m6 ^school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
+ R7 z9 D7 u, I- P! f4 _time from classes like physical education, music and art to make/ `5 s# M/ l( c. b* ^3 D/ |
room.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
" G2 ?% l0 g" G) x/ B* b3 CChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American) ^ c1 y: j: B
college, 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
b, x& a. c% n/ T6 D4 X" jbecause of that missing certification," he said.! f4 P: x1 M) V5 S5 O
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
' R+ J; \/ l% ~9 N% E. h* m- d: _said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia: Q+ l: l6 \6 t S0 _0 l9 [4 \1 A
Society in New York." \- E, p0 `- f
+ K4 d+ D/ s9 S1 T7 q0 T: ~Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the) p# J* r q# r* F
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from7 j4 A8 f( v8 I7 e' t
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.! v* N$ D ]; Y
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our. z% \: E7 a k* F# |+ `8 e9 L0 N; u: g
own."' Y0 G& f& }) ]- A: \# e
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