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October 15, 2005) w. i4 e# @! [( W `
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity5 T2 D/ M- B; N. p6 O
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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3 r7 q. K1 L0 B3 oCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the d0 w T( }) g8 \# f' @
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary: S1 V- i, B# b3 F# [. p
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
" X" x; p$ l0 ~, @, qdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese9 D0 I5 L! Y% K5 `3 ^$ I
flag hang from the wall.6 p" O+ T+ R, t5 ?6 R8 _( y: L. I' O
" S9 g' o4 \6 i: nOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one0 b: ]' N% s7 R3 ], f$ q0 ^, n1 I3 Z
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
+ z% }9 J1 q2 ?; _practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker7 s* P8 B' M5 v% s7 U3 ~
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students6 O" i! E( J. t) l( y# G$ v0 Y
are already choosing it over Spanish.+ S# @; o4 }1 @, f: ~: T+ ~
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
9 D) W& w2 ?3 u* ^at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
# X4 g: Q" y) a2 Goffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."5 |: J$ G7 }/ c! r7 g9 U; S9 ]' J# r( s
7 P: B# v- J2 ?4 F7 j% B3 X1 [With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,8 M- u- V; |- K) }) x- B. o( c
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
, b v6 w* ]# F tto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
2 j5 g& }8 j X0 s( {one of its most difficult to learn.
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1 j `# k+ a7 `. nLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
0 h1 I; ]+ ^) u2 u! X# T: S) }. lpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students, O( M D$ C3 x v9 n9 b
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.! u( L, f# M) i$ M% A0 r/ U( y
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
k+ b! ^, R1 @$ F [9 g- S' yTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on& {9 _1 B* D- ~0 \* h4 } |) D' i
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to( T0 s3 g2 ?: w1 K
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.6 l! U8 c3 w- g6 I; B9 q" X2 y
$ o# m0 a1 i5 o5 FAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement V1 M* Y% u; B- F6 c$ l
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country, l* h, Q7 U2 J* v* h- f
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to! _9 o* f: P; K- E" G% i
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing# p% @' Q: I; |
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director* b& G" m6 d. B% |- W; [6 B5 ^: a
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.+ N) J& N" x L% M' E8 ^% c
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
- \6 m& J, d2 C" g% {5 |8 }6 sspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education' ]7 ^, f0 Y* o5 I9 @" l6 s
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we$ n( X; m1 s; ^* I* M
can."
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/ W9 C2 u* n7 h4 D* o$ Z) [: FThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from9 } N/ e& c! ]! n0 c7 Y8 \
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
& c; O3 X& u# Z) ^; F+ I; X. tyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language, G4 i3 E" K) q4 F6 J% s6 T
Institute in Washington.3 f4 E$ Y3 R) q. Z; t" S. d
3 l! Q+ s& p3 i) g- w"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages' C5 ?( u; v0 U7 j2 G% J
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
3 [4 [5 l: A* J: `+ E; t: YMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
# c J3 E2 N$ P. e9 O- Llongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be3 C3 S; G' \# _! b: Y2 O
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
$ t, C+ x9 L2 V* Zchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."; E- I/ ~* f W: s' V( ~) v
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
) g3 E8 G7 r- ^0 L& d0 _secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in, C) `& h8 x* c& f$ y$ a5 B0 B
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of2 R3 j. h2 |1 Y3 }$ U
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or+ l2 X" P* x! u% K
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
: X, \# x- y4 U+ i$ |& gschools during the regular school day and primarily serves: F$ B% ]& w$ O/ ~- F
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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# V6 [* ~# |) }- E9 K8 j, eMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said# r, F' Y" D, ?. H2 A
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the' x5 ~; X8 s4 W f) C
competition. 4 K0 B' ?" }* e
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
! u+ J9 u9 Q j f5 h" F; osaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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5 G4 T8 j9 P8 l' |From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
% s4 i: b! J% a# N! Q$ u4 C( ^all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse0 h. f6 {( ^; D' Y1 b
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from$ S: w5 E1 Z m; e& g% k% G
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
, x3 ]9 R# N0 s; c* Vwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
, v; q' ?1 O1 Uthe school system last year.4 i$ x8 h$ T/ S+ U3 a
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
/ F+ g, I- X) q, x; L9 ?; _year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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3 r+ ?; `; U3 [( H; n; b v"They have a great international experience right in their own
. ] H* E& P6 Wclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago7 D; D2 z' F5 h6 ?5 W2 r: E$ \
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to& _$ ]$ C7 t' N4 i' ]) J
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet: _# d- u$ p0 [# T- @% I" `
on an equal playing field."% M& `+ _7 ^; r6 o
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
- g* `! Q2 R% Q. b. ~/ pclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
$ z- |$ X# n4 Q+ J* ~9 L0 ~* {Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks6 @6 f/ y9 j( f4 C3 H
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
+ |; p, h4 R- Paverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
/ y* o) |. j2 K3 u; `$ f/ HChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
/ R' _' M( _+ q8 b- yinstitute says., F2 Y `. w( c/ {$ E
8 ?1 D2 S2 o8 R1 ?1 sSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
/ T+ @) K; t( T/ Dgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
( z5 m+ Z& j/ z9 Odeciding whether to take the class.
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7 g# i* @$ C+ O0 y. V"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
{/ A+ B4 U5 Atold her daughter.
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# B, e$ T" p1 X5 ~, lSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
4 H7 Y7 P+ n: P7 m( B0 {class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are' u4 r5 T8 \# H8 A/ s# v
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
& w/ \; ^$ a: f' }$ B: w# P" J+ A% coccasional frustration.
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2 l: Y$ N4 W9 D* a" H"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a6 j8 H/ M+ r D" o
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.6 M/ }' ]* l- M* e
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he% V! J+ J# Z I# b
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with7 T: d0 M+ s6 V% n( G$ c
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.+ V0 O0 l* B" {+ C' v! I
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
1 R6 f' s" H A7 M/ e) Nsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
x* J- C7 g3 @8 K J" }as many languages as I can."
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: l2 d2 E }8 k, Y: LAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the& E* j! i& Z( N& x( k' E% U
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job4 M J9 x( `; T$ E/ w
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
% ~9 d2 c3 x* Bthat," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program# V4 J! n. M7 |7 B
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each$ u7 G7 H8 m% }6 S1 i
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
# q. l B: T( itime from classes like physical education, music and art to make( }9 Q# T! b6 o4 C$ v! n) I; ~, k
room.) O8 ~7 [" }+ f& X
( t4 j; u6 @. E8 E# t$ h3 X- sChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
* o% ?- g- |2 k( EChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American! U0 b- j4 c- e) h* R- _2 J
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.5 z0 g( z0 m; x
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
3 n! q# P( I# n! Z$ @6 d0 ^4 \+ Qbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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! x1 d! k- J, o) m7 @' KThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,* E8 Q4 n- t% L4 H% C! T
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia6 I# J5 L7 I9 h0 W0 e
Society in New York.$ i# c% V1 e6 |6 q5 q- I5 L
H9 y& H. ~7 H6 eSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the2 o, J& ]( ] [ h
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
6 a. N; s+ N( ^9 Jthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said./ J. F Z& F7 i% m4 _- A1 g& @$ h
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
8 I0 \; F, F, @1 w' W& \own."
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