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October 15, 2005
: y' |% l0 H/ U+ qClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity6 M4 r, O( P% w, ?1 Z& ~
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING+ C$ m/ V# v+ X1 a
7 m1 \8 L3 n) \/ t3 [8 ]& \CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the: M; x+ @! Z6 U% X' }( T, Q
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary! d; z- ]- X9 j% o
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
|0 p" S8 D+ n7 B! udangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese+ y( C0 A3 m$ ?) k! l0 x& v
flag hang from the wall.) ?5 j% ]8 b( Z1 f6 s7 W
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one9 F8 {9 |8 g3 `$ o
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders2 W: o% |5 h7 J7 f, H1 e8 U# g& t
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
3 Q8 ]- T9 M& V# v2 N& Fboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students3 l( U/ B, P ?# S; [6 y \
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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! r6 `: e1 A% q0 _"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal% i% X; A$ B- Z! U4 D
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city% V8 U8 A( S7 P4 k( ~9 P# d9 @. r5 A
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
$ J0 K6 V2 b) k) N+ O' ?$ xschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
2 J; b9 e. J& V7 W: U7 l/ h8 \! ~to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
" [* V. r9 P, e6 @7 P8 hone of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
2 @" w& y) Y2 i e/ W5 Y* ppublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
1 d" V+ h: C( M4 Fstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.# p/ |1 r, M& c7 A& I, o6 b
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of/ l% c, ] V, g0 F* M+ L
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on4 E" r$ [- V! `: e
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
# Z; j S4 U2 E! x2 j+ Himprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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7 J, I2 q& Z& e9 |* n' VAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
0 a7 H! X4 ]3 z5 n, E HChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
k) {; f* `* t* U: }* {8 Astarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to/ a. Y% p6 d4 N; @) H
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing- z' p" f" Y+ W8 Z
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
* S2 }) ^ ^8 D* J4 Kof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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. ^# H ^3 A, L& W"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of- t$ D Z3 h: v. D" p+ N# B* e
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
8 H* \0 u4 J' SConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we- z* N# L& ]5 w# C: c9 f6 y9 [$ t
can." 6 E" I) W `* [1 J
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
' L6 w4 g$ _ Jelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10" C- Z& Z# G y
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
& f% J8 v; o$ W' S# A* t* KInstitute in Washington.8 c: i: |% C) d- ^& O$ c/ D- X
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages' p6 B) \9 c' V
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.' ]* Y' d) p7 \3 j+ g
McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
( z2 c; B9 E* rlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
$ u: ^( h( x2 P! S2 N" dready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a7 a8 @, Y! W) C# N! t
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."& ^ ^* V' Z U" p9 f/ J/ N4 D: E
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and5 J9 a/ Q* j% s# B; Q
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in. j; G) @1 L5 F
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
6 w3 J0 V/ `& M( [# u$ T" JChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or5 [4 r$ M8 s- u
on weekends.
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' {* {9 S# _3 h4 v4 J" d+ G. M$ qThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public+ P( W2 C S; W( o# {6 p5 [% S0 w
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
6 t8 N" A8 Q) q+ q9 B- Ystudents who are not of Chinese descent.) p8 }! s% b4 k
5 _4 b/ A0 v) s* d7 ~Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
1 Z! L' c3 i' R) f4 |" Rproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the2 B6 X# y9 d1 Z- g4 e9 D$ f7 Q
competition.
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: s3 t& y% K6 H"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley/ L4 m; K7 `4 B5 l7 i
said. "There will be Chinese and English.", V5 ?5 F5 j7 i& e% x
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
# M: [% n T8 s9 k1 Z) m) {! sall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
2 I8 {( @0 H- ^: X7 Tschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from# D; h1 L9 D" V5 H8 M! b' L
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students% k! z9 ^$ e @$ f
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
* B0 U+ K2 s! l9 L: ?the school system last year.. n l- R) c; k# k6 T" v
. c( W9 j* r4 [5 _The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this2 S& A# {. P! a n# @
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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+ p% B- K: _+ l"They have a great international experience right in their own
% P7 x6 k. k; n6 Y) V- w+ Vclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
Q3 ^9 {9 |: I9 u p5 aChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to( X+ t' D/ [$ i1 L: c3 F# e
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet z( |& t. V: v
on an equal playing field.". [$ q) F. v9 E! \+ R4 p
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese7 O1 c4 a) N. m3 k. G
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign4 h+ P1 F. l4 H
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks) C2 \) a c, u8 D# p
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
9 P( p+ [* P, V) p: A4 ~. y$ L0 iaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
$ M0 m, U6 ?% n q N: p+ B" u& VChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
# ?( I' V! n1 H* ~9 ~, Qinstitute says.# R( A$ m9 }& C
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
+ I: s9 h0 V4 U, }& ~$ Z5 K3 mgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
# p' r1 K: x- udeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she: Q) \* A R' o' `' ]
told her daughter.
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. P8 N% S, A/ T) C$ l$ PSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite' t) g+ q/ m. c" V4 ~1 [
class.
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1 z& i8 Q+ W; v/ x, e+ QAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are9 Z+ `- O# g% w. l- M# i8 t2 n! c
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
& }9 N$ @0 {+ Z1 B5 m! xoccasional frustration.6 e1 m8 l; t5 g
- z- C* d- }) D- B2 j"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a# g# s7 \: K+ s+ H4 c9 A+ J7 y
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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/ t4 N& N: ?2 }/ {Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
7 Q; A1 ]3 l$ P" g1 x- [taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with( D t* X6 E; k
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
+ H! Z) o7 {" w: n( Zsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
* s [2 `$ j* h( M. Mas many languages as I can."
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' j ^% u) }3 E6 K2 EAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the, h8 m, q6 b; C
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job- s/ k) O# w! x0 D
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like1 u; \) P% Y/ i- b: q
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program8 @. ]1 j# J0 y( D
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each2 P% R4 D$ g4 y* P- F
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
3 v7 u2 J- ]# Rtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
+ k6 l3 m% t, l! Yroom.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer' J5 _. d( K' w& M1 \- X) A
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
, G8 v$ ~& w7 [2 @6 s7 Fcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.; [5 Z$ W" Y: u3 K- {+ E
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified- L0 G* q, k, j5 U3 r, G# w
because of that missing certification," he said.
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: q5 _) J# O4 f. O5 NThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,9 r) ~/ z: n8 [1 T) {
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia) H7 W) l9 b* P( d' B; L O
Society in New York.9 K1 E& @! [0 x& U1 ]; R
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the, k' c% Q9 d6 b1 L5 E; O$ Z
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from9 c3 x& P, C8 q
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.0 j4 v9 \! J( _% P$ g* d; Y- v
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
+ O& I1 Z2 A0 Iown."
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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