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October 15, 2005
Q: z" W& d1 ^6 O; s: ]' b6 f# GClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity% S0 @' n/ y7 o
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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# M. r( n! w1 D/ KCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
7 b6 t, D+ l7 v6 G: T8 @$ eUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
0 _1 z: D' U/ M: ZSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
5 ^# v/ s# U, X7 ^1 S- B Cdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
4 i* c( e( W3 Mflag hang from the wall.) v: d, {% e" a |# Z2 n, S
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one) n. x4 B6 t$ W" O1 L u
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
; L, E- Y: P1 c7 vpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
2 O' i3 E- e# `9 V# R5 h, ]boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
! \( c, V+ ~8 l: B2 q! K, ~are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal1 y" V; i/ U6 e9 l6 M
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
; j8 `5 i2 Z/ K J, e+ X6 T2 v8 Boffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."0 ^; x3 U6 b3 y7 x3 ^/ A
% ]# w! j& l# N p7 P- b" aWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,* B/ M2 X i9 n7 \" t
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
3 d. O; `* p% l8 p A" bto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
/ h0 j7 d; D/ H- b4 u. S' J( tone of its most difficult to learn.
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/ `1 g- r, z" A$ p sLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to! N6 v$ x. T) L) X: C( t
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students3 q* I1 P a: q& x0 @# Q3 A+ k0 J
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
$ c2 w, n. q7 T0 X; c+ S1 D0 }' JLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
7 z) @1 v3 c: U+ p; f$ k" aTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on. c# ?7 S( p4 E# {8 Y; m* e3 h3 n' J
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to& c+ {3 `1 c0 d1 e; d
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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: G4 m$ R5 [% B3 g; MAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
, s: J7 Q' k9 Z9 H7 R) B" @Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country. S, Z7 i) \# r& t* s! A; {
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
( P3 s2 n" x2 vdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
! ~2 n& v6 F* M- Tcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director' ~* S/ X/ a4 [
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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. g6 D, f- q' H& y, K"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
, g* z: }; I7 `* @" Mspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education- \. q. U1 j6 K+ v
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
) U, Z9 h+ v& L& o5 V Bcan."
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" z# p9 c1 T: {$ t( U1 hThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from5 @. p2 X; }7 l I: m& K m
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10# r0 t# a ^! h
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language/ V) @8 a6 T" E2 G
Institute in Washington.+ k/ K, Y3 B7 z5 ]# a
8 [( k) z- }; z2 t, Y! r; A"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages2 ]! W1 a+ L- ]* Q7 z# u
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
2 A5 M* q4 j- l P+ }McGinnis said.
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* S0 ^9 X0 ^+ ?"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical: l) l* {0 l4 e8 V) H' N
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
! P- q" Y* N& W3 I/ R! G" \, hready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a! E8 K* g/ N8 k+ D; ]8 ]* I5 q
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."4 |- C' g3 M4 ]9 h" s u3 J
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
& `( n% L/ K5 p1 J s% csecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in8 a# t8 _' G2 X2 W
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
9 M ~/ G( y' W9 OChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or/ `- E9 ]- [9 K3 I* v- n$ R# C
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
- b. A& e7 T) o. Eschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
& T; \8 N# `2 Nstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
8 Q8 z7 v$ k# iproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
. h& Q9 [; [) @4 ]6 q' acompetition. $ I) M1 U( C. M2 g0 \. E
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley1 B' K4 M* V' {, \
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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. l/ O: b! W3 ~2 Q1 A9 r( i5 i- U8 dFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
* |7 K9 f8 A1 ?. s& }9 ^6 M$ Xall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
- ? T% S6 K- @: O- h. {$ }' ~/ e9 Vschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
5 M& @$ P' A4 D' c* U1 I$ b& rkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students* S `4 p2 n' c$ x, I
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to, w1 m4 j' j4 g0 [
the school system last year.
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. m/ R4 `- D) uThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this3 r! N: N# M4 y8 l6 `8 U
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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. q) g8 x+ t4 l1 ^- W"They have a great international experience right in their own
$ C9 o( h2 S1 g+ }classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
0 R: p+ m4 R7 |9 P; m7 |Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
+ S. B/ C B6 |, J. S/ _help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet% ?- Q' u4 I4 O
on an equal playing field."5 E' |1 ^9 L K: x$ K Z) e7 f1 R
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
( W, J# b; s/ @# hclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign! x( M+ Q$ X: d$ o5 P
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
) i6 i. h; Q2 \" ~, s8 y4 {Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
H* {4 w- T+ S3 _2 A/ A: c. R9 maverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in/ g+ U. \) L: A+ q* k; z& o( M
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the8 i# Q* _( P* Z# G% l3 p0 h
institute says.
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~7 W6 G+ M9 z l! b2 p# kSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
5 W/ L% z$ i" j/ q! ograder at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before1 ~9 E( Z% ^- j
deciding whether to take the class.$ E& w* i( {' ]% q" g h
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she0 w- z) a& P; G7 T5 S M
told her daughter.6 i& [+ n% S1 c) e2 c, }% i2 P3 A
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
) i! D/ T+ m( f0 @class.5 C p. _; y: W# y7 O4 T
* X2 ~, E1 ^( r# RAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are' y( \2 X* G+ _. A X: F- z3 c
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
/ ^+ A" a7 y: f `3 C( e5 S) K2 Ooccasional frustration.+ Z. R+ H; p4 Y
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a7 h1 O( ~, I+ h* n9 D3 S2 ]& M+ v
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.$ V2 |) \7 _* j2 D9 H5 w
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
: w# {+ @/ k0 p) `; p* k; J+ Q( ~taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with: H* s0 _# p' q' F! j& i
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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: x- Y& t0 p4 z: x% @( e L"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
) f2 g M) N) J3 g3 Csaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
# O7 R1 ^. N; H0 ?/ h+ ]( ]as many languages as I can." y& s- c% Y# l/ {; W
5 a8 K- o7 |1 i, C) D1 PAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the. ^+ q9 q* Z. X0 _6 \, h
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
4 H; ^* @3 s; [5 h! Pmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like) d9 J' r' s E
that," Ms. Freire said.
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$ \ ]( p: t4 \- ~% kMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program+ g/ v% e' E" D
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each S' p2 v5 v+ R
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
. k. s1 O8 X1 ^/ itime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
8 O3 c- z$ B% x4 |& I1 W7 Broom.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer3 a& I3 `9 s8 `* ]3 c
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
: c' {* }5 Q4 ccollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.& j/ b5 P9 p0 D$ o( {; {
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
: J. B2 D# Q' \+ P( s1 kbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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# T7 g7 E* Y4 G8 u: NThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
8 \4 l0 l/ \9 M9 csaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
1 o. Q% K4 S3 `% x* \+ m4 @Society in New York.
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9 V2 L2 O; Z! [Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the( Z9 e3 l @' G2 x0 p, B
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
; R* w' A- R7 w+ x0 fthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.: C! s/ Q1 u0 \6 m7 t4 z0 Y/ e
2 I: [5 v: l/ v8 z! [, }"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
# a( n5 M: d7 K1 Aown."
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