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October 15, 2005
. Y/ _& H- H4 o4 OClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity" [: W. |2 E9 e. b! m
! S: a2 S# i& a; ABy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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0 P5 F0 y, X; cCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the# l* j& @: K* d/ l1 T9 X" U$ k
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary# u- _/ U7 J; @4 r, H; P6 O
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas# B$ C ~' B5 A+ G5 }' p, h
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese2 ~9 }; ?7 j. ~8 L/ _( V
flag hang from the wall./ J4 W D7 V2 K( o) `4 s2 P9 L6 |" k
5 g. B# I4 R( H( r' o( ^- e- ^One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one- p( M! k* t4 i) U _
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
+ ]" c$ Q# j, }6 m1 w7 Spracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
. B1 h+ i; ?: Uboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
8 r# T' ]* x% a. {# {" v( c) S1 t+ ?are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
0 d1 @6 @ |- C9 m4 t$ m- U2 M- uat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city. W; L& h! D' ?9 J1 Q; P# c4 s9 S9 f
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."# j" Y* ` c5 L; h! Q
; c0 G8 H7 H7 j" s; Q/ AWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
- E( s1 @+ @% u$ @schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
- C0 }! f1 e& w% Z6 @" @9 Rto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
0 F# A! J+ j& k0 o5 N; [: t' m4 cone of its most difficult to learn.
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`$ u8 V! e4 b8 b4 qLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to- Y2 I \: L# O+ I; a3 W- x
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students' n/ J7 x: \' R# q7 C
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.6 |7 O* q$ F; K( ?/ K
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of( T# J; U! G5 T/ y) X8 e S3 x
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
2 m; [7 z5 j) q/ ?' zChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to0 e1 e, j A: z6 s2 i& m$ c
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.0 M9 P( H+ z9 D& [3 z
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
# v# D4 j4 P$ I! N( D& k" EChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country6 E; x7 \$ m$ O. G
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
5 |) B0 T+ w1 J B3 x5 Idevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing! @! k# _& V- I, {0 Q( s8 S3 ?
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
/ a5 i4 Z7 g& R' @6 pof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
# j& }; _7 B; m% H& f1 g/ ospeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
" `' Y" L: R7 c( M5 ?- n7 ~Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
' [; u+ ]. W7 H7 I7 t h9 Ican." + H9 J2 ]8 V# ?7 z s
6 d) y" }' l7 u4 d1 ~9 oThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from) i' N2 @: m1 Z: d( P) k
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
# j0 K( x+ G/ F, x( L6 Vyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language' H. d; W; m+ [) |; d5 ~& \
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages" J8 ]+ J4 J- f7 F/ r
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
' A5 v8 R5 Y, F& W1 Y4 b2 v/ @McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
$ C0 H2 q7 q; ?$ Y# U$ wlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be4 [2 C$ S8 ?) y4 i$ l: _
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
) J# O$ h; I6 P* [! S# dchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."2 x2 v) L2 e5 m7 `$ E8 B
0 z" i. V! F4 V# P Z _Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
C. l$ {. [ r Hsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in# y9 i+ U3 r) u( n
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
% H5 B8 e# u- P. v0 v4 G! Q, |% M9 FChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or0 H( l) y) F$ e% g h; x5 q" D$ H
on weekends.' O% Y- E/ l% j; J
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public! P/ @+ L( y3 N6 k. g) B7 b
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
& D+ l4 H/ A, Q, xstudents who are not of Chinese descent.& F0 D8 Q; {0 @
' v. W% J4 w5 g% I& z4 WMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
; y( ?/ G6 H: Zproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
: c5 ?$ b7 U8 R$ S) C* rcompetition.
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3 ? g& Z0 \% x1 ]" q" d"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
# D! Y' [' p ~8 {1 [0 _, {said. "There will be Chinese and English."7 {* T0 r+ t- z6 \9 F( g4 ~
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
' h0 h* A6 B8 o: [5 m$ wall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
# S3 }, j) A" e& @! d0 ]) P" wschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from9 R+ c2 o' o, K% w3 l' O
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students$ t4 ^, \, a8 x6 h* _. p+ U4 {0 ^
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
1 K) ~$ f7 K8 X, R% w; Athe school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
% l/ ^0 i' }7 J& E5 f5 oyear 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
K3 @; [7 p: ~$ M5 Zclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
% d: O& P/ @6 y% ]- Z0 q# J7 \Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to! |, M- }: ] |' n
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
. }5 G9 S; N, v0 u& Son an equal playing field."' |, s( M/ ]" w% K
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
" P. k/ M9 L% t, r- Eclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
( ?, d3 c- b+ x3 `$ eService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks' R. K a: w, y# n
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An6 |& ]$ s6 D' A$ p0 {
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
* T: e8 _! x* j7 O, @7 c' z% c4 QChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
4 e$ R" O) f1 Qinstitute says.* f% |$ V: P/ L {
# l: b8 h/ U1 L! M7 xSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
& e$ ?7 c( a3 i4 m% ] A$ K' vgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before5 l7 o/ r: l0 n. r4 \3 [+ |+ M) D
deciding whether to take the class.# `3 D5 H! e$ g/ m6 O
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she% x5 T! B* E9 G6 F7 a- l3 ^
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
( o, P% q) s2 R6 j6 D# Oclass.; o2 r+ t7 W4 }0 O
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are9 |2 A' ]4 V4 ^6 f2 u% v
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
* S/ Y' S4 _4 x7 A9 V) D9 E: U0 Soccasional frustration.* F: u% q# A) s# D9 b3 _
, f, s6 }2 h1 p/ Q"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a; S* ^* E8 c) c& K( Z8 G' F2 ]1 W
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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i& n3 f2 `. |1 D2 F6 n" @Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
: X/ h; }4 g+ [2 m |- Y& Staught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
. Y- b0 q" q7 D* @% E; uChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.* m5 r$ ^3 t# X5 Q
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
( g) O0 |8 M7 i4 Q( [( Y/ Z- d$ xsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
8 b& d" {8 @8 `as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the, @: E, M3 h5 ^/ |$ N. q* ~
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
8 Z$ J/ B% u8 Y% Bmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
5 G& u9 u8 V+ k# t/ xthat," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program+ v* _5 I: p3 \3 E! @
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
; g- m( Y: J0 k( fschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking" V. y& G8 w: ~5 r. k& H
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make8 Q0 v$ q. x5 L4 K9 h3 T6 F! p; K. w* \
room.
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' |8 [; X. C, M' a+ H$ DChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
$ V$ D$ Q( u7 ?) EChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
% W, ?" G9 b' W, Z, X% y# xcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.2 [$ U& a% B/ y# }% J5 S6 S1 K' A
2 f& X! ^- y/ [3 D"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified! {' z! C4 E- F! K9 Q
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
f, t G( I4 j% d8 jsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
6 B, k$ C7 ^* O7 \+ M/ a, ~4 w5 {, b+ `Society in New York.( i3 W7 W i7 K8 Z2 H
* y% j$ J$ P* b, sSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the/ J, h" U! ]3 r
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
% L9 c$ @; a# |# L: dthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.+ [2 p1 k9 `$ y l: @. U* p* G
' t; P$ f$ z6 A7 U"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
' i9 J* V/ U9 u" N xown."9 h+ k; d# \/ h$ G: f
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