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October 15, 2005
6 j8 B7 G* n4 S+ `* }8 ^' CClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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' D$ b) u: _2 X8 iBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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& w4 o( j6 h6 m, DCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
6 V' y: y0 P8 V. U. Z+ ~United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary2 T9 S& T4 j0 A% S) F& \% G
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
$ ] m4 g, `& t! S5 @dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
# C/ B/ ~/ w+ z! R8 X" `flag hang from the wall.% w: D1 O4 S8 {- S5 C6 T/ B8 {
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
4 A* o/ A, E% S! a' Z% @1 Oanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders$ j2 E9 f; D0 \- l1 n$ |5 e" l
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker' u7 Y, n9 d" ~/ f0 u; @5 N
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
4 E0 F* ^, q$ i' w7 d7 ~& F, Q9 @are already choosing it over Spanish.
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- t" J# F7 ?0 K% y8 S"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
3 _$ V; M" ?0 f* R" Wat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
4 X4 N) f$ y7 O% p0 y; M0 D9 ?offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
& s. d* ] y1 s6 i* Cschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings$ ]6 a* O' F5 j6 [. l5 O
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention4 E( a. w; u4 F9 f1 { [# k) j
one of its most difficult to learn., B4 p- D5 E0 ^! t4 j% n
# T; n, [. W- CLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
" G; v }' H0 n5 U' N8 M2 fpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
7 y1 z1 x, ?7 ~ f4 jstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
2 v% e1 N9 _: \Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
5 V( W& s4 ?( M! G; iTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
3 B* u& B, ~$ b S* S: W0 z( FChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
5 B$ D. f8 H) |# ximprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.- [$ _7 u" R, E" \+ x/ G
* o' ^! z" t) p* x! F: E6 E; e3 uAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
! z9 ], v6 `- pChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country7 F) \: R6 N1 H8 E
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
5 `- s! W6 M% f8 gdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
+ z2 h* o4 l( N* B Ucurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director9 \& }1 G* M! o* j
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.$ [0 p/ `4 T! w2 [; V
* r& }5 x) L% k9 j6 Y"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
" }- T+ K& k! c$ Cspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education+ p4 H2 X, y3 g6 z$ h. ]
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we; K* }! L7 M \: C, O& M( p
can." : u# V; a- z D, H' b" K- s$ p
% M' j6 y6 T/ G6 D2 WThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
! w ?! _/ @& g) k- T2 Y& felementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
# r/ `: h+ [' B# Eyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language& \) t* Y. I" L) f4 C$ F T2 S
Institute in Washington.$ u: W) v+ l* S6 @5 L$ B
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
( X" C% U I& C5 D+ V/ V! j; i7 caren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.' x1 K R/ A; s( C, l: `
McGinnis said. ?- a2 E7 {- _! U
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical3 I+ m/ ?: _. ~" Q1 D7 ]. |
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
* g; y3 W# \, Q5 _, \4 O$ }3 i7 kready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a9 M/ `0 N+ V3 O$ O5 E) [
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."' w5 K1 `2 j. S% m' @: v. S# r
7 o% k- _+ i( M! w: d6 f }Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
* Y; `* O- d7 e$ G' k7 Z/ {secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
; S2 l- P2 b: \cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
2 h# Y; N: O7 v9 P3 j( XChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
$ E5 U2 e5 p, k% L% ? con weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public# o ]' v/ z- Z8 k1 ]
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves. M" D; k0 @$ ^
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
2 w: ]+ G* i& z1 Wproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the3 W \: J% ]% c" l- H. c/ u ~
competition. : t n( X. ~# c9 A! L: w& y: k* j
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
" `! c: f; ?' L6 N4 @( S0 ksaid. "There will be Chinese and English.", k1 V3 Q/ e* @6 I0 W) b6 d( B( {
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly, J+ {2 [3 X# Y( V3 ^$ ]
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
. b% X* M4 c( F# P* M8 C: Nschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
' H* T+ f% S* S7 n+ f: Skindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
; |2 A: @# V Z) Q1 R, zwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
* J6 v7 F) g( Q" Uthe school system last year.3 k& d$ d1 [4 f( y( w) N: ]
. L# F2 ]/ J; tThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
t. }7 g! h, Tyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.& X, m) h- r9 y; Y9 T. U
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"They have a great international experience right in their own
4 B M% R7 a$ H* dclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
; T" i! H; S) B* qChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
! D: Q' r% p0 X* T3 k# V- u( P( i) P8 rhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
# J; Z; `' O7 j1 n8 i5 don an equal playing field."
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, D$ F( g4 [0 x9 r- v* @Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese/ ?3 j z L! b- `% U
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
) w( Y; e4 B* A3 o }4 j$ w4 iService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
6 T' `; x4 Z4 x7 u8 C: wChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
+ `# A: y0 n& w: e3 Waverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
" l" ?5 z1 \ q5 cChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
" {, b$ v2 z/ T" b: X p: c iinstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
# b; K: w v( n5 p' }: Vgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
1 m7 {$ S; @7 ?( Z$ t( U+ Rdeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
8 W9 V3 n! _' F! R- J ]& wtold her daughter.! S& s5 i, r$ F, J& O0 G
, q/ ~* X1 I3 oSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite2 N: a' g. G& ?" Q! i' l
class.
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2 w4 V- u, E5 H: H( c* oAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are6 R4 S# ^8 S9 P2 R' A
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
# t& ?' f7 n0 G, Z7 ~, d2 coccasional frustration.
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6 P0 a& a6 U9 F"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a+ g! V* P* q6 G
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class." P, b1 d% k. B9 N a
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
; q: H" b. ^' H% Ztaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with3 w' o+ y |1 v H5 u7 L/ S
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.$ i$ x7 V% r( ~
0 \: _& e1 J) z0 v* w+ j"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul6 t/ A' p" S8 J' l
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn4 D% G2 B6 `8 X Z# _% n
as many languages as I can."/ ~9 L" k7 ^4 l: E- P8 z9 y" J9 J
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
1 X; n( F/ ^2 w: m$ xskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job; |1 P" w+ P1 g4 |% S; {" n* Y V
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like; D$ t1 e* I- U, E0 p
that," Ms. Freire said.& U: o' I! |1 V8 ?5 B* J& P) v
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
& }& U; E# p* `& @5 i( Bhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each8 Z2 s3 Z8 \2 j6 }0 n
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking- J7 d' K7 G, g9 ]' L1 H
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make/ A. Z0 _$ n# N$ U& F* w
room.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer2 r! `# O( U+ u/ c& Y
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
8 P t- n) v1 U+ Tcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.3 U. @4 y8 S. x# O: y! ?6 ]% C$ |" o
+ }6 n6 K# C7 {2 c, c2 K2 [. l
"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
) s2 K* Z* ^; k& N# ~! @! c6 }0 _. mbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
( ^& P' \1 x5 h; }2 g5 dsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia+ C; i0 |9 f& w' d. y7 u. Y- O
Society in New York.
+ o! n! N. g* Q8 K) g& N
/ o" s4 A- j7 VSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
, H! l5 |1 _! K9 C2 MChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from0 x. k$ Z( s: i! g! b) O: N7 E) Q
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.1 i$ k( O: j9 ?& c; K
* s5 [9 U* A/ @* j* Z, k- q"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
$ [5 v8 C ~$ B% k. s/ I% z9 Lown."# ^0 R" }+ A0 N" D
+ ^- k: b7 E0 B/ KCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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