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October 15, 2005! `0 D/ [2 q/ X5 u+ z- B% l
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity7 E. m9 K: |9 M1 T' X/ y0 e: d
/ L" C% A" |' |2 [' eBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
* P) A3 I7 R3 A6 S( O" |' o- u/ U5 H# {( Y6 r$ T G: l) K
CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the( K) ~1 D b' y: _: K% T: X
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
. |6 E& s( Z; @( WSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
/ m3 u: p3 E# l2 h8 ?dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese# z" t2 x6 y6 g$ w4 a
flag hang from the wall.% L3 M7 A& w/ `$ d7 p
- M% G; Y4 c5 z, v' M5 r; y. rOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
& r2 ]" Z9 N5 K8 `another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders* k( i% j" B! y6 N6 F
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
4 f& |! G6 w- u: h* Y, l2 l# c, r' Iboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
) A$ J+ v0 t3 J. l2 x/ Jare already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal* V* I7 x" v4 U& R- E6 d+ }
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
$ B' a6 \! ]) D3 ?3 R& [! W/ u' @) Qoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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f6 g. d t- |2 B9 C' g. F! Q9 I2 ZWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,) U- r E0 ]$ @4 q) k _. f
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings# | m, r* K' Z* t# D
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
1 w7 U3 b5 i- P# M+ a$ xone of its most difficult to learn.1 \, O# V' ~: Q: ?3 h2 S# G
6 _$ c8 E8 L. E* D7 r, T9 M: |7 Q+ O; ILast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
! Y$ m, g, h% q+ t- Y8 h5 Ppublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students' f% Z0 n. B" V, @% S% {
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
3 q+ l0 ^# I( pLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
- D( i5 i( {' p" y0 g. ^Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on* o2 s4 y0 o& _# y4 ?' k$ w% r
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
9 U' g' z# ?2 i8 Jimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.5 J& m2 D9 g8 R+ X- k2 F
: U& q, n" O) p: ~After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement, a$ y1 e) u* T' _, h$ d t
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country) X( \! H. l0 f, `& Y9 I
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to: `1 Y* U: Y. _7 ?9 k& q
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
3 x: _# M# K7 D- b& m' G8 e: Kcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director: P7 f# B9 B2 A
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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; J9 F! v; p. O; k& ~5 x1 Q$ Q"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
% \) \$ _. m5 w7 Sspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education/ E3 F( P, q: u/ `( c
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we. b- L9 F6 h) Z) ?
can." $ q! z1 \, O& L6 ~; h- c1 S
) ^( v8 S- ?3 ?) [The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
; B: P u, M8 xelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
6 n" {6 f; e) b7 s# b, kyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
* S! e0 n: z# z6 f# p# rInstitute in Washington.& r- C1 z- C. n) A" Z6 V' v
. S6 L2 X) `8 d" c"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages Z/ n% O/ g$ }/ O
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
p, a3 t; F' ^* B2 y/ m) D8 ~, rMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
9 A4 ?# S3 I3 {3 p# u) f2 a: |4 Wlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
+ ] x. e0 E7 E2 Wready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
' ~8 K, R* y h1 A mchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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3 f5 M y* M. |7 |& M4 k: d$ I1 iUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
" R5 W h" [) y( q, M0 K. Ysecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in( W9 C( L9 S, N6 n# `
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of7 p" D4 o$ W' L3 K4 p$ J
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
+ \6 v2 ]" a0 S4 S3 I7 aon weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
' W- W8 j$ Y& g4 ?! J% Aschools during the regular school day and primarily serves; u7 S6 _! A% t# Q, y
students who are not of Chinese descent. s6 g+ K% |/ ]; s- I
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said8 n0 t# o* ^* W: T; b* ?
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the: v) ~% T; C: V& |# b% Y0 W9 Y9 p
competition. ' T: E' W; ]' a2 [$ R$ z1 @
. E7 x- A) y. F" [# R0 J"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley: z' u7 C7 t8 k; \% J
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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5 }5 {7 i( h) p: k1 sFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
1 j6 }% Y: T" m+ [2 E+ Z0 V* Zall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse2 J" ^# A7 U8 S% i* g7 `7 ^9 t
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from/ m: E. o- Z1 y) X
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students& V9 f6 L& Z( B
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to. [. u) f: a# B% F
the school system last year.3 O* a5 `+ ~3 ?
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this1 G e7 R- q8 I/ V o/ ~7 f& v/ _
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.7 m, ]' q& n3 o6 m, r6 y. z
; X- H) s/ G6 W; x: M1 b- V"They have a great international experience right in their own
! i( m" E% l7 F/ uclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
1 [' M& P3 B8 \Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
8 z8 N( H" h' z. whelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
" Z# s3 g6 m. M2 eon an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese- Z4 ?) w* [* H( Z. ^+ H# \' H" \
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign. T% U0 i a1 T$ |2 N4 F& y
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
8 r. y. ^6 \1 m$ A# wChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An, P* x% Z. B2 I
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
% O+ N+ z3 |" `- Z: u" BChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
; u1 g' ]3 R2 t2 r+ }institute says.( [, C- Q. {# S" l) A7 T: L
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth" @& ]7 w, d2 Q' o" d B
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
* X8 B* _; a8 }2 Tdeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
* ^, n. h7 a$ p4 z. D' l0 m1 |told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite2 n( c% c- q9 L# O
class.( N$ d( Y k; O! i1 S+ M; G+ P
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
* n. s. V+ m2 _5 Z3 |! e t" vstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
; ^; I+ f4 w1 b" s" `) ?% {occasional frustration.$ Q; q2 w. H# Q/ b( [* ]
& g1 J2 r$ F, _$ Z# l1 y, C"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a+ J& k' h& ]' a
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.) G3 P: M) x" ]- r" i
6 {) W, Z% ~1 x, D2 i j6 [Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
4 d6 _6 t' G* B& dtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
- K% M: j. H- J8 E6 v+ lChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul. h9 p* x; Q! g! n& B
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn7 Y8 a& N" T% g1 C1 R' I9 X
as many languages as I can."; y7 A5 u8 ^2 r. d4 m
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the$ W7 |# ^" o" |
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job/ f c/ O. I t7 q0 g! L' x
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like' G# V. s. A* P' p
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
$ q; R4 G2 e9 K( V% O, N( n( e$ Lhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each6 w- k; R4 B! J" \+ [! K& }
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking# Z2 O0 }& i4 ~
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make8 T# D; C% I# g$ j& y
room.8 ?1 z, U& w9 H; ], [3 c' \
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
8 P! d n3 `* m; z3 W' EChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American' }# Y1 \' @3 ~2 \. Q* a
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.( N7 a: z5 u" S# o
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
9 c$ I4 J6 S- h2 n' vbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,( _; u3 ~" [% ~
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
- x1 B K* Y( S5 V+ D# \Society in New York., T1 S8 A) l4 U' _# r( y5 d2 H; ?
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the. y0 c1 V" B9 c) d0 t, ]
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from! ^" U5 K* \% L4 b: ?7 ~4 ]1 O# x h
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.' }) d! ^5 O) u n6 i0 A2 G8 R
% O# @; Q* f2 C% P! B% c3 \"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our- q/ [6 x* y+ c
own."
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