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October 15, 2005+ T- k. @ ^6 \# ^% h; {' h
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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8 S1 c+ j( A* d! H [3 l2 ?By GRETCHEN RUETHLING4 C2 B* e0 M' o+ {! z0 }
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the) t+ E3 I( t6 Q
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary, D. i$ w* s* T6 x& x
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
0 T# E( z' J8 t2 D0 g, n1 L% U" xdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese4 }8 t" v/ }0 @# \; ^
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
1 t) H2 W, A7 o. Y# janother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders: f0 ?2 |: U# r# F
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
* d, g4 a) j6 A! O' iboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students3 ^& b! ? @4 z1 p3 g: a
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
2 Q; E# }5 p Fat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city6 k$ W! \( x Y6 J) ?
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
5 ]% u/ R* z3 s, q% hschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings4 l( `" i; h! C1 A
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention. G9 s% \$ [5 o* X+ z/ E% ~$ j
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to& k- {' M, ]+ r* ?
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students" z4 C1 U( ]$ V& D; F
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.: A# A) k, J) l8 X# F5 z& \
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
) ]5 j* h2 P: J s/ `' H6 y6 @2 HTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on: |) C, j' A4 Y+ T' Z% ~/ p
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
5 }: m# A3 Z7 [$ y" U( V% {* zimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.3 g7 h7 t; j2 s9 M$ t8 f
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement8 V( L, i4 ^1 ~9 d; y; Z* _) ?
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
9 r5 z5 z+ N. `starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
y' n% y$ l( t$ Ydevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing8 N/ H$ E& `! l$ D: J4 \
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director% V- w; z" q7 R5 Z# F
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board. U. F; e- C- k
) `6 g( q$ k( A3 c: W+ |% S"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of4 O& J: X! w7 B2 z- u/ D' `7 B
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
3 g. Z7 Y# r+ BConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we1 v4 f7 r6 @# Z" i* Q/ A
can."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from' W) _& L# E1 N5 X1 g' `: t
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
3 k# A% \- P9 {3 nyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
8 R% m9 r! y6 U% ]1 lInstitute in Washington.; {0 v6 `) U8 O+ @
4 a, V# w1 k: l8 [# D7 ~3 V"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages, \2 Q6 C: B/ e: ]3 \) k
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
( V+ s" _# x: t) `McGinnis said.
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: S; V: I, Y2 T, l& d"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical# T2 `; Z6 G! [8 k8 q8 l
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
U- A r, z5 r- i5 ~ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
. e) K1 d. i2 W% Ychallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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/ [: H _. e0 u! N x3 w6 XUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and4 p5 e+ d+ U' ~" T1 E; a/ t0 V
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in& V- E2 V( t. ~: a
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
~) M- w+ ?/ d) O, _" p% TChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or6 ], W( ^& ?" S. A7 L
on weekends.1 y& u4 ~" i6 P2 {* N( K/ f+ F
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public- U3 R5 c }4 m. j" j* c" R
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
]" X7 Y! [8 A3 z [9 @) \/ R7 B- ustudents who are not of Chinese descent.' q' Q( A1 u* w4 r5 K
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said* _2 z- D2 P/ w5 O& ]$ k9 p1 r
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the! n e# S/ b+ J2 s, Y( ]) z* v
competition.
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. k7 F4 x0 V) V' x! R"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley8 s/ }% M$ N& |, B4 M0 `
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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p1 u# N# l8 ~: g$ U) u* T* S5 cFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
: m0 D2 B; }- i/ ~' P. ]0 m2 ball-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
& v/ ?( l7 Z6 \6 I' Yschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
2 f6 M6 P8 H& F; Fkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students- B4 ^6 T& {- f# X' X ~
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
! O7 i h: O& K5 S+ Lthe school system last year. E/ M! X' U3 }! ]+ {
+ G9 U+ a! A- B; s: {4 aThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
8 ~3 ^7 H- @4 ]- q" q7 [; cyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.& b7 }' X. U4 @% w& J2 S
) ~8 L+ H# A; ^" g, n3 M {; b0 x2 y"They have a great international experience right in their own
$ H& _" C9 L6 {8 Eclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
: g; S6 b2 E, @9 bChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to% h4 D9 s8 m$ _
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet0 W! t% o; O. I
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese, {- m, M. R/ ~
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
6 {7 R! s$ \0 m/ k) L0 kService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks" i/ N% j) t( h& @1 m
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An2 v2 N0 ^) a7 f- v) D; {1 U& m
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
& g% f8 a- N( l- ~: {Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
: Z, }$ q& j; k9 _. Q- Q4 _institute says.7 `( \1 B( u+ {, p
6 F1 g. u3 G# U% j3 p0 zSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth3 r, V1 ^9 l, j
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
; r* b& c6 S q* c$ o# R, Bdeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
0 p4 A# C; h' z+ x$ T1 ytold her daughter.1 f* ~+ T, M" X$ F- s
; G ^* |3 ~3 x; J8 U, [Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite" c" ?) F4 p" d* R
class.
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$ O$ w0 w- b1 e& v3 L7 W# ]At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are$ @; c2 m7 [! g. g, C' L' k/ Q$ ~
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without9 t# z, I* A2 t$ c1 p6 _
occasional frustration.; O- h# G1 k$ K. l( C3 V# B2 Z
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a+ j' \. F) {" w1 l9 d
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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$ t5 D" ]8 F8 e F# nRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he6 ~" S# ~$ o! [6 B+ ~5 k/ Y; t* g9 a, K
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with3 s7 D8 e5 u9 K/ K3 u X
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works. L0 ?( n8 k l% K# z
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul8 m) t a3 t; d v+ P" @
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
- I' i! C4 b( }2 a/ eas many languages as I can."7 j X( `- b6 A7 U
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
( P, e+ Z# p8 {5 w: Iskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job6 j( Q% @4 [' O, |' C
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like( c# I+ a$ |$ X
that," Ms. Freire said.7 }4 V( d9 A5 R1 d' O: n
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
0 A' }* x3 O& l* ^& a1 H+ I Ehere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each$ E' a8 f/ @& V( e7 M6 m( D
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
# s! M: h9 v, w0 \) M1 etime from classes like physical education, music and art to make8 _6 g! q& {/ S" w3 ^
room.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer! `- z0 i& Z; \7 ]: |- D
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
6 N: d4 A1 }1 B: f4 S" Ocollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.4 M3 p; Q1 {% H j
. i) J; z9 D! z, \# p3 g3 ?, [6 f"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified2 Y1 T$ f0 R* T5 b- l
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
6 c+ Y0 F0 I! q Y" Ysaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia' Q2 Y9 o( `. f) l* \
Society in New York.1 M0 ]3 G1 r- {: O& }' p
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
* |6 r/ ]; y+ v% @Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
8 g, d# [% o& u- hthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our6 h5 X; g# H; S. R/ s$ n
own."% u! U [7 ?- L! c8 h# F1 E/ C( ^
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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