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October 15, 2005
( d! Y8 ?1 m) I2 ]. L8 ~Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity3 e4 z Q6 U. w8 I# @
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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& ?; k* v& L2 W# h: | Q- ^CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
g! E4 g* Z6 d1 G/ F8 NUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
* Y; V( Z+ A5 [3 `5 @, hSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
2 _+ P4 v. Y6 G* @9 ^dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese" V. [ a& n; ?- }8 y2 I; H
flag hang from the wall.
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5 W A- a3 e3 h4 S; @One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
& Z1 l: U# ~' |# tanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders& Y9 p7 [: s+ p
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker$ g. q2 g4 m' i
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students* J! m) c. Q- H
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal: @' [ D: x0 F& c
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
* ?. y9 @" f- q8 doffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
- b: d6 X/ T' T4 d9 Pschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings$ o6 @* M+ q6 T) F& j/ v
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
: {2 y m; l# i% W0 Pone of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
& A. U7 q2 F) U9 G d8 C9 J/ kpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
6 ~, G0 z) A4 Z5 tstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
6 M: B5 g) f/ [! zLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of/ ?1 A: ^9 ?3 B# L0 u' b9 w
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on6 X$ |/ `' o% D) o
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
# b6 P7 c: i% y$ \8 N* Ximprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.* O8 n' U3 W+ j, U
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
3 Y* x- R$ @. G W" t5 J. AChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country3 |4 I, ^1 W2 z+ N. M* J
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
& O3 m( z" m; ?+ n1 \develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing2 @( z, g2 l" J& H6 d
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
+ o" s) \% X% i6 m1 `9 a( `of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
5 O( o# ?+ F1 K7 V* U! T. e' [speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education3 m+ B9 {" ? J! \8 v7 d
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we) c. \' C' Y, H$ w0 x
can." 6 @/ w5 `/ T7 z! O
- P/ L8 F* h3 ~1 Y6 o7 a8 TThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
) R! m7 T7 M* ~2 ~4 uelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 105 B- |3 f. @2 _- M3 u0 _& `
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language7 g0 y( P5 _ b. C
Institute in Washington.
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' y! y5 L6 _4 r7 ]"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages+ P. X4 @$ g2 V8 Y
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
3 e5 C! H) s: ]9 ]1 q! \" i! ?McGinnis said.+ C# _5 O+ o9 F* O4 U
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical' Q, M- N8 c- `5 G# K7 @
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be. ?( ]( e X3 O! {* p
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
1 d0 g. [ \. k z5 a# ^0 jchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
6 v$ @1 K8 ?" V' O N* k+ @secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in: v7 F* }& i5 ^* R; s% E% ]5 {) z1 M
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of5 B8 W `6 ^( u' i: U
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
: e S% Q: A) non weekends.7 w9 E1 }1 X x9 H
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public$ O* U w/ `6 a6 K+ E. f
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
) c0 @% l- [% _6 s# qstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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; \" r' T$ h& |4 X" u d2 p# pMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said/ {) t2 \' z! ^0 y
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the! j+ S; I7 d" |3 ^6 V
competition. ( b) ]! \. S% ~$ X, Y
; r; B; J$ A+ C1 j% R: d1 T$ N"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
$ o* d" S, R" |6 d8 |+ d: X% r9 dsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."5 {/ ]* b) F7 R' i. l
$ q, |. o- S: N7 m5 j5 k5 H4 L2 NFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly( h" p+ Q$ s( a1 \8 [2 m1 ^
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse, n( g9 _% v+ B H: _
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
( }* `) J, E: M, x9 fkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students3 q+ U% c( _/ |/ D( W- Q
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
. n7 \; X1 W* k0 J: P" rthe school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
/ s1 N d4 V9 U5 W9 |year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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2 D: j- Z& ^7 a"They have a great international experience right in their own; ~& J: `" R1 ] F" k4 r: \3 v
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago$ C) Q/ {9 ^' ^- {$ T
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
' _9 l5 W0 C* I' thelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
; c# M- m) N3 |* ^3 ton an equal playing field."
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$ K1 L! V/ v8 p6 Y- U4 GSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
9 h4 o& X( a( s$ P& G. Hclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign" |8 o) ?! X/ T2 q/ U) G
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks. @' r; _4 j' J! ~
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An6 P9 G/ W- E% p6 g7 ~
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
$ x N% m8 _. M' ^ A q2 d8 rChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
5 o: P- K. A7 O2 e5 Yinstitute says.2 c, |; a5 c1 j: Z
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
; @4 n* K) r; w' @! }. J3 S8 T! F' Agrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before& C8 Q" o6 g& B( f D; h6 g+ ~# s, s
deciding whether to take the class.$ q7 e0 A& k, @( K) f$ q& M! x
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she! }# O2 |+ F/ I
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite& Y; O% e& Q' D; ]. u
class.4 y, c# G; e$ \0 X% R; n
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
$ v) c8 O V+ ?1 k9 Astudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
8 u$ w1 F5 H, `" Boccasional frustration.+ v7 @3 {' c) {) x
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
2 i: Q' {, r; K" xrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.; T$ }6 W7 t( D. x; o) Q
, K( [+ h4 d, J6 URaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
& K E9 R C$ I2 Wtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
1 G' y; @+ L. [: j4 u" I; F. i1 ~Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul4 p7 ^: o8 g0 Y6 E1 ]
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
6 _" U. w! r4 gas many languages as I can.") j% n( t1 Z+ _: _( c8 X3 K
% s( H$ g% l' L- A8 Q* \Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the; b' H: b7 q2 l* o, x
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
" ^& N; i; m5 [! `1 Fmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
+ H4 F# |& V: }9 {that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
* `2 g; {: Z, Rhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each, b; S7 n" X/ W4 A% [7 u! K
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking2 @7 X j% M9 i+ g7 c/ m
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
, j+ \1 u' e4 H0 X" a9 f; hroom.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer) F1 h+ A, d7 E; m* D2 w
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American' Q. y5 r% N; M: m3 c% b' Z& R
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.5 L! @6 U! ~0 W2 ]
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
& g. n) u9 c! o: |7 r$ Ibecause of that missing certification," he said.
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: b0 Y8 N' a+ o3 p7 p. x" LThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
L' w8 G& z- Ssaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
5 |/ I5 m& `& p, m/ `! HSociety in New York.9 v2 g/ j+ a3 q, f3 s: r( ~! p
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
' r, w2 s$ P Z# A- [) B$ qChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
; o. o" |0 H- \4 O) \the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.- w; ~2 u& _0 Z
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
0 p5 ?6 D" q( O3 u) o+ b6 bown."
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