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October 15, 2005* E# R: D6 A; h0 S$ z
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING: {7 ^& U: g) j) x
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the) X" q5 J( k& n, s0 n X' B
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
& @/ w) T3 S4 A( }. r& M* q4 x# xSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas; `0 D9 n7 m" D2 J! ~' y' o; p
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
2 Z& e' T4 f4 q* jflag hang from the wall.( m X% |- k- H% A
8 j, C' J1 s* L0 v+ vOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
* {1 U3 X* {4 K4 t/ M; Z, n# }0 ^another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
! Q3 D1 \, q5 Q3 q# Qpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker D* b/ z! R( J! L. w
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
) M7 C" ~ Q/ ^' o! @7 ^are already choosing it over Spanish.# w% a! |+ ~& d, E/ W7 y
3 @& y: K) x% e' r3 ]* M2 x"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
1 b- h2 a, A' m# H6 y' h* T! Aat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city) @7 F* [/ v! C, q, e4 j
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
2 U' j4 `& n" N! z. Uschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
3 u, ~: \) r7 e2 y4 ito include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention& j3 p/ {. g3 Z6 H$ J4 Y- w2 v
one of its most difficult to learn.9 n9 S e- Y3 d ~+ T# i
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to/ G7 }1 N* d6 K( R: {; m
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
, x, N7 A! X* P. f. R# L( Cstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.3 @( ^. C3 I: B0 u( O0 ]
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
5 I5 _& K _! d$ ^% Z5 |7 c3 p8 L5 {Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
2 K- D0 H" C4 v/ ^ G/ DChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to" o c# `4 ?7 s# P6 } M+ n {* v! L
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement/ p9 |; `$ c3 y5 b9 ?- D) w
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country0 B1 y4 p3 }' G
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to' a* _+ b2 ^3 w" }7 x
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing7 ]9 _- X$ i1 K: U9 L) W4 M- F3 |
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
9 Y. x) e, z" a# i/ _$ b6 { kof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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; u- e! v, m1 G3 q" [/ I' Y"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
# @4 A% `0 |* o2 n% ]1 Kspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
3 S) v* {, a) kConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
, y# w- ?4 Z/ m: V5 Jcan." - v4 w! l) s D L$ @) U3 {. R" m
9 D0 x: D, t. [& v/ {/ i3 g7 b" aThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
- D' o1 Z6 f7 Q. s1 a6 u) kelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
$ L' L' Z4 [& V* r6 v. k( r: ryears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
8 Z8 x. S# H, b8 q0 A c; fInstitute in Washington.! i- Y/ G* _4 o) ^/ f* i
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages# V$ I: e1 I/ P: m5 j6 g
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.! v' n( }+ s) x- ^# H$ ] r
McGinnis said.
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$ e0 Q$ s- C( t. z* ^4 B"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
$ x! J, M. i* ?: wlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
5 n6 t U- h) K7 f9 Y" N# gready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a+ n2 P, |0 k6 V- d
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and# x6 U9 M4 e6 i
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
0 c: w' G; `8 O% @8 L- vcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
7 d7 F7 ^! v) t7 @/ M7 D! b U. SChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or& w; D) c$ o1 L$ q# y
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
3 q" n$ P/ n- V* jschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
' q& Y" N, y3 ustudents who are not of Chinese descent.' D1 Y: `* d% ^' e1 }4 t
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said5 D W. {9 W& U d# ~
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the6 s, u, \: F0 e
competition. 2 U" M0 K4 F3 I) ]7 }) D# ^4 D) c; R
: w1 [# p: T: E8 z! w$ E7 ]"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley9 p3 G0 F) U# [$ O V3 ]( _: P8 p h
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly/ M$ s+ I& Z' T @
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
3 l$ A1 J1 ]5 x, e1 [: M* Nschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from8 e- J; Y* C# L! J$ h( F0 g
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students1 `4 X# z5 e; d) x5 y3 c3 \
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
9 _5 N0 l6 p6 |2 V' ]: ^+ {the school system last year.9 a. c7 e1 U, a J
6 ?4 u8 ~! Y( c8 b% \2 q+ {* a MThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this1 e+ S7 r9 a: A. \8 d
year 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
" T. y5 G. ] L5 S/ F3 Vclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago1 D2 \0 V( E" ?4 G
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to* D) o8 L6 i3 }. B8 s7 Z8 a
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet% w& }* z+ n/ s
on an equal playing field."6 L( N; i$ y/ c# U
, T; V' _* g+ sSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese* B2 B. F& x3 m4 b% T
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
. P( t3 a$ b* m' k3 TService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
0 K# F2 C: I$ ^+ n- q# n7 XChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
8 j$ m, E" A# _4 T4 M' maverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in2 a) r" B/ K4 Z' R, t
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
1 b% t9 B7 A& `institute says.) E. ]% @5 p( O2 W5 v6 Q! w
8 J$ m' x( [; u N) m3 tSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
9 K( i5 [) h$ d/ q" Igrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
( x8 |3 s8 N5 y/ @deciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she Q3 l4 m2 J- V6 b8 H; j( H+ P# {
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
1 P- r8 P2 s: ]2 iclass.& m6 X6 A5 I7 X8 b5 u! S; m2 w0 a
6 N4 t$ z& J, L6 u( V; DAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are* T% i' \, Q0 e/ i" T4 s) s
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without: n3 m0 s5 }" `- E9 W( a7 v9 c
occasional frustration./ \1 F4 C8 g9 n" V( y e' | P
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a6 o! N5 ~0 F2 t) `$ d
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he4 A. \8 t+ }2 j& N) W' l a0 l
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with. \6 K4 H; y- P* f
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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* h4 `: R$ H+ T8 D; ~# ^& X' M"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul& o% ~) a' ?1 v* v
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn( |" [" _$ b, N5 M& a
as many languages as I can."# V" p3 f; K! R) A
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the. J' |- b8 H( r! ^0 X# i
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
+ q0 r6 `9 U E. A# ^& V9 u5 C9 qmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like8 H( I( a- S5 L7 M/ D, X
that," Ms. Freire said.$ `9 d0 Z; b) { |/ e2 `) q
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program4 \# {6 ~ _0 N8 z# t2 C) g8 Q% C6 ^
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
: t3 z K) V& q& \school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking/ } n, \2 ~6 {+ `* U- {
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
' E# m4 k$ Z8 troom.
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/ A, Y( S' D" E& M' _7 zChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer$ ?: c. ^, N1 F8 k: P
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
& [# w5 [8 B, b5 E' ]college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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% ~$ C5 `3 @$ u( m8 c: Y7 ^"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified' R2 W* i- g2 D3 s4 P
because of that missing certification," he said.* R+ C8 e- t+ Z; f D
) O' y7 i+ S( U* V o# \" _2 xThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
+ }' q" } Q4 Tsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
' f4 V; T$ ~" c) MSociety in New York.& f |! v1 O! D q
/ Q& ^, d# C- bSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
4 \2 ]* L, N( P: Q* O( n) QChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
# Y5 g$ u1 G( ?1 W* S- h5 S( zthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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8 M8 ^+ g8 ^) \$ s"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
$ L6 e% p+ }" S& Aown."
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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