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October 15, 2005
. F0 ?( Y6 C; E$ E* sClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity/ U/ s5 ?+ f9 j0 A5 n1 t
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the6 V% F" A* \; y, D0 b# C9 k6 a
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
- s* k* _& B% ~% ]" T7 RSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas$ W+ _. D7 f) O5 f
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
5 d! o% e! |0 ~* H' q# ~8 S: zflag hang from the wall.& }" P& d) C$ i' k
' [" Q5 e& G' I3 f* j" ~One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
! t. O* e- H k. c) s9 Zanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
; h3 R% C% @! f( K: c* t2 hpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker- @. S) {' x$ m E
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
; J& h7 d4 u, C/ _# C6 \are already choosing it over Spanish.) Q! e Y# L9 |: j$ @7 D" U, D
( @$ m6 b3 q3 ^* \( ["Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal7 e4 L, i4 l0 \" Z5 ~! M. ~
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
" h- H' q) G4 |/ i; yoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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. f+ b4 |5 B F) w: RWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
6 x6 ]6 l6 b# K: j% dschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
: w1 Y. K4 @" @# X7 B% ]to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention0 ^7 l9 A) _" B5 G5 V
one of its most difficult to learn.# T4 e G! n5 c4 [9 M, a
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to5 R) S, I+ M5 `
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students( @: J' B* b$ X/ \' q7 k7 e
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
) w# w! v: o7 U/ u! t1 ZLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
& O, X2 t% y6 XTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on3 ]( r. E3 U" f8 ^' E7 ]
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to4 ?- m F, h4 m3 v7 H a
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.% I( ?) _1 K# L9 w. J
7 `( t! R" l* UAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement8 w$ P& q* |& w; E9 Y
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
, D2 y+ d0 T* J6 J: v% b' I! }6 Jstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to) K3 r) ?4 j! [$ ^' t' g
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing$ q9 x( T( c6 D
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
a! w/ m( g: J) Bof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.6 x% u; \7 s6 I$ z2 t
- N+ i& q" C- X' D1 G6 N% g) N3 }( x"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of6 m ~5 {& l% j c; C
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education9 g5 U; F- i# Q5 W% n
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we, q) u, d& r; A+ K C, _
can." 7 C R/ {2 w* T) L1 J1 I2 _
4 Q: Z6 I) ~" nThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from' m4 H- f- K: n3 @ f) Q
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
4 i- @% ~* W# _* qyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
8 B; B+ u" }$ X+ a9 y: _Institute in Washington.0 I9 q$ T2 n4 M+ s
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages& r+ E, g6 v/ A
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
( G. b- o* B9 U8 PMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
( }1 Y$ _9 Q8 H$ B- `, Slongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be# X' ?# K; ?8 t B
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
# g* O3 ]$ b- m1 e6 i5 J3 Q) V L) jchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."6 ~' }# y( V( J I8 M% `
5 Q, B4 \0 A2 ~. qUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and7 j: c8 U' G$ ?3 \! q& i9 d4 L
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in: B3 \$ Z3 x4 c+ P' I' b0 b
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
@0 o3 U9 S( M& zChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
) S9 n( D! C/ ]2 f8 H+ y9 Con weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
! u4 R' ~# U$ tschools during the regular school day and primarily serves( P9 T! Y! M& e
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
c. R7 H6 f/ Y' ^% X, c' ]proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the' r: v$ g# W1 `# f" [$ c% q
competition. 0 t+ n5 D% u. m" a
4 R7 Q# l, ^2 R/ C"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley: }# G0 e; j. O4 }
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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: ]" S6 {0 H& A1 B7 w, s: x1 A( ZFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
4 ]7 x7 I6 M' Q- l& h) n; yall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse9 \1 S1 J! w. x- B8 ^* }, k- Y
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
& y8 E' S& S' G e0 {4 _kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students6 J* { ?- X1 O, M
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to+ ~$ o# T9 q* K3 v/ {: L! s
the school system last year.: g1 R$ q5 H2 X+ `: ?
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this0 O+ G6 g# D5 j4 _7 J) m
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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; V, e& J r. q- Y"They have a great international experience right in their own8 K( \, b6 _) O8 G
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
' w. _) u) t+ J" ?Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
) c7 F8 C% D/ L+ D* Y3 n$ ?help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet3 v* \8 ]( |! ^% Q2 |8 G( r: A N0 H4 D
on an equal playing field."
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5 @$ } U" x' Y1 iSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
$ i4 |& T( A* z1 U8 w* M, \& pclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign5 `. P/ b$ Q }3 z7 k2 T& ?' d
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
% I6 h7 ?, ~- \ M/ AChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
p- \( f/ _9 G. q% T6 oaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
7 e& q- ?+ L! @$ k& |Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the$ p6 S; q4 s( K$ ]7 z t0 x7 C
institute says. ^' A% ?! b+ C- k. C& Q3 v8 p
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth4 o6 K2 p, Z! J! U0 a
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
! [ L; {, j V6 h* Y/ jdeciding whether to take the class.9 Z" z6 c7 `/ e
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she0 I3 b" v* y$ g0 {0 G$ G
told her daughter.2 c2 [+ J$ B$ u# x+ k0 `8 Y. O
8 W) Q; A6 D3 T5 DSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite- X; H' x' D( t8 ~* H
class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are+ v7 N: ~# @4 J+ ^# ?6 u) t
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
3 q" W' |, [. l6 Q0 `occasional frustration.
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% A5 G9 D6 g/ o0 Q9 ~! W"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
+ ^/ r e1 y; c/ J& P3 d7 Lrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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* _+ J& h! v( y a& aRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he8 v, R: [6 B' M7 u, X
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with9 z& a8 Z' Y2 U7 H+ T$ ^9 K
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.8 a& C c- m4 ?, O2 @/ D" F8 }
/ {0 x# g) g/ Y- t5 ["Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
; p& ~1 Z, }% D4 Y- I7 d( n5 Bsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn* A P' r* T g; p6 u& y# @6 M# ]% k3 j. N
as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the' v5 x* G# n9 C1 x
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job6 G0 H( ]# V! v7 b6 }3 M! x
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
8 P' G0 W# y! `4 u0 J6 r8 C5 mthat," Ms. Freire said.( `$ N- q* Q1 ], [' ]
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program8 G' @) j: l, M8 O0 t- b$ w$ _
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each9 b! g a% Q; w; e; ^: ^
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
+ G" d9 r3 T" d$ |4 Q( {time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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. r4 T" w, E4 e. e: `Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
4 R0 D; P2 I9 _" LChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American8 [4 d6 B8 @0 I% L( E0 Z) ?( l
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified3 h& u- ~; M/ L* [
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
. v% w- W! F& @said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia W& h( [8 }5 U
Society in New York.3 O( S) n) k% i3 v6 j% s+ F
5 ?$ j" g. d) U6 J9 x( Z: aSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
A' ?7 y2 h. Y7 PChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
. ^. S5 |! ?6 L8 n( X( }0 @the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.! d9 [% I! v+ P: T2 ^* X( i: X3 ^
8 ] n9 j2 g- e: X4 a5 x" v"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our' q. j5 O. }! ~0 j
own."
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3 q/ i3 i. U7 ^) f. J1 |Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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