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October 15, 2005
3 T' h O( Q* k& pClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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, b! ^, j8 p7 i; uBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING% j8 h' }9 S& @5 i3 z! @
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the# Z. e( p* h' i
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
- |" N, W8 S0 \/ m" mSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
, X: u* n" u5 g+ P0 B! d/ tdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese# [- k. `! f3 p" ?0 X4 U
flag hang from the wall.) e; R: {; u2 P6 j
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
" n, K1 [( X oanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
$ t) S* f0 o6 d* ?: npracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker4 Q$ V, J) S6 R# f9 }& ^0 l! D. o
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students: p& M; E) r; m, @, i6 X6 Y8 g4 L) V3 Z
are already choosing it over Spanish.: H: A# y# q" T& b1 p1 m7 s7 }5 o
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal8 r4 [) K3 ?, k$ ^
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city- A1 K6 E+ C. Y7 M+ Q3 d, |
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."# o) }+ T( P: f0 i1 P
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,6 b6 O. Y( R( S7 D2 U2 D
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
3 d- c4 ]3 L3 o- }( z2 ?3 hto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
: c# O, O$ S3 U" Z* done of its most difficult to learn.; d" N0 ^/ H( [ C
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to% h3 a) T4 J6 I. K
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students, v( {7 ^; H% P; k) a3 q
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I., Q2 a& |3 H4 F
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
6 `0 l5 b$ E$ K2 U4 ?Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on+ M1 N% y6 ]" V9 F5 Y8 ]; _/ K, ~& x
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to& U4 z2 F% m" Y
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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" @4 B1 @9 [" ~3 P" }After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement) Q$ M8 C. `5 R M& ~
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
6 |& E: G' J9 x/ S M" H! @starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to2 k( P/ b9 O" G/ J6 B& V
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
- f ^: a, h+ E9 Dcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
+ f$ A2 ^+ F' Q1 c0 }6 kof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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`1 l1 B, v# T+ H2 }"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of) E0 T/ e K7 Q
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
/ H' b8 c0 _ B, i& eConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
) [% s5 Z" G6 |5 G6 ncan." $ D" g) d/ M# X; j5 ~" Y
! ~ X `: [0 @. @% WThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
: u8 a8 t! _& R6 O7 melementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
; K2 j6 z- i: C3 A8 byears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language y( N( E; t4 ? \: u( V& H
Institute in Washington.5 o Q; X' m- \% P
. k! A3 v; h6 B2 Z4 T1 [7 R, y6 Y"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
' W' \& g8 y7 I5 a+ Faren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
. g" }1 @, B. a$ m z2 p5 NMcGinnis said.& {5 M3 p( a* h& P' A1 l
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical* F4 ]" L/ n7 @/ q7 u$ B
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be/ A2 I0 g& W- a5 X' {
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a8 U3 B1 f( L* ]6 J7 c- } p1 b
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."0 ^6 Q+ k" s1 u9 L: c) \
0 m1 p) A7 P( P+ R. l% x! BUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
/ m- X& |! h3 t* D; hsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
7 b+ g L" g8 mcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of* d2 S) b5 ~3 `; o# k1 J/ _
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or% n1 z: `* U- Z% Y6 M" R& B
on weekends.; F% y% D- s7 B" P4 P% O+ F
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
) x7 c5 M( t& O/ r# ]6 b) Jschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
0 I7 V+ P8 l$ T! `- M; ?9 |students who are not of Chinese descent.
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' E x8 [" T- y, cMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said1 J0 G$ O3 {- S# V8 x: _
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
5 E# r5 _( g' c7 vcompetition. ! z N1 M+ i) c2 f* ~6 d
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
# n4 }, z) |6 ^' w/ g3 gsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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" J4 N3 a4 J; f, f. I7 M; tFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
( q5 a( ]+ k4 m4 oall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse2 o+ G6 E C6 d8 R
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from" H' `) j; H* k& C$ O
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students5 x0 C/ L9 e& K6 F* i p2 h
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to6 O0 T0 k; B2 d3 `
the school system last year.- }' F9 Q$ D9 T2 z! ?
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this+ N2 C: [3 N& R' U
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.! Q+ ~( [% v) u+ D
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"They have a great international experience right in their own; Z1 [5 o! G2 C/ Q: X, n
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
9 \* |7 `8 i/ j6 g4 t' ZChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
* R2 K# p! T+ L' K" [3 Qhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet0 O0 s( c1 T r1 g9 Z% ]
on an equal playing field."
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/ L$ u" O: W q8 O9 cSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
8 ?& ^9 i) b9 J7 S5 v% lclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
( E7 K- I( s1 @+ r5 I4 ~Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
: `) {4 p( p2 Z" m) eChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An* c U7 ~& s2 ]
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
9 D6 {( j, x5 v# sChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
6 ^3 ?/ r; _/ k7 finstitute says.# D' |$ H) d0 {; |: z, ^" a
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
5 L; j+ H) b+ B5 D xgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
w# E9 \; a# T' L9 H% odeciding whether to take the class., S$ X& x1 x9 L( d6 x
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
; S5 M" |7 Y" R0 K+ ~' }told her daughter.
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& q1 Q! G; Y. M2 ^7 k) S; y9 wSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
4 R+ q: {5 m% d8 f, \* Qclass.+ {9 u" [. O a( @3 w2 W! `
- h: ]0 X3 E: z0 G; u' D0 gAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are/ W, I+ R! E: T5 W
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without# _; P9 k/ d" b5 B5 {3 j1 h5 V
occasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
, x9 \+ c9 F, j- m% G- P! I. q4 Xrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.# p# M( r2 N* f. D0 @
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
0 i- g& e4 O2 E' p4 B" }, Gtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
s. k( G2 k9 n4 V& BChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul. I+ @! ]3 ?% F+ T' ]
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
7 v: e/ a+ X7 sas many languages as I can."
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6 Y' G3 ?3 f8 g" {) @Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the3 e. s2 h+ X- h! _
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job# s; w3 u3 w1 F# T2 |
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like b1 x! ^4 S0 t" S
that," Ms. Freire said.( n: `, |' x" t! K' X9 `
) T7 G, r+ \( P) J% N( CMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
& H4 o) e, e- |: zhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
" z# I" A. y' N+ lschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
5 f, s+ y/ z7 S! [6 @% ltime from classes like physical education, music and art to make, R4 [4 ^6 P% s# J9 t# w. ]$ m. k* v
room.* A7 {* K' g6 Z! @. t* q
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
1 ?7 c+ ?' Q" [3 U) WChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American" I# O% N/ ^# W1 A0 G: e) { U
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 qualified
; e7 `' h3 R0 Jbecause of that missing certification," he said.- V2 {" w5 u; f
6 I- [& c, G' ?; A* Z' w* u9 bThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
- x6 v0 o+ I. e6 usaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia( d% A4 X' W% q6 e9 f
Society in New York.. g ^. F4 ^9 k# p/ T1 z3 N
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
3 `# ]0 I% I( @( {! X# C. cChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from$ F8 n! d h9 k' I$ Q$ c
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.1 h2 i" I7 K1 g- J
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our- `% N4 [) ?/ n
own." F+ P. g; p& M0 w
: R( N% [& y$ _9 Q5 sCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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