 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
October 15, 2005# H+ m, O& ~* b: t& L
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity9 L9 }# K' t8 f' n0 G& k3 l9 o
j0 {1 ~0 c0 U) Y
By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
/ s0 n8 k6 K- ^' ?0 d
9 W/ S) _ b D7 yCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the% a. c ]6 q8 t* m
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary9 t/ r$ K4 L: U
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas0 \% y1 K* v0 M5 F/ K8 l
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese- i: |7 o+ T# T
flag hang from the wall. z* U( Z0 |7 I% H" y3 o& S5 g, ]
6 G i! P- h& o& F" kOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one" F& P& `; D# l" z G$ U" ~! i1 D' z
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
: u6 d+ h# ~9 l- D* Mpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker2 c; D1 y G+ ?0 r0 `6 q
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students: d2 T: [' m# W# l& Q
are already choosing it over Spanish." w- b; [/ ~! T5 W% f
# v- _% S- Z G% E8 g+ N2 N9 L"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
* E, {+ L) u* Z6 ]( n/ H8 w* F; Nat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
/ K7 o. q5 A3 h6 u( k7 M" P% C0 Zoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."8 R- S. S$ B/ U0 K
* ]4 X, n( j4 X0 B
With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,* ^9 d& w% ]2 i/ m; P
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
1 G! }/ z4 J$ ~- [+ q- C- Yto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
4 n8 e; n" j; U: w1 Z% u/ {: Aone of its most difficult to learn.5 d7 e( U |% O' U! H' X- f5 @
6 W; l; z& O+ R, |* z5 iLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to" `9 B4 G# z% H% n- a2 q0 M
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students# Z; w6 Q S; P$ b, V
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
; G; Y: S- Z& `1 ~Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of& V. W% \3 j- G; f
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
0 b8 i C9 V; W+ qChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to6 Z( ^6 k0 ]; l3 A$ _
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
5 ] \0 B" ~0 C: T8 u
( \5 ?& X% B) Y% B: J& {8 k( [After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement4 l) k& z% T. O+ O; A1 q
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country( ^/ }: n5 A4 Y( z4 a' D; H
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to7 M3 N0 R, Q. P
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
& m' X- Q1 I: N, [9 l7 b& Ocurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
" _& T8 d" m2 `, |of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
" f& s5 |. m" Q" S3 C7 e: ~$ O3 ~% w
"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
3 l5 d3 N$ K/ \! ^' e2 r* y Qspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education6 r( z) t0 O$ F8 N2 ]% V4 {
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we! r6 A/ w* O% h' {" E$ r" O
can." - `2 m D+ }0 Q$ U. v( J5 h0 c
2 @( h, y3 h& h4 l- N* ^ HThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
; X* r: D4 |: e5 {2 Q2 s8 [9 Uelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 103 Z! B# m1 G, u( ~& I
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language% @/ I; R8 S1 _1 \
Institute in Washington.8 a* F5 Y9 F. Y8 j
9 s0 S; |- {, b, R, D! a. p" @"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages; ~4 o) X5 s& u0 d. _0 I' M+ W. P* Z
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.# f/ L W$ ?: \& J: x& M
McGinnis said." Z& Q- [% D1 @: |8 S6 a) |( t3 B
& @+ K6 M- W! J S, i+ u
"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
; g1 T. z4 ~6 I2 z+ Clongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
* M/ h6 a; E9 V- w/ Kready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
8 D, t& c0 u/ n" |challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."6 @2 O {* M7 ]4 d3 h
8 b! l5 ]6 I$ ^3 D9 B' i) `- r4 TUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
, m1 [5 a7 _3 w6 k0 B/ I2 lsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
5 v7 ~- c( C8 q& _; xcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
) C& r: z8 Q; lChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or3 s$ S' [: o5 o2 t* ]/ N% J- D& s# c
on weekends.
$ u4 f7 @: a6 X- v$ f9 e! j7 m0 d7 W) f" S: p; i
The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
3 O1 R; S9 y( L: v& ?$ U0 qschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
% I8 P7 s. j: f( e4 w; N0 p8 k `students who are not of Chinese descent.2 F6 v9 Q9 y3 |+ ~, C
e/ l) E1 h! S! j* [. @Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
5 u, J0 E1 u7 W2 T# \0 sproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the1 h6 t; u2 o; ^% w/ N E
competition. ; x: U5 T, ~: J8 H& i( C! M7 S/ A- S
& A5 P0 ~( o" ]5 Y: C" l3 R
"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley; H6 V4 O. c" t) m/ K8 ^% x
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
6 L" a' @% C4 |& a+ r/ G n
" O* P4 e& l% r- {' m. b. X- A9 L# yFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly# K! F: b2 _/ ]4 {; z# }/ M7 B
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
; w, Y- x7 M4 S' X) Rschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from l) B4 `. K; O3 O
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students( u: ? Y" ?! O! }' W4 J5 e! f
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to; W( B, n* B3 x, p' }- ^! M7 a. t0 y
the school system last year.
& Y+ _/ X: c- l6 h+ H0 d; r$ H% b- w8 e3 ^' w7 x* m5 }
The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this, p5 P4 j- n8 |2 K. q/ M% J
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.8 g( f. i: s! h0 l' o2 J4 G; u1 l
3 E2 Y9 ?- I+ b, \# Y/ k+ B' N"They have a great international experience right in their own
+ p+ K3 v; ?4 J: U9 vclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
' N2 g$ l- T: \7 Q/ SChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
: X. b+ H6 e; C! n, H+ i) Zhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
* A) w% T' m$ e# r/ aon an equal playing field."
. }3 w, F+ X; Q. n" c( I4 I* _5 s3 ^, D' j5 x( ]" c! z
Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
3 z; H6 s, [1 c3 F+ f* a4 ]classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
$ u- q |4 u6 s% y2 m) S" qService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks8 s h8 m! Z7 i+ K( r# ^8 v+ ^
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An+ v9 T5 o: p! l$ C' `
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
9 D: j6 @ o: ?$ V0 LChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
% L! }7 q; o/ Minstitute says.! d* ]! J: i# U. D2 }
" f+ w% V( V- z+ ]: CSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
9 O2 Y8 y8 G4 u7 z0 I6 w' U4 `grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before0 q) z. {5 |" L' |4 Q
deciding whether to take the class.
( v+ l- j; U. _: c+ a. i1 J. `5 }" A
"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
/ ]* M. h; d: u* z$ i6 s9 Xtold her daughter.* [+ H7 }) ?' j3 C
/ C- Q N: s: U V" [* T7 ?
Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite2 v! f" ~) S5 q. r* z
class./ A2 x& ^5 H4 b+ A- a# O6 }
8 P" Z/ m: L8 Q! O5 j+ I1 X+ OAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
! M8 j3 ]; B- a6 X# x0 w& fstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
$ _/ Y. t6 ?, L+ {$ zoccasional frustration.% P8 r% L& X" i$ P) [
, @- I. Y% @$ o"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
1 U- S/ |9 ^" c j w' ~! crecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.% n# }0 C! C1 e1 b$ K/ C8 }
* f) a0 Z+ d. O8 {1 ^
Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
/ Z, w( T, T D2 Dtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with# I9 X9 o2 {/ f: r/ W
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
% e- @8 d3 B3 o; P, Z- v/ o0 [4 B7 ~+ K
"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul1 d/ ~+ n/ e% j9 W! C
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
{+ |5 @% f$ p0 k/ w3 R! c% Fas many languages as I can."
2 A% A) n. W* D3 c
0 N5 K8 g! o& h, p) \+ e# xAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the; E$ f0 }& X1 Z7 X- u+ ]4 \7 x
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job; Q5 u' W" C5 e2 J4 s# P# Z
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like7 \$ m4 l; ]2 ?4 ~, X- x7 R) q
that," Ms. Freire said." _1 r1 I* ?7 z! v" w
% e; f6 Q1 b% y7 ]/ N9 ]6 h
Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program$ e+ @8 y8 G$ }2 |7 B. `$ U# m3 u1 p0 w
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each' y$ e, a7 }2 y/ a; C2 X3 O
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
! C) O W% D$ s# c2 p( V3 dtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
" _9 x5 N& P- f- E3 m+ c* b$ Broom.1 n: P& U% ]0 @2 W1 O
; Q6 [& A& o) ?3 FChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer; G3 @8 d) {" n8 C9 d2 y5 ]9 i& {
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
, M2 T5 n5 f- `' `college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
3 G8 w l: ^6 i! {* \& W5 S+ w I1 {+ P- F) x
"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified7 N* d* G: f& {* @- t' V. P& t
because of that missing certification," he said.) x: i0 [) R/ v$ z7 t/ N* z% ^
4 p6 e6 w6 F! K8 `) D1 r" s9 I! R
The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
2 Y% t4 k; }9 E% k1 ]said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
1 z$ r7 N" H) k" x4 Y; G: ^% t5 R# iSociety in New York.
5 w5 N3 V6 T: Z; C
8 C. O+ r- e" g3 y7 lSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
" U4 S# e+ Z4 s" EChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
n8 s! \7 P6 l% Y1 n0 K' nthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
0 |- Y/ {- {: L/ ~, i0 X0 \% [# f$ M' ]& c( K; ]
"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our" O2 b# L' y% B+ K4 x
own."
( z& x- _6 T/ ~$ ~3 E0 @9 L
( ]; T# M; E' n( ` GCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
|