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October 15, 2005
' I" q/ J) j4 I3 mClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity; w0 X B1 N" x! Y9 w. L, N+ G
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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5 P0 y3 g# V2 ]CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
8 L6 _; o6 Y! C8 ?United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
9 ]7 [0 S5 w5 w% x2 c" @School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
% B' ]/ W o1 M) f2 `dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese) k" Y5 N/ [$ y- i1 R7 ^" x5 R
flag hang from the wall.' D4 k3 ~4 b) {
2 t+ ^/ f) a7 Q; p5 ^& z( BOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
# l/ U% ?; N. l0 Panother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
* |- f" J; K# w+ Kpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
! v, v, m( U1 l. yboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
9 g4 v0 ~% j8 M7 u4 d5 Zare already choosing it over Spanish." y. m) f- }# I
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal: o: ^0 }5 {+ a& r
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
( U, b: r1 U) c7 t& s4 ^6 @offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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; K4 o6 E+ [# z4 m+ b- yWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments," x* o }& z4 [8 ^4 K% @; b
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
( d; L0 u* ?. h! o# {% nto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
2 W' P2 y* c, r1 h2 x7 Jone of its most difficult to learn." [- `; @5 k/ a4 p& |1 W
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to. q) O5 i! a W8 ^, Z( E% ^" C! D
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students5 h1 w2 F; u, z2 Q) C
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
$ ?9 x1 t$ V% C% o2 C1 sLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
h) S0 ~0 ~$ k4 w, ITennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
6 T# Q5 c& I) o& fChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to( D7 ^, u2 Z# T
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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% \ R+ E- f% g6 s' pAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement' c5 j! y9 }6 b# g4 |) R
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country0 x) x' ?( p9 @' o
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to1 O" K1 U8 O, ~ H: T4 O
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
; ^# `6 ]# l1 L# s, ~2 ~/ i& ocurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director' v' n& G6 L" `5 l) c
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.3 z4 u& ?0 G- @* s
' o% \$ [- j( L, h$ W4 o"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
: M6 l% A4 K+ i* E$ d* nspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education2 y# ~2 {7 Y+ K" D& |+ |" X
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we4 \; j5 j6 w0 q4 V }& g
can."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from+ N' C$ A% f$ l& ?$ n1 n# s
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10; c! |& x" V3 x$ E) Y6 M' E3 b* ~
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
+ z& d& W9 I! yInstitute in Washington.2 f6 L/ z. m0 D( {7 X1 s' y# U
" z) k9 o7 L W"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages, {2 T! y/ H8 s+ O0 B
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
* S6 y6 N3 A) o) Z) o ]6 O6 WMcGinnis said.: t% u7 `. P" N6 z u6 _2 d( {1 T8 n
9 {0 S5 X5 ?: r5 l+ t6 f2 g% N"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
3 N$ y0 {' n& M2 m# Glongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be k9 b7 g& w+ F B6 q0 [( R
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a$ n$ X; @5 b/ a5 }, _3 m
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
1 Y, [! Q1 V* P- g6 O7 w' \$ Wsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in6 j5 L- l9 f8 [8 w# M2 ^
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of+ p* C5 |4 G+ c2 P6 P
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
n$ a' b% F- q( L2 v1 \+ von weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
/ b3 m) s. z! }5 }/ X, \/ gschools during the regular school day and primarily serves2 S8 b+ ?' Q2 P# |% [
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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( T; D. n8 n' |+ ^0 ~) uMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
# S5 c" r0 y0 A* a. j- hproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
: R, U1 `+ Q# {competition.
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# i4 ]4 q9 s/ l, p"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley' ~$ V& B- V7 W& M7 o
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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7 A8 Z2 X5 A0 c- w9 y. l( X0 UFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly7 ?9 Q7 M/ R U. ?
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
; x! D- u) L; |; d: U/ r' @schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
( L# j2 O. \9 O O7 e. }& Zkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students5 Q0 M) _, I0 m$ b! C+ M: T8 D
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to" x% h$ k. o+ A5 H, [9 Y( I$ F1 E* D
the school system last year.: D8 E+ G4 Y) @5 I& s- M7 n% a
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this# A+ |6 }* L3 |% _4 K. g; N
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year. K3 H& ], ~6 \" ^" j# E. }$ R
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"They have a great international experience right in their own+ t6 O! i8 c, t, O4 `& [
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago+ O, B* U" ^6 h+ w# P
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to5 l' e+ p6 O) a6 y6 x: L2 [
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet7 P' {$ Q- f- V$ y# A' J' g
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese, y& U: R! I" n) T$ h" W# M6 Y) ^
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
9 U7 `, _( V+ B/ B1 gService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks% F# `7 m& h2 Y4 w0 o V. J4 _( G
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An: b8 x F0 S2 c$ }
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in9 { k$ R. k, D
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the! r. f" R' W" t/ ?
institute says.7 ~4 r( m* {) H7 F
' ~ l# a, r% q2 nSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
( w$ H2 q( D1 c8 jgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before/ d/ y) k2 w2 E. b& i5 l- k7 N- r
deciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she2 K8 l0 }- V9 U- {
told her daughter.( X* U" L+ ^# A6 s4 D
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
7 ^$ O; { D0 o# P1 [# Fclass.. O, H8 u- c! t) p6 e
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
/ j: w: I$ V: ?- v* @+ m+ Xstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without! s/ G! m$ p0 r4 g
occasional frustration.
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* ]# K k- K. ~+ ~7 q- v' K"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
: f8 l" M1 I; o& F! frecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he7 P! `# m+ \$ D4 B
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
6 t) V0 C' `" iChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul; z1 ~* r6 |7 Q8 }
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
- W; t8 b- E k2 N+ z. T9 V- v3 |6 ?as many languages as I can."
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6 ]4 d9 B/ t, \8 g( P& {$ S I/ u0 |Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
2 v# K( s7 Z' a! dskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
7 l" ?( S: \/ E6 @- C. e; vmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like1 A! R" b( ^9 T! N/ P- g
that," Ms. Freire said. L# P/ h. U, c# A5 z
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program) A; U6 v! Y! z
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
) n+ r" U" Z5 w- z- h N8 W& Y( qschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking* g. b& W' u$ v+ V6 g; a! T
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
* z. s9 z7 j$ y0 Q! hroom.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer( P; B8 `# S# o1 b6 I; D; u
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American' i2 t6 o# }! c# c3 V
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said./ t$ z; e- @! b O- O# {
" S7 H6 d* F k0 s1 K8 \8 b0 ^"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
' c/ a3 R. U. T! j; \because of that missing certification," he said.
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- n. v! I/ m/ S- `! jThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
& H$ U( w5 q& O+ k$ Lsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
( h4 q0 e5 r7 I& vSociety in New York., H& `7 y7 M, {) [
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
; E R& d$ S1 h' `% K& [7 h0 NChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
3 \, |; t E) y5 I6 Fthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.: q9 ?2 }, |2 c1 R+ R! M
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our' v5 w" u* \* ]7 W! a5 O
own."
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