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October 15, 2005: N& E8 \% f9 P# Y
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity q2 E) s1 d6 W8 q9 {" C
, e8 ~& p) g- n# W% B: a" OBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING% Q$ H+ }: A* g- r: A& }; D: P
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
3 C" `& e+ R2 O; Y, Y2 u9 R! R- JUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary' T# |0 a" D# ?! b. |9 T9 a5 a
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
7 _8 B. d( i4 P8 Ydangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
# J0 g' M& A* N3 O. }flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one. [# G* e" n% ]
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders" e6 H- R& F6 B( W2 f; p/ w
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
$ B7 B- @' ~5 r- c$ ]9 k' r' qboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
- R" a: }2 W; mare already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal, c' X e4 w- I* S- r8 |
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
# `7 h8 E0 ?7 W9 Ooffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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( A7 Q8 h0 t2 ?4 a; LWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
# ~0 e2 s) d4 ~7 I& rschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings/ |$ r7 q$ `( D) v; K1 {
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention$ u; c( a; \+ V% \/ R4 o) q
one of its most difficult to learn.
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g( d9 i3 u. I' f o0 fLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
8 n- ^+ O+ ~! ]* d- X* zpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students& h' c& }3 ]* g1 U
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
; j) p$ R8 |: t- MLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of# T0 ^1 ]. V. A- |/ M# q2 Y6 e: o
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
4 o: P- M- d. @# m* o8 kChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to6 m$ d- D& n M. E( m
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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/ C, |3 ~# r m! _After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement. d! O% _8 v9 W6 P# L
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
% K# Y/ Y" `' T0 R* _- w: Ystarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to0 F- ^. }" V% o+ \- s: [3 l% z
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing2 c7 o/ M# S* k. E
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
( Z. z/ m$ U1 Sof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
4 k6 V, @' ]( ~4 ?$ Hspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
1 T/ ^$ t8 N" ~3 @/ m4 e! MConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we4 L7 x! p' y0 n( i7 k: G
can."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
$ i3 ?9 N7 A7 K+ }elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
8 {7 v$ i* X/ Wyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
3 e) t* l0 Q l2 TInstitute in Washington. T" M9 E# ~$ f# b' V
' X! T2 T. k, M8 h0 o"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
$ y' _8 o' Q3 G- Q2 Daren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.5 W D' m$ n2 v3 A1 A, t& ?
McGinnis said.
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5 I1 Z. l" ?& f5 x, l3 e* ]& G7 {"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
3 M3 M4 |# p6 h. _+ d L& ~2 Y% flongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be8 a) d2 q4 x& j% o
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a$ I; T: z, L& Z
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."8 |& K6 n$ g M5 p8 C" D
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and; ]. m9 y5 I' \
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in( P, e( W6 p5 ?
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of3 }6 C1 x: i- m9 c0 S. J% O
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
) H r* D5 i# A+ ion weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public3 e: _! J8 U. b9 l. K; g% v( j: j
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
( Y( k0 P: Q- i- Rstudents who are not of Chinese descent.# X! w7 y' q0 _8 _
# \$ A( L% I7 vMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
- u2 }) ]0 a4 A1 w# d/ I7 Hproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
7 W4 S7 R* ~% C' y8 ]competition.
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8 o7 E; Y1 e% U ^3 A"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley6 s# ~" a' R: r# L8 T
said. "There will be Chinese and English."# R7 x t9 Y6 f% j' B
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
2 x/ z# {) Q+ ]9 L+ ^* P6 B& }all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
8 o6 |+ L! i( R! Z1 y6 pschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
: R4 h4 M1 ~) S& d7 okindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students( S" H6 C+ W$ e. X0 f
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
+ {* k! A4 j+ fthe school system last year.
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) h) l0 ?8 M' w" J' l! DThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this2 S- Q7 a0 r6 K
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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- r3 T. R- [% t+ B5 w' s, M"They have a great international experience right in their own
M! g3 ]$ [# ?" Fclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
+ I6 @( }: J' n1 z. P! _" eChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
0 N T; m6 o l8 ihelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
2 S! @& m" o, \4 p, r8 ?) d. ]1 son an equal playing field."$ N# c! _, U' t8 F* n2 _
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese6 U; r3 y& z7 C1 y: ?
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
4 P; C- I: j, q( }+ u% J+ Q7 ~: ^Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
3 H/ V; B0 E9 u b9 D5 z* Y# f0 CChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
% G* P- }! H& p1 ~- gaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in$ {/ M4 Q5 D6 e# }. x1 {
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the8 U1 Q: b4 r! u9 r
institute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth& D- g, S( x; `, v, o
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
( }) s1 ^( ~' \' S. t: hdeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
$ f3 o X+ A$ z, {7 p; Y' itold her daughter.2 x' l3 n3 ?. C5 u% Y, L
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
5 y! ~+ ]0 j2 e" C. Kclass.8 X- ^) c9 z' o* v
& o& f9 j9 _% R+ a2 u, \At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are, K& ?" i' D, J: ~" X
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
! z3 b+ V5 ]3 p+ @* Poccasional frustration. W$ O- ~. b7 i0 w7 S& B7 R) H. a
# G7 q7 g& x% S2 R6 q3 L"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a' g$ J) E% l$ W k2 @
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.4 B9 I2 M$ o; Y- ]0 U. A8 N
; }" s+ V$ w$ {9 K$ i, a5 XRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
}4 T/ `" [2 Ytaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
% ?- P" B! C" x* t8 t3 tChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.* H# a1 u- O( E1 }
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul/ c6 L: l% n: m4 V E+ F
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
* X7 Y8 k" C; D. p2 d0 ~/ A. }as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the# [1 {; X2 N* Q, H7 C% O
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job, I; b+ Q4 Q7 j' o$ C: E8 J
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like% N& L1 B! F- L D a
that," Ms. Freire said.
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& I* Z9 _# \, \Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
* q1 _0 g& g/ I0 m$ h: S; D' jhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each" v: [& }1 k8 w& e
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
# [) M! j- ^4 X' d# I* n2 ktime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
1 V8 z5 l! S3 C# r. c2 xroom.( M; D% M2 c2 E. i: e
7 r+ T n; H$ h3 [Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer( K% c+ G* `* c5 |8 l% G( @
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American- y n4 `" {# [! y, @6 l
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.) r2 E% {, ?( x* Z# C5 k( S4 @1 I
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified$ b6 I3 J9 i9 {* H6 J: |
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
( x, l1 J5 h6 ]3 d3 x% Gsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
) [; e* G5 J* Y) }Society in New York.$ _9 r% u" P! l6 O$ @* X
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
( s9 m/ F( S: y' VChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from/ ^. w* R( U5 a9 A0 t0 X5 D4 ?) r
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.3 _7 R$ I1 T7 w+ B, C- I8 D# V F
# M! `& r" d% q- F) J"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
: a* p7 w' A1 W0 z# ]7 t% _+ pown."
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, K( [& }& K& b+ I) S$ bCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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