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October 15, 2005
( v& o \; s/ a9 l# u% x% BClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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2 B9 D b# j2 @' | C, R0 OBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING* g# l: _5 r6 L% g4 x. P9 f
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the3 H/ L- l/ w- X9 k
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
7 G* O3 v9 M1 LSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
% |- T d5 G' ^9 v' P Edangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
$ Y* O: [ G6 c0 b, r7 Yflag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
, ^) \6 t( h! B3 P+ lanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
5 m/ y$ H8 p3 J7 }practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker: |# I' }6 n6 S9 e$ s4 g& Z! Y7 P
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students: L, B n' u0 R, s8 C4 @
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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/ {( B+ r( i' _6 q"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal( K f/ @ F/ Q! B4 W
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city) b+ h) A7 W! }+ e. l7 \- X
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."- A$ f+ ?" v$ S8 d9 t& k
# l" d6 Y4 R! m7 TWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,6 k- z6 J9 ]. T: c' V$ k/ D( p
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings6 G+ G. ?# Y0 s# M- P
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
$ K" y5 ?- y3 j5 N7 }0 R5 x& rone of its most difficult to learn.
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4 j& ^, s9 {9 `Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
1 C8 ?5 q* I$ B6 m# U& lpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
! z5 D7 X7 O' F+ `1 Hstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I./ B. r2 Z) d3 g2 N) U a; S8 {
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of- }% W5 p8 O8 x
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
1 w4 V1 |8 e. c. E; x! QChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
9 j' {# ~4 R( u9 E9 R' Cimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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! f1 a* Z2 o& t P5 vAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement4 ?8 J' B R9 T2 t, P
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country+ C# d) s: G1 b, x: j. |! q, y
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
# H7 x2 ~$ J/ u6 t* B5 T2 ]develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
3 |9 W$ Y& N1 f; m) `8 k+ p Tcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director4 F: c3 b' D" f. E
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.9 \8 |! r1 u4 {1 _: |9 J( l5 R) |
6 ^& Z o) \& x6 i, Z5 T) l- ~"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of2 ^3 B4 k$ t$ L
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education ?2 U( O ]% y, b. j% W
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
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& E* h& ~0 m/ N- T3 FThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
, T" B# }+ y0 _elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
8 p P2 y1 G$ i# y. c! b4 W" Oyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language2 T$ O u3 Z$ @. x/ g# L# I5 P
Institute in Washington.8 B# N( z1 W ]. I. c
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages$ d. u3 [+ J! X; U9 x+ n. w4 w
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr./ u1 B5 f- ]- w4 @0 A) m
McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical# x# K; i- E; z/ q9 O: t
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
: d: B' o' y6 pready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
( f, [, z7 ]7 Pchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."9 g, s1 B2 e( U4 S- Z) e4 r
2 u- U+ G- I( l8 EUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
" j c! z- q% V- f4 E- Nsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in& {* t4 N* T2 u, V# _
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of4 u; {6 P, W+ F* m7 m! H
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
# ~; q5 J5 k- i8 s2 N4 E) Y4 Son weekends.# g$ k0 y P* g1 c, W; e
/ w b% i4 i: v" V3 {The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public9 L) d5 K4 r" w3 X5 M' G
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves/ X* U3 G' o1 r
students who are not of Chinese descent.& P& B* b0 ? g9 K8 K0 ^- [) \; E* C
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said3 B7 @! U& Z/ c( `5 F5 x
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the9 H. \, y3 J$ m" D+ n* _& B# l
competition. D& E7 h& m$ d& A4 H# ^
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley3 n: z$ D* d5 s) p1 S/ d
said. "There will be Chinese and English."4 k) m p6 I, m8 L1 D
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
3 i4 y# G/ T$ Oall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
, }8 P* z0 N9 R( `$ yschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from- W0 F0 N5 w, T0 R8 p4 [ t
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students! U0 d( u- q i: k. n, _) V6 f1 U
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to9 B: H T; ~$ s. \! |8 E4 E
the school system last year.4 Z# S7 V4 k6 R% y S
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this: M1 m+ x/ J c
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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"They have a great international experience right in their own
) R8 T% l) g( @& f7 S+ L9 lclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago6 N% L2 Y: ?1 {+ [7 [. O; ~, a- X, A
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
z& w6 _% p# Y/ q1 f3 l7 h% M- phelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
$ P* _0 @# L# B$ Z7 F4 h% Uon an equal playing field."6 |/ z( B* q) l$ c6 \* u* y/ U
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese0 ~: x( i- v5 H6 \( [" e" [
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
; A: U" C3 r4 C, `( PService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks' ^) u* M! r7 \6 O
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An6 e& A( K! Q t4 m8 R
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
% V9 N& u7 l* s6 l$ QChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
, X* b/ j/ n2 J6 X5 e( vinstitute says.
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1 k( h6 a, ^4 p" T GSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth( s5 X$ L) W, q3 i, h! F7 c
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
" J" @ A: p- `: p5 o: R9 s0 l' Fdeciding whether to take the class.
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. D4 Y& s2 s4 w! R& a"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she% y/ e: C5 {$ _8 i3 _# W; I0 s
told her daughter.
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2 O$ b+ L+ h9 Q7 d2 k; l: ESahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite& G/ x/ r9 K5 ?5 e `
class.9 [, x; ^" c3 c. C3 I* E9 ~
8 f, V+ q) S4 q. `At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
4 g2 o7 O) h$ |8 G* r, Ustudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
$ v# u# v: T7 a/ Soccasional frustration.5 R% p# H" ~+ \& Q
' b0 |; ?2 P. O4 `. J( y"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a2 Z& d( N/ n" ?2 Q1 r+ a d; U
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.! J7 c% R+ v1 |: F' O3 }
# I* ]5 @1 {! P* cRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
/ ]. M- M$ i$ d0 C) N- O2 J( Etaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
$ p" S8 R/ _% K% _Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.# u5 v2 [% @5 S {% |' J8 d
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul9 U. L% D! {7 P3 T9 M
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
. J. q. ^( Z5 p0 X6 ?/ Ias many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the! [' N0 b9 X% f
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job% t7 T$ v* q# N: h( S0 \
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like0 G8 U9 d. z! E4 A% g* O$ s7 u: T# ^
that," Ms. Freire said.
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3 a) M+ M4 g, v! G7 x4 RMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program/ E, a' R2 }# k5 U9 m
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
( D* H4 p( f' }- g: g) l1 s3 ^school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking2 d- s/ a0 d5 r. W
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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, _- G' r, ?7 S- _( ?- @' ?Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
; ?" h$ L0 C! ]7 x, Q( ]Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American8 t/ ~/ X! h' s# @2 P
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
9 O) C' _0 s# x. l, q% Xbecause of that missing certification," he said.- |7 N. B) T& d$ M4 h$ B
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
0 F9 ~# Q$ M/ v5 B0 Tsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
" G) J& A$ ]. qSociety in New York.
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# P% h+ X9 F2 \Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
$ w( r; L) [$ r" S* U. aChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
6 K/ o. t- y% o& ?. K, `the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our+ P: j2 P/ `& p8 s/ u' S# Y) @* R" B
own."
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" }* a! P7 a1 p6 L3 p4 o7 ZCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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