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October 15, 2005' A9 ~$ n3 X! r4 A' _$ [$ \( X
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity1 u3 Z4 `6 f/ ]2 T8 D& `# Q
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the2 B& z6 @- ~ I9 W/ F9 r1 R x0 |& A
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary4 x* q5 n( K9 g* _7 h
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas$ _. r! p; n. _* A
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
' s& u3 F' y) X+ ^2 e* zflag hang from the wall.+ Z+ K) }$ Q, j' b# ]+ D$ M0 }
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one. C. v/ w. |: a2 Y$ A3 P- l
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders! s! r) O( l5 y4 b" _1 \. e
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker1 ], ~; V$ v/ J
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
+ ?! ]0 r H& ` d3 i3 F& l6 nare already choosing it over Spanish.8 K: z, N8 A" L
/ Q l7 t" s- [/ _9 z"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal6 h1 Y2 n, }. A# ^; M
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city& s( P- d a: K
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."! V+ y8 H5 Q* k6 I5 a4 g
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
) L G" ?& Q6 U2 |- x' ^$ Pschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings* T/ M. X. {5 B4 Q! \; g2 S; J. U
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention X2 B) U% J6 N7 }
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
1 D! @8 `7 c0 x" Q+ Q9 G) }public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
& m3 G8 ]% f4 ]$ [8 F; W+ _# H: vstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
5 ?* u: L7 r( o4 P- ?0 tLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
# Q6 h( g5 @# m UTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on' S6 e5 d; |$ {7 }9 Z
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to; T8 Y/ `, G0 T. I: b, Q' U
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement; c, V# l/ p2 z5 p. I/ J r" A; Z
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
: @' l9 G7 H) F; r8 ystarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
& m x6 x7 I; I, b' R5 [develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
6 L& Y; M3 C9 U! B: M4 q9 rcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
9 j/ x3 c" y- ^2 J4 nof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
4 M; n! O9 x6 g5 w6 }0 U% P, xspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
% R. S: G C* p/ n/ }Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we5 {9 X. N3 c; B: o2 f6 S N
can."
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+ H. }5 I! \0 r, IThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
" r- x& [: a0 o6 W/ _0 {* C5 n8 xelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
1 D7 ]) e% m# Z% v4 F, Xyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language8 ?# I0 R" ?, q# T/ C
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
7 `% g( h0 D- _% ]aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
! M* L9 {3 O5 D5 q0 @. uMcGinnis said.; p+ b6 A9 u/ B6 }6 }) J0 k* {# j% Q) Y
" E$ @# p7 b5 e _" d"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical( F2 i7 I9 L' Q# @3 d8 E) e7 B: G
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
9 N7 y8 o* _; r" hready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a+ {- j2 Z" H9 T$ {3 R, [0 W- c' p
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
9 w& n+ x+ ~- |secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in0 F. s/ _- T! O# b) G" L+ w
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
5 a' F5 r$ T# W7 m9 {+ ] |* _Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
" a* B; x3 |; B1 q* e& Non weekends.$ |/ O8 K& p- l" E
9 T# y" i9 S$ e5 b$ O* aThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public- B# U0 c) M/ d, o U
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves5 X2 }) Z1 V$ r* ~
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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, s6 G% B; P+ p1 O# Q/ G0 pMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
1 Q! J7 G+ m7 X6 hproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
; g0 L3 f1 T0 m/ |8 B/ z Pcompetition.
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4 R$ t# q8 a3 S$ L- V% a"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
0 } W6 {0 r6 v/ r5 Psaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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5 Q u8 V( g' Z6 sFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly) J; t y% Z' V" |. }# ~
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
8 W. e, ?. A b4 N' Y6 [+ O7 eschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from/ O$ P; y3 `" _7 B& ?) F( D; a
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
. ?: x5 q' [- O9 S- O5 twho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
. ?) u/ w7 L% c0 W4 qthe school system last year.
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$ M1 q# t, M0 L/ P: EThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this# v* r; \4 F8 X5 u0 A! R9 k5 j, r% M
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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# m8 v! o- x; U7 b H3 p"They have a great international experience right in their own. w, n0 U4 b0 M& W
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago/ h# K: p0 X z
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to5 O, m$ |* Z1 S, C" q7 x9 L) v
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
4 y, J1 R8 A& v; ]% Kon an equal playing field."* U" d$ ~: P; `( K# Z, O% K& h
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese) W8 i, u2 I9 h6 J7 p# ?
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign8 i2 P9 O \( M/ i/ P; E
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
) G5 O3 T5 {5 s9 G# ~: ~3 ~Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
1 q4 f b3 c Z7 Z- `average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
; s8 {" _9 K3 g% KChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the# G7 @* M/ [8 b3 O b& h/ r4 G7 r
institute says.
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) A/ b) }3 s U) U$ hSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth. l& J ~: V1 I* N5 K0 E3 J' U* X
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before. ?" S% F$ s) t& Y K% n
deciding whether to take the class.
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" d7 K7 i. H Q"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
/ t: |" O9 y( \ N/ c* otold her daughter. E! G+ F" S* w8 I2 v* y
: C& B) m1 Z4 T, YSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite( k) ? d6 x5 i1 J% W# {, W
class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
$ e# h4 P) Y6 P9 o& O3 @0 Cstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
' i6 r- B" ~) _5 [: L/ D m3 h9 woccasional frustration.+ @/ p' S+ r3 ^) p0 k& g* q
) E( X- J+ J, l: f$ d"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a! ~( m$ w8 B0 f: x# c* l A
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
0 P1 M% z, @* A' a7 @( J- V: Otaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with/ P$ X+ _$ m: X" R% d8 Q; p
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.% R3 m$ W8 Y( m, C) ?
6 K0 D! P$ v4 `5 h Y! g8 p"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
1 m' U- b. z1 c0 V2 L2 p7 ^said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn: F: Q; h4 `9 t1 K% G" v
as many languages as I can." M5 L2 N7 Z- m' Q7 e1 i
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
; }5 k7 N8 l! i" rskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job7 c; \: Z5 o7 R1 _- F
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like& ?1 _! ^2 F) B2 K) V# l. M
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program- k, l5 y5 B) E/ D8 j) L
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
L4 b' W+ f O3 ~ c( dschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking8 R- X$ ~9 }& d( p
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make& j9 ^) @3 h4 A# x* G, ]9 F
room.
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" E3 e6 }/ j9 |" n% nChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
" v2 Q; f4 y9 ~. A, s ]. \& LChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American) D9 Z+ \4 M5 I/ Z
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said. C- t$ k1 Y7 O7 d; `( H
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
+ ^/ O% u7 Q$ g7 i. Y% ^6 u: M' X4 ^; _because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,, J% J' T- J4 c( Z
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia( ]& P2 f0 T! _; j; H7 a
Society in New York.
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# y v; m. F, @Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
) P/ O; x2 S; ^9 P: K! TChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from3 A6 A5 }. I/ {$ g& g1 K
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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$ A& Q9 w+ d$ y) j& }" t: o"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
! G7 e& m5 {3 g9 w1 jown."
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