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October 15, 2005+ E" N6 j6 M8 R* N
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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+ }3 P/ M3 c9 y- R1 s/ D/ k4 D; \CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
# h9 E& j4 ]7 l7 u; hUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary9 ^1 p2 l1 ` h& @5 B
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas* p, f; p" w, Q0 V# y
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
' x1 R5 P$ h* ]/ P# b8 X# _flag hang from the wall.$ P8 ]9 q {. f( ]% @( z
; h |" e4 }- F G* \. Q' K% k- P9 [* `4 `One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one+ k9 q d2 u T o7 y! c
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders$ S9 L6 k9 m) k4 C3 p
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker) a2 r2 t: b' P% R$ w
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students+ v9 M+ q" g& z8 V: \# L
are already choosing it over Spanish.. w$ b1 E& h- ] V b
2 P9 L$ G8 a) \! m$ U& m2 n) ^2 w"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal" f4 `( B) W$ P6 c% D
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city5 G) z5 P- @/ e, M
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."! Q3 ^6 N/ ?4 ^' a) a
V4 K' y! l2 L% ~5 `With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments, {4 f$ e7 D. W4 N) U! J
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
* {- ]9 v' Y( r' D0 t. C4 e. X% Hto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
. q D1 x( r: d& @2 k! yone of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to/ y8 R% S# C+ o1 f% G
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
N; M3 t' O2 ~ vstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
) B- v2 V5 b( `Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of& c, v( ^7 ?6 v; [/ ~
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
, d0 J( M& K9 ]4 gChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to$ ]- m6 J* d% e5 _( B
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee./ ^5 ?3 t9 M2 U" R3 q( d
' P5 Z; h1 G# ?; H# F9 F2 FAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement+ N. Y8 t& ~% M# q" Q, {# D; b
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country2 U3 T0 Y2 e' |
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
" `' ?* S. _9 }* J/ ?develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
0 j: p) ?' I9 b- F: |1 u- s+ hcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director3 V0 i) J6 {7 D% @9 z* k* ^) _
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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7 q' P% ?) f5 c8 |- o"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of/ w# Z2 j4 q8 c. Y& P- a: ]' O
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education* G8 x, g( l, C& N
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we' a; h, P4 _+ z$ }, V' f0 t
can." 7 r& W; m* p; X+ V
2 ]& c) w2 X# Q xThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
- k2 L/ l, G" qelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10) Z8 \0 i* Y E0 p& q
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language1 w9 x+ W k& T8 L
Institute in Washington.
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! B7 V+ F6 s& n8 R" i& E% x"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages: b) D$ N5 v+ T: |2 f
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
& Q& ^8 i& P2 H& [0 mMcGinnis said.
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" z1 V8 [6 d0 h- _: I+ O1 ]"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical. i0 a; Z1 O% t4 R
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
0 Q) K' F8 [9 W) J+ Uready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a4 S8 k6 W S$ A1 b
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."; R' j! Y; L4 L8 A
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and1 t5 U2 F: j2 F0 g- F0 ~
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in- F6 }. {2 a& r- o
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of- E* d7 N- l* S* h5 b7 M9 C: _) a) m
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
- \: x8 [8 L( G& ^+ G9 eon weekends.
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/ \! D6 _: }3 c. z/ U% W- o* OThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
* Q; j3 L: w* g+ Hschools during the regular school day and primarily serves$ w6 R% F9 P1 |% k5 ?6 M# k* \
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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~3 S4 q. G5 l yMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
6 [* e* d0 w4 i' \' g' Pproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the2 f3 A. o. A0 s6 H6 F! S5 N. @1 u# b
competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley; v) L9 W% @- q
said. "There will be Chinese and English."( {0 o; U% z- W1 ~1 {; f9 A1 P+ m
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
( \: g$ b# |- }# \: G% Fall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse8 U! H. h' f. v8 P* k: F: h/ }: _
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
! D. P, \1 C8 W+ ykindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students d2 Q$ P& |% o* F/ c
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
9 \- t) G$ H2 j; vthe school system last year.1 q) T2 w3 b: Y/ i6 F4 h
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
: v L F6 Q) ?/ c6 P6 ~4 Y; eyear 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, }- ?+ `; E% V
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago$ _% h5 g6 Z0 ?4 G: q/ u
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to' N4 v: F: g- H; c8 z4 l
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet, K7 [+ e" z: [- U& l1 A5 r
on an equal playing field."
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: O7 E! N2 ^; T+ x" E3 X4 s, NSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
% e$ E0 P3 b- a& t- b+ k6 Q" xclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
" M, ^) u: u6 }$ U; |- G. ~Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks2 L* f8 ~; y& R* G: q- s8 Z4 Y. D
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An6 ^$ |7 |' [) u& a4 {' X, \
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
: `" j6 J4 e1 i* ?Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
( Y) [* H6 y% b9 l0 F# A. n$ ^institute says.6 m8 {5 f1 r1 a
n* J8 i. S1 u2 e1 M8 x
Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth& Q7 E( W0 x* L4 c* V' f5 T- E- L
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
3 F3 h9 h& o9 O% h& T9 ldeciding whether to take the class.
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: u% y' H9 c: I' m"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she/ u0 C4 [+ V) B# z7 y) Q
told her daughter.( W/ Y$ a/ h0 T! T5 Z& j( b' K
7 @' P1 y( G# qSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
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" m9 R; j1 K K" q& nAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
% R4 C- {# A+ n9 p5 Nstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without& \. c, n$ n* a- P4 ^
occasional frustration.# \. t$ b1 X: p9 ^5 e1 B
5 s2 }, Z2 ]1 h/ ?5 m" P3 C0 T"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
1 o! ]/ a- L9 C- B. e( b5 i" xrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
6 F: {) J [3 itaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
% A* O% P6 B U: F$ D) TChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
6 x5 ^% H' o Usaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
; O5 p: p5 @- k: ] c' p8 _as many languages as I can."
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+ y0 O3 F. k' L8 Q" d6 z8 LAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the$ @+ m4 @* U# J5 ^( W
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
1 B; P. w, `- Z0 omarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
/ \3 f+ g9 \9 K3 Q5 Rthat," Ms. Freire said.- d; b1 n# K: B+ M- y; W
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
3 ]& [, E" Q# W& ?here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each2 l' a( O# |! ]/ {
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
, h9 Q* O$ i- r# @! Mtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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3 g4 O% j/ Y/ YChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
. y/ ^5 x8 Y7 [/ z5 r2 ^* FChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
3 s3 E* A3 V% s* dcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.! r" T8 Q. q$ N; u# `8 e
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
4 K) d9 c! f- kbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
7 n* h0 O' ]# A% Vsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
2 \3 h- @) Y, N7 S, ?- s5 sSociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
! l5 n0 W ?& k5 w) b2 ?: sChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
. H! i+ ^: Z5 |/ athe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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. P3 W/ y. a' n/ x"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our( b4 F; a$ p- H
own."+ x5 ~, Z7 |) F, Q: ~
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