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October 15, 2005 S- B b5 {7 L0 V
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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7 u0 [- Z3 R( jBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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5 d2 d7 I- y7 `3 W% pCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the8 V3 d" s! x( U, S
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
- }5 a( C0 ^: k# h7 R5 xSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
0 j9 ]# Z& @) pdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese( c3 W/ g) |2 t8 p/ S
flag hang from the wall.
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9 Z( o, f5 Z# m. AOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one V5 U! b4 r) j4 z% |+ u$ ~
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
5 ~+ L" v3 _ n" Xpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker$ d1 w3 X7 Q# m9 \1 e% J' I
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
9 w& A, A2 h5 M8 D" kare already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
* M" ]" Z) k8 p# H/ Iat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
' v: |! p( W2 ^9 A" Z/ [offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,% p6 D# C) ?, a7 ^! m
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings; b+ i0 I# H% l c5 w
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention) x; p& q' z9 o% \: f
one of its most difficult to learn.
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2 l& p5 Q# x% W- x I6 BLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to/ {" g$ F6 P8 |, n
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students6 s. i8 G; t, q _1 l9 G) |/ V
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I./ ~! q6 E+ Y/ e+ {2 r1 U
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
' l% v2 Z4 _+ X" bTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on* [. B% L, f# L4 `, r r5 H4 P6 V$ y
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
9 \( n: F" B$ S3 Oimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.3 w' N8 j* n# c2 I; h, J% B
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement1 O j* t& n1 v/ w' }
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country! W; [1 Z1 X ]" j
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
8 g; M. ]' v9 Odevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
4 a% \9 }/ ?2 H: f. mcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
! t6 ^% x; L! }of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.0 Z& Q6 {& N, Q
5 @* c4 d5 m3 {' t+ J2 q"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of/ e) |& _& t9 o) s5 h
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
6 b, S! b- s- d! GConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
4 W1 b; {- A+ K, @can." . c: f; h; H2 @$ Q' g4 q
# k# l* v/ Q9 C1 y# D/ ?The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
- B, Z; C) G: Y C9 Qelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10& i0 A5 Y' j5 t
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language7 e- F R8 Q( j) K: q5 X
Institute in Washington.5 `' Q" C( B$ P! H- q' t
6 ^: p8 N. I) N& I4 n* u"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
9 q3 @) ?; O. N- v& w' s: Oaren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr. q) J5 U/ {, K5 w6 h! Y S; y
McGinnis said.
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' {2 m- L( {. d+ a, C( Q& V"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical0 t* [( B4 z6 w- T2 z: z
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be3 u q q% o0 ~2 G( O/ E+ r+ A
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
- g0 k: W0 g$ d, Cchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do." e, X! a5 x+ w% _& @9 c& {& P- |
( ~# J, Y) [! t! YUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
9 z: m3 q- C, B* @secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
2 q+ i3 M' F+ |3 x$ ], Xcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of4 i4 _% Y' G( f2 x# L8 T
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
% z% q! Z% \0 l" O. lon weekends.# ^- `# U" y; {1 b, ]( w
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
& f7 U" |% s+ fschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
" t% z3 m2 }3 z+ rstudents who are not of Chinese descent.: h9 M1 o4 }% K$ r) W. T
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
) e# t }2 o2 [6 y Sproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the5 G/ q) T; k, K
competition.
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. P. n. B# `) T0 z7 U"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
. e2 L. e! L. F$ esaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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4 }0 d) C& D& F) o. l( G" CFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly- C' b0 h5 @+ [
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse7 ^6 q, z* I0 V8 Z l
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from& h. W& Q& k+ D+ A2 U5 z" X
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
1 s7 A4 t& M2 G' a- B# v; i* j7 Z# Owho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
, B% n& d* X6 }$ H. F. Ethe school system last year.( J7 e2 D0 [: U/ f) ~/ P7 {
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this" q0 N$ H! r" p
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.8 ^/ c8 S* n1 L; V$ K' M% W$ D
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"They have a great international experience right in their own: I3 k* b& n/ e" C3 b
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
6 O- h" P. B- L/ W, H6 OChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
1 h% l8 X& Q+ [8 G0 x2 k& i% E/ ohelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet3 y( Q8 K4 N8 H
on an equal playing field."( H7 S, Q# ^, x/ r" w1 ?
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
7 e7 k/ q7 o/ p% ?- \, w/ Kclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign1 y+ n% W( p X$ ]( ]4 a
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks1 x( R0 N" G" m4 x1 Z% _1 F+ G
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An, l. M" L; v" O
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in4 `# y. ?- ]: [" f8 O! u) Y
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the5 @- c/ u$ j0 b6 b8 d! |
institute says.
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0 m0 k1 p K) S0 Q) D7 t- A6 m5 JSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth* N$ L* q, u4 @( N' f; Q
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before$ h8 ?+ [3 @, b. [' V* j- N
deciding whether to take the class.
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) k$ K- B* t" q+ X& U% X"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
, Y1 x1 g3 @, z8 I R* Mtold her daughter.
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' p/ J. O1 g; H) g, {8 k# `5 BSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite/ z% }+ X8 @1 p
class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
% U% h! o! Y: y/ M5 `4 i3 estudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without5 e2 f9 ~, c1 H" Y9 i6 r' o
occasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a8 z; p. B. J! S( u
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
+ r0 G3 T' g" C& G7 i% U8 \* _taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with% m. `* C [! X9 B& D( o, L
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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5 f: ^/ i7 @2 X+ b( {"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul F+ t# i5 o; ^7 w6 X6 u: C
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn# ?. S$ p) \1 p; O
as many languages as I can."6 w2 k% M1 U/ A& ~
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
8 m( a- t1 a Z; M4 M8 Nskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
' I* c, q9 Z$ {4 M$ u; Ymarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like" |' M& B& V8 O$ _) i5 f1 \, w7 U) B
that," Ms. Freire said.
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% X" {& D: @( @4 L2 N7 p% pMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
$ Y' e/ \) C& There offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
& A* l0 Q4 |$ @5 b( ^% Uschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking8 F( p+ v- \1 x. e
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make/ }! o" H. r4 Y6 T5 W* _
room.2 f+ c3 Z( x, Z; g
. b# T2 y" N) F" sChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer$ [5 b% c* w% L1 B9 |6 }$ R
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
. R- ]* ^% i3 t* J6 y( Bcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.7 S" z+ u3 N- X: p- L4 O r
: M8 Y, `: D# e i"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified1 O& A9 {2 C, a8 T7 h5 }- ^1 A d+ F/ i$ ~
because of that missing certification," he said.6 s+ T' A; n v7 f; T" e1 K
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
( s( J z- a; F- G& msaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
' V: Y# l: E+ V" u. X- _! v% [* BSociety in New York.
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1 u" L7 z/ A4 l5 o4 p" G5 cSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the. F( c' a3 A: E+ f
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from5 V; O S% @/ D5 l' t* l s
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our7 r0 b, Q5 R; U% [3 z( N1 H* ]
own."$ W% H; I; C% r% c% W9 a
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