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October 15, 20058 i9 b, i7 u( d* y1 @
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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+ ?9 l4 r: }) O/ g; \By GRETCHEN RUETHLING* s4 Y. P# x0 U2 Y' v& S
2 q: k# e& ~3 XCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the- L1 O( H0 @; M& Q5 V/ w9 K" X
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
5 o# A0 I* @- Z+ x4 S& fSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
8 ?& ~1 F/ t* s Z1 ? hdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese/ w0 y5 s& |* B% E2 O9 r3 u/ p
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
& k- ], ]+ S ganother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders" i( e5 ?) S5 j1 P
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker9 F. G. n5 [3 i3 [% ?: o' h
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
9 {$ ~5 G, G. Bare already choosing it over Spanish.) M5 w4 x" }$ ?; V8 J0 P) Z% P
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal3 Y4 o' f% O! ?9 \
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city+ M. N, W2 M- M9 U$ Z; |- _: q0 S
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
) S; k. q+ W1 \2 A7 {schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
$ O- a% M2 R/ R6 `+ p) L+ dto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
0 f. d' }' }$ Sone of its most difficult to learn.
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# g8 m6 h. B7 G$ v$ G' [, MLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to" \7 Y6 i" s1 {& G) t' u
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students" u" s1 f3 o9 a- u+ Z5 p) _5 n
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
6 A# i4 h; o0 O7 `8 }( |+ ?3 WLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
0 E# G1 X; H8 Z1 |! Y$ C( \2 kTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on/ ]/ Z5 a: v1 y( i
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
. a% _3 j" Y" v4 h8 `- `9 aimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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0 e( q. t) h" h5 `& `: ~After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
! y* c9 V4 q6 n7 S- P7 R C# QChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
7 c# C6 K8 {4 u3 Y3 i6 v3 Dstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
7 M- V, N6 C2 q) @- Mdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
. e7 E9 R* \. I6 e. [. K0 Ccurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director7 F7 c3 \, P: @8 W s
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.- X6 V- W' a* R5 N+ m- t
5 X, M" H3 N0 g( A: H+ I; s"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
* ~% F2 F6 G* ^/ U8 U, F" tspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
7 C0 m' \2 s1 l3 }" m& u8 a/ U0 UConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we9 l7 ]5 e; w# x7 u3 M
can."
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- s* Q6 n9 h4 h* W1 LThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from! c0 v0 V0 r" R6 y( d
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
- q6 S( K* Y& p8 Byears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language% w7 g5 F0 N" I- X8 }
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
7 n1 |' I1 R( o6 D Naren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.+ w M n7 u! c5 n- R# M1 h$ Y
McGinnis said.# y) p! d3 a" o# J1 ?1 s+ W
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
; [. P, l8 p8 _- a$ N: T" rlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be1 |8 n( D5 z5 o; ?
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a; ^6 Y+ y/ F( `# y9 H/ a
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."7 p4 c5 q: j% |
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and* x y. X4 g; b! Q! t& H
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in0 O1 p& b9 Q) A8 O3 d/ A1 |0 c: P1 Y
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of2 b% |: j* b3 w+ f: E- A
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or: L" F8 x5 ^- M
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
]8 @7 F. m3 b$ i. fschools during the regular school day and primarily serves( d; k, h1 H7 D
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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- q' F- W. g2 `Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said, _( T& A _$ y" L0 C7 i( X. L
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the) P( ^7 {! B9 P0 n) `# h6 m: M
competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley* ~- c3 d" v5 H) }1 ?4 u8 V) E8 f8 v
said. "There will be Chinese and English."9 O( Y4 \$ s3 ?" \/ R2 d
) G, F5 D- }% F- ? MFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly) h# |% n! L- F6 {/ D/ a* G8 N
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
0 F8 F3 `- ^& f% `" tschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
% a1 z4 g, S! j( J S4 b! ykindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students$ y; X& ~7 }2 {; E" {+ `
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to. g2 L$ F7 V/ c
the school system last year.) _+ v" m; p' W' Z
2 S3 {4 p( v i0 K8 tThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this4 V u7 g; s( a s# R# [6 P) Q
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.# ^, G. [/ w0 x6 u! K* f
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"They have a great international experience right in their own
2 n/ d- r. x: E. z4 l1 Nclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago: n1 U# D3 M) a( r$ l/ h' t! J
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to# [- }# u9 N& v8 ^$ g9 W
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
# F6 g s0 O) G8 s8 T% G' Yon an equal playing field."2 X# K+ W# x9 T# ~% B8 T
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
9 M2 {( F9 q. e" \5 oclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign& g0 [0 i0 |# }; g
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
: ~4 ?# @. G; n5 iChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
7 f1 D" X( b3 ^9 M. p/ naverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in! ?: `% m2 V# L& G0 h+ O
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
! a5 T5 O% y7 hinstitute says.7 u* _; Z% N% v/ X1 J
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
5 `! T; p7 z `9 ygrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before. ?: E1 f9 ]: a# @$ @2 u' z+ i
deciding whether to take the class.' {$ C4 D1 h% S7 t
: Q% ]! m) N0 F4 z4 L* Z"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
' R/ |" B! v! e0 F6 dtold her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite7 b/ J$ o- n9 g& l
class." x, L# c* q$ y, N
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
r% O4 X; [$ I# _1 i+ `4 Xstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
5 k3 e/ v5 B9 t. k$ h* ]occasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
. D5 Z+ K1 ?& o4 |1 U) N, wrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class. J V0 V) b" R7 ]$ } c7 \
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he8 e5 }# E1 {6 f/ q9 t" c( L
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with+ T3 T9 D- w/ O9 q; ]
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.7 g" T" Q& Y1 b0 J# {
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul3 ]& t! k. ~) o! }8 p
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn- P/ p9 Z# E0 N+ j7 n
as many languages as I can."
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4 B" c5 L% }8 z0 [Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
0 W8 Y8 H5 p8 Tskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
/ C3 F/ X6 V# ]( A( Gmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
T" Y- w* `- f! q6 e2 d; G5 O$ l( uthat," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
$ I8 |& U' C$ a+ Yhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each) o9 B$ F6 q' T: ^8 q% A
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking+ X/ m8 |4 R2 k, ], t
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make ?: U7 ]1 H2 P/ d9 l" \. q
room.* T% Y4 c+ W" `/ \
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer1 q' e9 R" X1 W5 p
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
0 l7 t6 `% V( icollege, 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
$ r7 U E# T+ n6 D! q) W$ b. Zbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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- d/ j2 Y0 B6 S& a" ?The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
; \1 ^% W( _/ G: Tsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia% U- X- G+ a2 F, U, D* X
Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
( O/ g( s6 f! B% a$ T: bChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
U1 s# s) g3 Uthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.% M" w$ o- z. w- g) x
3 c. E3 L2 U9 U, `' n. w" l6 B"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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: b& T& ^" ^' c0 S) FCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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