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October 15, 2005
0 N6 A y$ r" s8 _* b: n/ f/ vClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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l2 c, L( I# {; L G* s0 CCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the& p& ]* x$ x; ^2 m5 n! y
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary5 q( {& M$ L, }4 d, b% J
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas1 d$ u" a/ H* B- B X/ B* A! A* y
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese# v U- [+ q# b
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one3 k0 p" B8 v0 E1 \1 a4 o% ?1 m3 T! M8 w
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
7 I- ?! o) R$ q3 x- n$ v' ~$ `practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker9 u1 ]. M( a F7 R) x0 W, G" M+ Q# Y
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
9 T- b6 f% b3 B5 J2 k* b7 t# zare already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal! q" I4 y9 Z* \1 I5 p+ U# \+ l# V
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
: e- f" j# m2 ^' p `% W( @2 moffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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$ m# N r& _ B& A2 C! iWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,! P4 U' F; [5 y) h- d7 A* ]) b
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
6 y9 |7 I" `/ [/ Rto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
6 |7 z2 I$ A, Eone of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
% H$ `8 @' P4 B6 G- }% dpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students. z# ^* R s7 A) ?
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
# ~; P9 t* t2 |) L/ |Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
/ ] ]+ i* \4 m' B7 w* h7 Q; sTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on* p t6 J& q/ d9 C! @% K
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
- |8 u6 \- `. Y5 R; x* nimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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/ w$ R5 W( q# q9 R. VAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
2 A" k0 Z! r, a, WChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
! m; k& I1 C/ B+ y, x- \% Rstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to% z7 w# B# ^" K8 {! }
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
, v3 P P) w6 m/ kcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
+ z2 } _# _1 }; Xof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.& n' q9 @4 F/ I- L
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of F; V s8 a, O2 v) v9 {$ G9 F
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education7 S" p: A! Y/ s0 e2 p3 x
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from9 I9 ~. @! o/ U6 m
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 105 ?- M+ ?5 E) ?
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language/ b3 x. F3 ]- b& G
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages# q, R) m, s, L5 H) Y* S
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
0 n! G' {* M5 E: p7 j5 PMcGinnis said.4 L( I+ f: D0 m6 Z5 J+ v/ K
# o* Y, j9 o V9 {6 t$ c7 t"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical# \$ o' `0 c/ d, X7 B6 C" ^
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
o; P# b. j" i6 i/ y: E" M( [ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
4 U5 U2 C2 w$ n9 w9 L' achallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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# y1 u0 i* o: pUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
# @: ^; k* q. H, Z P. R% isecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
! j U3 b$ j3 o+ acities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
% f: q6 ?' J. } T8 O' o. [ ^Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or% R7 N7 [9 G, g% j. x. E; l
on weekends.
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5 y( M3 }# g' F( g. N! y- ?The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public& x- d) Z2 o* H* v
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves1 R0 Q2 p8 e& _' Y
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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" @( l8 r% z0 EMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
5 p/ j% G) O6 z& Z, r( Bproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
7 j( L" W/ N s6 M6 `. E8 }competition. 0 ~/ C5 r& `: E! m- l6 H
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
0 N" a3 S* H F9 P7 T3 J/ Dsaid. "There will be Chinese and English.") i+ D; V" v- j h; G8 N2 r+ ?+ u
4 e9 T5 r0 [2 M' c' NFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
6 O2 M- w: H$ K0 b @all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
: a0 L6 F4 {2 M% aschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from$ ]# S) v# Q4 E
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
' S! G! ^& g8 Z! ~7 Owho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to4 J6 M+ u' G4 Z" M
the school system last year.; x1 ^% L; f# j* L: n4 w
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this! Z. d; U6 ?$ j T
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.8 z* K+ k1 h! j/ w
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"They have a great international experience right in their own
. m) m; e; X4 F: {/ b1 lclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago( A1 c2 l [: |2 O5 C
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to, y ^3 a$ ?5 ~' i2 u+ V
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet4 r) m' i, [* u; f0 i8 G1 e+ r
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese" o$ s" J# x7 {# I+ l- N
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign y9 F/ d: _1 ~; u
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks: h$ O4 Y9 H& q$ |$ ?+ b; I) U4 |+ @0 t" |
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
$ h! W2 |7 U; k; }5 haverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
& M) ], R6 P' U' KChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
9 U4 r1 \$ N, p( Kinstitute says.5 S$ [' N2 i& @5 E
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
5 h) y, d& `% P& ?/ y H0 hgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
1 v3 R1 c8 x5 @2 pdeciding whether to take the class.
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J# R6 @' N/ S"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she' Q6 v8 _* w* X
told her daughter.
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; \( \1 G! M1 S2 v- O. ~- dSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
4 w$ a" c/ d, o7 tclass.
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! {( o+ W1 ]0 C" h8 OAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
) x3 g, c; `1 d wstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without3 X7 a$ Y( J' `- H- ?8 V
occasional frustration.6 r& U+ f ^4 ?) o1 r# N
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a) T; w! G" ~$ k8 Q+ p1 S- O2 z1 I
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
. ~3 W6 S6 ~( O: staught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
# |3 ~3 \( \% I- Q. o; ] G* GChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.2 w {6 G- l& b
, k3 V% K- ^: r"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul# R' }9 R' c/ }7 f* G$ k
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn/ C# p2 e5 J+ F; t4 x- q' j! K
as many languages as I can."% O' k( S L% C8 X* r# t9 \
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the7 U4 F6 Z& w! ]8 ^3 N! @
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
+ |' c$ X, P- q9 s( b) Ymarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like4 A# Q4 _2 p+ w' Q9 q
that," Ms. Freire said.
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: Q; t6 [- G& D% _& N' c0 oMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
, Y3 s3 S$ o: ]# x+ Z& l- Yhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each+ \" F+ K) H3 ~3 c' C% K
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
! k4 Y8 s n& c- a8 a; r+ gtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer+ N- v% r; U6 t: j% H8 J
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American4 [/ l5 s0 c3 w
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.' I9 u& i- u1 {3 R' O4 \; o
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified5 e# w+ t. n( M7 n* z4 [! F* I
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
{2 T1 a$ m9 P9 a" _% Tsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
) T: H$ L; J. D8 g) qSociety in New York.
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1 Q7 E9 x& p% A' q: nSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the7 I4 d/ g. d$ N* y! [
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
, K- T/ v+ p8 ^: c9 J5 V9 Pthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.( o* t8 r) n2 T
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our! K. s( T! f5 \" i
own."
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- p5 u7 S" C% M" c FCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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