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October 15, 2005
1 P7 t) P, V5 ?' E8 \ N' U7 EClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING# c' x$ C6 k# G7 P# O$ c% C: w0 u
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the: y; M4 l0 }% N( {
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
; |3 ?1 [ u C! BSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas! x" h5 U# K# a2 [; p
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese5 @7 i) D0 x. h# x: Q) U
flag hang from the wall.1 P9 K0 l# W: L5 J) Z* ^( }
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one$ N( O- m4 q7 y1 s( y6 t
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders% N) D" d/ K G
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker6 z& V# g6 }' Y# L+ p1 c
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
/ C* x! t4 d" }* f$ Lare already choosing it over Spanish.
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7 _9 m# J' G, v+ m2 e; J5 j$ \"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
d8 _5 b" H3 | {( pat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
2 ^% ^- Z+ j: w7 T: y# qoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."+ ]4 h5 e* y: o* O3 f! v
+ T1 L) m$ q7 oWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments, r2 R; y. T; Z+ E
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
5 j1 ]5 o2 W: T2 K8 N' e4 mto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
; e( {& T% N! v# Y- M- f3 M5 ]one of its most difficult to learn.1 X' `5 z- t7 F. ^- F+ x
* b! e8 @) R. m* i9 u1 oLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
" i1 s# t; e* X7 d1 |public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students2 S! [- o* u& ?$ J7 L
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.9 J; R+ ^! k$ R. t* T
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of: l* b/ t- L7 u6 O; o/ g
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
$ T! g; g0 w% ~+ r9 o+ D! _+ _Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
9 V/ b4 Z) B" L1 ]improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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' I: B$ `2 G, M# G, @, r: g( gAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement @, O4 i; N* g( F$ M: l+ r
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country) Q. ]" H/ B) o: C
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
) D: ?! `/ _2 [3 z, @develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing. i0 J& }( [1 \. Q- B1 S
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director/ O, o) |8 G* M9 J. ?
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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% C! O. u. y4 D4 a/ f7 u$ @; G"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of& X0 P* C x4 U& |& \1 G& L
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education6 l) C' H) g- i8 V# w: j
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
, V0 a" c4 h" f/ o% k( m& R- q, wcan." , g2 N- O" i6 j7 W6 {
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
6 I: m. H! i' W' L4 C; T& _% |elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 107 ^$ i# f1 \9 G/ t
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
$ @7 d! g% ~8 I2 u) k9 p$ hInstitute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages& [# |/ R/ n' a$ Y2 B
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
8 b6 R) ]- x6 QMcGinnis said.
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4 J2 S7 I" z! P) X"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
7 _4 w& l7 U/ {. vlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
' P V1 {, y5 x" V9 [8 P$ qready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a" q( ]% _' l; i- y
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do." Z+ c+ l6 |* @" G9 U
* r$ `9 d& X! {+ E0 l- vUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and D; c" X5 S/ j, a
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
9 n4 r# R' g6 T. F4 F5 s7 Gcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
( u9 g% c/ i- m" d6 P& I7 L/ eChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or w: j, D$ m; s5 D: p* Q
on weekends.. {9 h, N2 T; ~# [' u6 D# E( h
8 ~" W- i8 E# k7 _The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
) P& z7 n v* _$ M1 n% D+ v5 Y2 g( qschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
$ ~2 w; \/ ]$ F2 [, Y8 |! C) `1 }students who are not of Chinese descent.
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2 f* D2 D6 R( N7 OMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
" B2 r2 ?+ l. x% [1 Mproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the) Y) T7 ^' O, U/ d
competition.
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- `- z3 M' R% G& W. L% r+ K* @9 C"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley( E' g: o# f9 u' O/ _7 c$ q- K3 u7 W
said. "There will be Chinese and English."0 g5 ?) f' _$ _' J# Y
) e# h. ?" ?9 y Z' t* kFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly+ s4 T) n$ ?1 p( ^( A; H m& o1 K
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
\3 A& a4 Z) B1 r+ ?schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
0 J% b% c$ o$ i+ ~* `/ p- o& Mkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students0 a- J0 R8 K7 b& \0 P
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
1 s* n( L k$ \the school system last year.& Z& w+ w/ w! h
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
7 y2 t0 E; i6 E7 S! V p' ^) dyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year." \( b% |1 L5 ?% b4 A7 G
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"They have a great international experience right in their own
& |; @! M ^ b! p0 |& Aclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago! O5 @/ b& V, u3 D7 O
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
* d* w- b+ P. t5 B3 Lhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
* n; A, N* N" K: m8 n" V% Son an equal playing field."
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' c4 @8 p5 E: USome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese8 G+ |: D! S8 H- V
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign, J( X8 C7 y% F! C
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks. e( h s1 F' X, U2 Z$ ?
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
$ R8 R' d( x4 Paverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in% c& x' }2 j. ~# I% g3 s `6 K
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the7 g" _$ q- d% L0 F$ H- P
institute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
3 A8 \# C* a. dgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before E8 G# O' E$ ~$ V" r% z1 |( T; k7 U
deciding whether to take the class.: D; G' w/ R- P0 S; S& e0 L, m
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
6 R* B$ J$ ~: ]4 [8 u: Jtold her daughter. ~; c& N& X& l6 B& d4 C
" ~' y8 o, }* N6 i4 N) N) YSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite& V0 m1 z6 T; n. Z
class.+ J; U; P( v- ?" w. Y" \
6 f- D2 W5 v( A9 E5 PAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are9 d; B H5 f# b+ C1 R( X* C6 Q9 {/ p
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without% k2 V# q3 G" |) ]9 i
occasional frustration.
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! |2 m+ M5 [* _& H"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
8 w. i. {) F/ y, jrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he( q' n5 C* q" g# | V
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with6 D2 c4 `& S: A' W- G' h
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.7 l* J2 A X, j
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
U: e- k+ n" f3 N2 F. O4 Dsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
; x7 l+ N5 W% ]/ g" h! Z2 ?/ {* p B% vas many languages as I can."6 a9 \) K2 X; c6 E! t; m5 ?
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
) t* U: f: s3 g6 h( @" Tskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
7 {+ Q3 H; X% J, Zmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like" Q/ C1 B% |: W
that," Ms. Freire said.. W( o d9 a. @) b$ ~
- f U5 F1 z! ?Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program( ]8 z1 b; ]' e, T5 c9 j; }
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
f- x: Z4 J5 uschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking+ ]0 W: C$ {+ b% b$ I
time 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
2 V' {) m) O4 I# @Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American K$ |! L$ p% y, E
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said. _6 ]3 O& V1 m1 }- H5 }0 |- T4 a
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified3 x1 R2 j9 G/ N& `) `3 L, O
because of that missing certification," he said.3 ]( e/ k1 O2 S) r% s
7 G5 h8 D! H% J! g, aThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,& U. @2 T2 L( L; J' Y: R
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
7 a6 \8 V1 X4 q+ l$ lSociety in New York.; S# x2 m8 r. Q, f& ~
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the$ z$ G$ M- @ z' }( S6 N% a
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from8 p( _9 a+ d% ]( t( @
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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% \- X* k! _. L! F; n6 y"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
+ ]* `" C7 v5 N9 X9 _$ A( G2 i# y, Eown."
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" A* [( z* c- PCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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