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October 15, 2005
* E2 o0 B+ H0 O8 m5 Z; c" FClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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" L3 Q. u9 i' iBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING4 b3 J+ ?2 ]" E7 J6 m; P
/ {3 N4 w) N) d) L" gCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
0 k2 N: O% g5 NUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary, }4 a' Q7 O3 ~
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas/ V l. e: D; \ m
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
& O& @' w/ w+ j; I) {flag hang from the wall.& P4 j" ]2 a, A6 q3 s4 K1 g9 F; L; d
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one4 m3 u, v! n e* \, T9 W. Y
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
. J/ I* ]# I' B' i+ [' fpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker. h6 K" g' \5 Q( I" j5 C. O
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
2 ]; c+ d( h4 c8 u V! L3 uare already choosing it over Spanish.9 f% o, A* }# J6 v" s! M s
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal- L5 o1 A" {& W U
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
V8 P' P* k z; q- }& s! X0 V3 _offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."* L$ L" A2 Q8 U. P T
$ i j6 A# F t5 oWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
4 i- q) s$ J3 z O6 Q* sschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings! | ~! a: S) y0 F, i6 U5 ?0 A
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention% S: {$ u8 U. ~& w
one of its most difficult to learn.
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. Y8 H6 ?, l8 k: ^, a' r: gLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to9 K* ]6 h) q# ^4 p
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
$ s7 Y) |8 d5 M. T* B9 ^. d+ q9 _studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
% p0 z$ x! m" ^7 ^Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of u; C7 h' ? o( R+ @5 [" Y5 ~
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
" n3 ~* I+ F: W1 }3 ?8 RChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
I% @; S N' B$ Qimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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M2 V0 S7 E9 ^4 ~8 t9 Y% A7 K, gAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement3 X' a# q( ] v0 z: H0 ]
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
: f$ w# ~+ D/ \starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
8 G4 z9 W, @$ Z+ |9 O e3 ?develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
6 a; S* n6 }' e5 x6 @6 ^curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
) G; r2 n. W# a! l5 Q% l4 P. Kof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.; Y2 I5 g R% N! k/ d2 ~) F# K
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
: A5 b0 H0 s% Z! {, g; Fspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education1 O1 o+ Y; b1 W) c2 @" M: s$ q
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
, {8 Z6 @( W0 Tcan." 5 F2 f: M" i- s; G/ O2 r8 P) \
7 ]& y. b, h' E. G5 w! kThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from9 l2 j; Z4 D5 H- b
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
! T. D B) b( w( u2 {" N) H: e- dyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language" }9 p! R2 U& g1 U' \
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages% v* L( F. ` B, x& t
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.* j% B! L4 g5 U; y0 }" m+ a# h
McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
- y$ h( Q! A" o2 @longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be. V; t. m- J& `# i u- w8 S
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
1 c* ~: z$ q( |challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and* T5 h3 u! U9 Y/ o1 s
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
. f6 e/ M9 G( o. ~6 F' qcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
6 |6 R: U8 x# yChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or, l, U( i' ?$ B0 q+ @& a
on weekends.
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6 d4 G1 ~0 b& f% _; ~5 n& f$ tThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public# h: s- n( F f" ?+ y/ Z2 P9 d
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves6 [# ^3 L& x. R7 f1 U/ e6 d
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
& q% l" u% _: B+ r' J! H4 \proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the( g# v2 W, h, K- X2 f- a) a
competition. ( i4 j) v/ L9 Z$ y, g0 T
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
7 R& H3 o+ Q0 r8 W% |said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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! ]5 z* K4 d- ^% x) i1 dFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
0 W& J6 @2 H. H. `* k% i4 y! L1 {all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
, `" a5 F" g) [schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
3 P5 N5 h. O5 [5 rkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
& `: A7 Y) D c& swho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to/ w% R: c' D( r2 Q
the school system last year.- I1 P" h/ g" a( `
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this9 f0 B6 i3 S& I6 V
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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+ P! W& p2 C: Z1 A5 g+ g+ J% l) @"They have a great international experience right in their own& z" n$ z/ }3 y) f# ?) x F( L8 l
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
9 d z( x+ W/ k2 e! ^0 ^+ ]! ]Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
# E) N! v- ?/ w( j+ Y& Lhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
, |8 z3 H" {) u) t9 kon an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese: H3 s$ E( X( G% I; s0 F" M% g
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign+ @/ Z( e% ]( ^
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
+ w" P. g( Q9 }: ]/ R2 T& X, DChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
; H6 {8 b) f$ {8 E B+ x: Qaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in6 F9 R7 O( n- N- q
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the) x+ Y# y4 s2 C; b) y6 Q" a
institute says.1 c( {2 c! P! O) p( H2 C
/ Q! s, l# \5 E. y# |& r/ o7 GSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth5 ?% Z. \9 ~/ ^" F7 N6 Y# \- K
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
* c) }2 _1 E& m S2 ]deciding whether to take the class.2 E* I$ f# }6 z+ V/ E* g/ _7 D0 |
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
" ~: p) b+ T% H; s; b& Btold her daughter. I2 ^- U" M$ ]: X
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
+ L: {1 M- L7 `2 m0 x% `class.# k1 J6 ^ P. E) O, o8 H7 c
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are) n: }) o; t" o* R: f! c; @
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
; q; z( C8 D* Aoccasional frustration.$ m9 s, [5 Q4 C% V
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a, S2 v$ d/ C* i1 x- O7 x
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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! r& U, A7 S* \- a8 I( U2 gRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he2 d* V2 k- ]5 V1 k1 E$ ]- @8 X5 s8 w C
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with' x: A" c( ]' ^) v7 _( e/ A/ h0 x
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.5 n/ O4 W1 ^, Z( C1 B0 @
% x: t6 o9 G& m8 f2 k"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
* v5 A% r6 @7 C! L9 Y' gsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn% d* x9 p" W- b- C, N
as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
1 ]2 B3 U# [( n! eskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
$ ? x( N9 k- O2 `8 V I8 Wmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
7 ~1 I$ @4 y0 U( \( G7 ithat," Ms. Freire said.+ w5 O0 P. a/ D" D0 e
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program. ^; S' m3 Y+ r5 W5 ]" m
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
; a! e1 Q6 U% Aschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking" j8 ` q0 @, C2 b. K. G' p6 w
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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3 h0 H7 ]* ]- _( ~Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer, a# E8 U+ X: w' |9 O" l
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American, `1 v7 _2 s% L5 d% W. X
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.1 ] r+ ]- d3 J! Q, d
& L. d6 J. m7 j5 l/ Y$ H"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified) q0 [# d. J# J8 X
because of that missing certification," he said.
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6 f8 z- p" R2 [0 P2 zThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,' v% U6 O* E( g" h' r
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
& D/ |" x% V2 A4 O/ i! l5 rSociety in New York.. W# n5 @, C/ a, R. b: Y
( z+ E b6 \. x' ^Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
% c5 h3 q- t) |! k M$ MChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
/ s9 I3 q Y/ {8 _the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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2 _6 G+ L+ G1 k% o& ^$ z/ }2 a"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
3 t! a+ I8 ^3 R n3 n$ l# E# qown."
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