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October 15, 2005
1 M9 b, W. D6 }* h, XClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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( O7 S- Q' m. [9 r- lBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING* o9 n% N7 R" r6 p! @) i
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
# _3 Y5 R { l1 F+ j7 QUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary) ]4 `; w4 Y9 r) I
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas3 p# S. _) n! d0 m4 O1 d# [
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
" o' q: X, N' j/ H# o' \; Lflag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one* A, t, d2 P* i+ Y. c
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders& x+ `& }- S' }) y
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
$ \ B, B$ _ f! |& B+ Vboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students( S: \/ \7 S. h4 [: r
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal* C9 n7 s' I/ l: S
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
% Y- {. Z: A) o) Loffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."* u, h H5 A) C1 y' J5 }
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
! J( S* U' t7 g& D0 E. kschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings3 i+ y6 w7 N1 Y4 F' N# p1 b
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention/ [- Q- Z! c' g, `6 t$ P/ d
one of its most difficult to learn.2 V5 S: v {2 A( k1 D
7 d1 N: q+ H) M" I6 P! MLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
* v' V; a" J# t8 l! y; dpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students3 L& t3 U0 F: V \3 V
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.: W; W1 ]( s$ W0 `& i; ~$ |+ w5 ^
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
: ]3 J2 s% _* @0 ATennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on$ z0 v) z( W7 f4 d& S9 c+ V# q8 d7 s
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
- x1 w# Y, e" v2 K# ^improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.7 Q+ d0 H- U4 ^2 N) ~1 W( I2 t! z
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement0 f8 {! x! h# _7 ^: a9 h- y8 Z
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
! E) m: j; O1 N! sstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to* N' e, g* p+ r
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
2 @6 b% g$ ^; t) S) o- Ecurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
# \: a3 Y* ` ], k$ ?. U* Mof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
% o5 `, V& i) Q' I2 @6 A. yspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education2 H! J" Z9 ]; _: r
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
( M( V. N( k- h; S2 F+ E$ G0 Ucan."
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+ ] X! a$ T+ n1 ]The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
* w; v3 m( X, l' [6 Helementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
* w1 s) [% M; R9 q+ L, D7 hyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language( h, M% d! [: t& }9 Q
Institute in Washington.
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" N! R1 P4 n( k6 B* P"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages4 [% [/ Z. ?$ b" p$ l% a
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
1 D0 L6 w) q- \: x u7 NMcGinnis said.
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( v$ t' L0 s" [* G- N"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical9 Q; [& L. N$ [/ N
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be; M! O& _; w# Q: m& w
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a- s* d9 |- t2 V; a3 W, w Y' I
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."* l ~) H6 p$ L3 T
4 i. t0 r0 {) p# ]% i" F& YUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and4 s) _& I+ i( g/ k4 u8 E- j
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in& h+ Q- \, c0 N# P# M6 w
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of- Q7 p5 Q+ h0 d) w1 b% x
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or1 ~2 S/ ]# T+ Y# c9 B
on weekends.
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' C9 A$ }" {* ]1 W- y8 g# FThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
* M1 @9 G5 ^' o* yschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
E7 i$ F& o' O. astudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
! H( v I( W1 x6 ^proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
, N5 E! c4 b; T/ Tcompetition. ; _- u5 t6 }& a. C
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
' T! z; J/ ~8 n% |5 Z/ {2 `, dsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."' i7 N5 ]1 X O% v0 x. p, ^" V0 [0 A3 ~
5 J8 _" z' C3 XFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
* ?% s# H. ]4 d2 q+ U) k7 Rall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
. P" g+ O+ }, p0 k: tschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from4 H( i& e( i. ^. _: ]2 l. i
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
: Y" q" h8 g1 {& J8 G H: K& ^who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to5 F# v5 `% B. h7 t# \0 Q' k
the school system last year.
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) ^1 a2 X- j% oThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
/ d% z) T/ H; k9 [year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year. u$ |% X/ t) G
' R. E; K- d6 G1 O- ^7 r0 Q"They have a great international experience right in their own( }/ i" R- G) X# U' V2 g8 H
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago1 E/ T, z c0 i! B! x- H5 z. D2 Z
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to: h# Z- I; T* g! \
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet2 R- E: [7 A, `2 |7 u
on an equal playing field."
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. I; ]) {1 ^9 ~( }6 k2 rSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
3 t+ ]( d$ v. v* g7 T& cclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
; Q9 v, W! X5 Y# P$ ^7 X( }Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
) a$ s( C/ n- k7 OChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
5 F! Y: T i4 p3 l$ ~8 Gaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
1 ?( _& ?! H! e! PChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the: }* f; ?& g# k" q0 L; q; c( p) e% O
institute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
+ v$ v7 X& ]: x" Mgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
. H4 e+ k) @# n' L4 j3 Udeciding whether to take the class.
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( U; W7 ]8 u8 v& v9 F"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she2 |. ~$ g" \6 L) e5 K% a" _
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite' c9 g L; E9 t/ c: W H, A- y3 v
class.' g% r+ u; m. @4 H" E
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
2 {, `- `: B( U, pstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without0 R' S+ v. p+ l5 `
occasional frustration.; q6 G0 \* M+ F
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
% k/ W* \, g) n# k6 E7 }recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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2 D3 I3 l$ W! n. R6 jRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
/ Y% r: e. D8 p. s. P9 i6 I- itaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with4 W/ F6 F$ F0 W+ Q) L" b2 Y2 N( `
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works., d- v4 [- o9 H0 f: d8 W
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
% R1 ]4 G- y* q! t) }# ]said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn6 |- G1 o" V% K
as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
: R( T! p) Q# w5 o7 J( eskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job N2 \& q8 i# O
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
( x" P$ z# ~) C3 X* P; z+ K1 J" y Qthat," Ms. Freire said.' P4 l3 h7 c9 f* \
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program) ]) k% x! C( a1 s) P
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each+ K, }0 O: U5 t7 B# z
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
% K' Q5 p, r* T$ W+ @; jtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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) p5 o1 K: a: z6 {* _Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
) w9 W# U; B$ y% qChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
/ C/ X h# ?6 R& i' Lcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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! B# v( K. k5 W"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified4 u( k! z7 l- v! c. {
because of that missing certification," he said.# R1 z1 j- H) L# r6 K
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
( c! k7 H9 s0 C( w6 G! {said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia$ `+ q: p+ v( F
Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
. _& k& g+ M ]: o: k2 dChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from2 b8 p3 A+ q' e: r/ y
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.7 b J+ @' O! [2 b- O
. n& `/ A5 ]# N: N- g"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our0 @& E3 I' @4 G* L- v# P- }9 n
own."
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: k% r4 V! D+ t6 xCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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