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October 15, 2005
% P2 I5 }* _; W5 T2 ?Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING. W5 j" U6 H1 j) q
2 b' a+ ?1 }+ m [: dCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
, J$ A5 g* r# G( E# h" LUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
/ @& z( A5 ]/ b7 R) Z6 ~% ZSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas' U n- u! `' g) [' ~* J
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese* l4 U; v( u' a0 }! T
flag hang from the wall.
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z) N2 e+ B" T) XOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one" ~' s6 B# t& Z i0 y/ b* o7 B& U
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
/ x) H/ w: g$ H' kpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
0 U. m- J) C i8 @ \, Y$ wboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
3 l; D w; h# W% xare already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
+ \$ W" o1 @% w8 fat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
5 w# ^, p4 K7 y. T) soffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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% l$ A% v F2 p5 UWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,9 T( k* o) K' ~. ]
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
, y/ ^( T8 P: [0 R7 Z5 M. lto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
% ^) B' {$ x. Z5 yone of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
2 v9 X- Q/ Q3 z- Hpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
! R* ]0 j+ {, b5 G2 C- }studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
. }5 Y0 c$ ]. T& l+ L- a, dLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
" U3 i9 E( k! b7 iTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
& R" E3 D4 R# J* o" j, `Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
; D0 u5 {& F4 r; Nimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.# z/ A/ H: Z, A& m1 h
+ x3 o. \% z( `0 A1 h( |After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
8 ?4 Y, Z6 Y/ k% j+ EChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country' H, Y- o; j9 T- ?1 ?7 Q: a2 J: H
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to- Q W+ g. G6 l
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
o( N, @, J8 U" B- @# Ycurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
1 S' k9 d" u& m, Fof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
* K, Y6 E! S$ ?! E! Q5 Mspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
9 W$ N) F. a0 U( M* FConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
1 X+ C$ j3 u& a3 G) {can."
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1 ~# T/ p; {# a" |8 D( p1 CThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from0 N- w( x6 G, q8 o6 B6 a- {
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10, {& [- x0 R0 E
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language4 r: n1 `9 A! A/ H5 P' O
Institute in Washington.) @ b7 d' g- K6 m+ m7 k4 X& w
/ E5 _! S+ W5 K, k0 \"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages! t9 {) Z% {) W
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.4 f. E4 s; J/ U+ @$ |$ j0 k7 Z+ r
McGinnis said." R5 g% t v! K3 r, I( |3 I
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
5 T. p, E2 F' vlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
( A$ I& S1 O- K# \7 U3 ]ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a% Q# h9 Z* X; j! b* n
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! d( q2 f, L% m4 i
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
7 x' U- }" p6 t. o6 H4 s9 tcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
+ }" C2 z/ n0 J" h# Q4 SChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or6 t/ v8 `+ o0 k3 _. A; O
on weekends.
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* r' e# L; R+ d3 K) V1 X9 W1 x/ M# b3 `, VThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
5 }9 s9 T: C ]" j8 \schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
6 _; t& Y; J* G% ~students who are not of Chinese descent./ f+ f# a8 m7 U( K, _
H$ |7 Q( P, _# }; Z* RMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said0 ~* |) x- l, U% v$ T3 T
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the3 h+ T5 H C6 Y3 `9 m4 _
competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
/ W2 p+ W8 ]9 G8 h) y3 P* {said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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# d: l% T3 ?6 A2 B& S; OFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
# `* d: M! u2 o% ^all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
7 x7 ~ E% ^+ }schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
# I4 k8 s T, J, \& Pkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
+ R$ G' _9 z# Q- i7 \6 ]who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
- @4 p2 M. C/ v6 Uthe school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
$ s3 B5 [2 W2 V' T/ Z) vyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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% t* P; j0 U+ v/ B: j0 k P"They have a great international experience right in their own2 T7 D. l% Z/ M
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
`( X+ d1 k, i) CChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
) A3 _0 `. {( e9 U* d- Ahelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet9 W2 P: k0 t L" l5 ?$ C8 Y2 \4 P
on an equal playing field."( p; h$ h" {( p4 x/ i/ d
6 u( {" s7 h1 QSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
. Y# g q: ^/ z0 u) h1 zclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
! D8 |+ y' b! v# t+ Y' D; ]1 [Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
( [# O# v( E n( A% y8 q" S: kChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
+ E2 f) C! }: x7 F* N& Raverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in& X7 x2 I. K& t% V3 e
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the5 P5 @& [) T8 t" E$ N3 K2 d6 ~6 j
institute says.6 `+ y9 I* _2 t4 X. P+ U
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth3 `8 F5 i5 J! h1 P7 {* Z. U
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before2 c# s7 P4 {( h- E: s% R
deciding whether to take the class.' L% e' k. h) {5 Z7 T$ M# n7 \9 ^1 p
) d% ?6 L+ V0 F/ \% \9 V"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she3 x/ |4 N' Z' N5 z0 G" b2 O
told her daughter.8 ~* M2 c4 C) f. R
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
5 D8 ^# w- |+ V( g7 E1 ]studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without: ?/ ^; R( |) d* }8 p# I8 [
occasional frustration.) i, _1 o3 i8 B1 S: n. `& ?
" O. x9 a0 n6 j7 H"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a- z! @8 d4 Z: M( h) W
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.: T- A* B4 Q* `
; P) U2 e6 ~3 N6 ARaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he0 y z% z( t7 z; r# W+ }
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
3 P" C0 m, R+ g, a* ^# [Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
6 x2 |4 C- q! Ysaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn) B; ~' y+ W; ?
as many languages as I can."* ~+ x% T9 u6 O" t6 l
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
! u! C- x; s, l2 ?skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
- d* F3 f9 E2 \* t. F% r. ~( J6 _market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like( i e% x4 S& H
that," Ms. Freire said.
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5 [4 g0 [7 q3 E, q$ Z) Q5 k2 ZMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
5 m* y. s1 L8 s* s* j3 Zhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
1 c8 D" @# G0 B% O' A" C7 \school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
5 {0 m( O" ^7 L9 I+ n T$ rtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make5 Y2 \& c& u6 L9 R; t( ~
room.6 x0 ]7 N: r4 E; W; x7 e
" o3 z- ^- s& RChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
9 n' W! q' x$ M7 Y& XChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American& y( s) _: U8 h1 w; {* W
college, 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
- D5 I, a }# W, u. A( Obecause of that missing certification," he said.+ g- f: Y8 v' M" K) H1 q
% y+ G# q- z/ c9 \5 hThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
3 E$ @- I! u4 G" q* }said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
. W6 r- L1 s' U7 ESociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the$ E# G2 K1 M5 g w! \- o
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from9 N8 ]/ T8 ~3 f! e' ~
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.1 l9 ~% O4 ~+ O0 `/ E
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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