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October 15, 2005# G; I' B: R8 f
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity7 b! x9 Y/ A* I/ S
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
& k& r8 q, P7 K! k) x8 t& C" lUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
, s1 H! y* A. Q1 ~2 |School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas: x8 b# o, | i7 l
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese. A! @$ }0 _5 ^# ~- x
flag hang from the wall.2 G) Q1 n0 @/ \, ]/ v
' ^- p5 |! \- SOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
0 M- y8 g7 s1 n" l. Manother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders( W$ E( W( v- u! V8 u" O' ^* |0 f
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker7 J, F! q7 G* Y- ?6 j; m- P. X
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
7 K3 s7 ^ E! C: qare already choosing it over Spanish.2 _: L$ I& V$ T1 n# i7 w9 f
3 p d; E9 f! @) K: Z' C) {7 U"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal; p8 P/ n8 ~$ j" f9 `3 V8 R
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
% r y. v+ d+ {% ^3 O0 D$ Z- Joffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."5 u! {6 b5 g- p$ {6 o; v
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
% N9 }' g& z6 x5 B# ?# Aschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings5 n, i% K; P) Q4 B
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention) u3 @( V2 z% H6 \+ @8 ^3 w' j
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
* O) @6 H" m b( ]- Vpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
6 @9 {* Q5 e2 f0 H: {; ^studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
1 H( b5 a1 D7 D; k! H2 n5 U9 U1 W7 rLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
0 m& b, L2 {! n% f! l* d1 E+ j1 hTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
2 {& O! t: g6 z' w5 H- oChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to& a$ Z) t- b& d8 \7 w$ ^
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement: Y# Z' \ C( P5 u* c) o
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country5 s: w0 A5 h8 q
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
+ q9 x6 D" \& l, q; C4 c/ Z: Zdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing) s5 Z+ B/ T+ ~( w7 o
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
# B0 o! Y: C0 [' l$ J5 wof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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, C; A! F I0 f0 m9 d0 |"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of# f! X1 ?1 R5 N' O( R* D, M! _4 S
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education8 `6 |* ^( L9 U; V8 _3 k6 |
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
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" I+ @9 k x1 j/ i( Y! yThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
7 V4 Y/ z0 y9 q* E8 kelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
8 Z1 U/ r1 U6 F5 s2 L. {years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
6 A: K' _9 I( S' `2 ^2 _2 FInstitute in Washington.( k" V! R! o( e% y
# u- P/ ]% D0 C"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages, n4 f* r0 H! ?
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
7 e" u5 S( Z1 ^! B# G' H% ZMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
) O+ t8 y: j- N* u7 B6 Hlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be U+ R$ t8 H; ]+ G5 ~
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a+ g5 Y0 K! q9 P& E- a0 w
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; ~. u8 {1 e6 G. R4 T( y- d
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in5 S7 V7 j$ N# r- ^+ Q9 u! B" l" d
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
. E- R2 X1 \, f( V# EChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or1 ~2 v5 f+ K; N" I; c
on weekends.
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. j/ V0 y& s/ h. X- @; H% UThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public) G7 [( \, \( r7 c$ v- i
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
5 J% M$ `! x' Q, }2 p) t" j, wstudents who are not of Chinese descent.6 b2 E' A$ t5 m0 U
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said# H) r$ H$ r" W& N. J3 f2 Z
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
( B, J' l C) n. v4 I( P2 v& Tcompetition.
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; M! \8 Z! m0 g"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
& _% T' r. ^, ?( J2 K% {/ Jsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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" u, \9 M$ U. JFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly# f2 Y6 h' X/ j- _& F/ t3 [
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
" Z2 P3 w2 M& t8 Q Z. }schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from) R r* |5 o& E d. r, |7 j
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students: w/ \3 O- \: _; M ]% D
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
" d! P: h. [7 a1 dthe school system last year.4 T) [* ]5 D: y& Q$ ?( C
9 I$ l# }; m' w9 l: m2 ^# K' d( lThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
6 s5 Q. n* { v3 _. z1 [year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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"They have a great international experience right in their own( g: x r- Y$ t
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
2 V" ]* E q7 t( w X+ U/ Q, _Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to' {- \& q4 y2 |/ L
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet; `3 u4 t" Y9 j, d+ b
on an equal playing field."
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, Q6 L6 z# U/ Z/ z4 W: \ z1 fSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese9 c- n( U! I- ]0 Y# X6 K3 ^
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign0 _$ }2 v+ d9 [9 _& h ^
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks0 s. n, W# P/ g
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
4 | j- }# D* I3 A! ^" |average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in6 v( g% \+ e' X/ C
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
# I% {2 A T5 c2 x) C% ?institute says.$ c! x' n8 {% D$ h0 w
! J8 r* }8 q2 z; E9 [Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth+ c' E5 n6 D! {6 y: m7 I7 H
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
# u$ d' O2 }6 W1 J" [ L J$ c1 Pdeciding whether to take the class.: X& ~2 b2 J4 z" z
; Q* U- k4 l# `) R# z+ @"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she3 }3 ^: P( h9 a1 S& L5 ~0 l
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite, {/ ` E* z8 w
class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are5 q# I( h9 D8 {) P( ~4 T
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without+ q! _1 N+ R g1 p
occasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
4 U* P: A4 c, M2 o; k, W2 v: nrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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* o4 X. t) V' y& u/ v& LRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he" `, D. f% H" ~: H; h& q
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with8 S9 I. z1 J+ x3 [# E5 \2 g
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.5 {7 B1 i) L1 ]8 `# T
; [0 I; J0 z$ h6 E, N"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
5 d- \3 T0 H! N* V* ]8 ]said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn3 q P7 E' } s+ E# c- H3 s u _
as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
- G' C* P. H5 l p& g9 Mskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job( E# f, z4 S# [* b1 w1 c2 \8 W D
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
2 X: E; A& F9 _5 j) t+ ~that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
* F; f# v" N: l- m. zhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
Q4 e" Z( o+ W4 K: O# Z. h5 Fschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking5 x$ p) K* H* y8 w+ j" G) n
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
1 X( ]( h7 {& M) k* Vroom.
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( I) S0 {2 I7 D- y" W8 GChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
( d8 R+ C8 ?) _4 HChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American+ c e' p Q) r( r- Q
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.0 }/ l$ J+ \7 k) [' W) w: F/ d
8 Q9 B# o! k8 z l. v2 V"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified6 O4 z$ x5 F$ r/ X" V7 i! ^: d
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,) K! n) @5 c% \9 I! m n
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
# I& T; U4 y8 NSociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the5 ^: |+ H0 |2 W n2 Z- A! e! C
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
# v) C. G) n! S% f* y. Pthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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