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October 15, 2005
: @% q" P" C/ t* ^: nClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the4 ]2 U, Y& a0 z4 q0 R
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary1 y; N E0 m) ^ X: |6 J/ Q7 e
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas1 Z$ E( {4 k! t& l4 D' h3 r
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
0 B b3 U% P6 u# @flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
" Q9 Q6 a" y8 ~8 hanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
2 {9 l& L9 H/ u0 U" {7 f! F/ I. H' ypracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker) v) _ N1 z& j* A: p
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students+ r4 ^5 d' |+ S' l; H1 l2 g
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal. ~; R$ _1 y& ^* ]8 z" t4 B
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city% }- Z* |6 ] D6 i+ {
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."1 V8 F Y2 v. |8 R
* I5 [- q: i C- R3 e& O" V" ZWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,0 G: `8 ]' h8 h' Q; F# a+ Y
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
1 Y' k: v/ t& L t* f: u+ vto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention; }2 [/ A! M4 H2 `% m9 X
one of its most difficult to learn.2 r9 x' P* H- b+ t: z7 t
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
9 A, P% f. a0 x: Cpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students) U6 r3 q0 P' I6 z2 |& m9 a
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
- t% ~- }4 h) C4 w& TLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of/ G0 U3 A, h% u! ] ^
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on$ G& ~& x! `+ L
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to* |# ?- C8 E9 D K- h$ {
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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6 J: v( s9 [9 l3 y! \; AAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
0 h4 ~' e' c `) l, R! IChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country: `- A& [& N P. b/ k3 Z% f
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to; f* w* _& v/ K
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
2 v1 q2 @1 F V& E7 [+ L: lcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director! u# v) l* [( V3 H+ A J
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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% ?( p5 @) l4 G5 \% ~, J! w8 |"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of& {& @( b5 z/ I" h6 v
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education& s9 y; n3 b, i9 t- Z
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
: e; e L9 O& wcan."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from; B+ b/ g2 K# f5 C) Z y$ V
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
( [9 v6 N. Z' L* {) H# ~years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language$ W- o- k4 b8 R0 N
Institute in Washington.
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# ~9 z3 S ^4 j"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
9 ]( k9 C8 x# V5 G' Y/ uaren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
0 v/ I3 N& s+ ]) Y' z, a& F: XMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical9 y# \; R. N) H
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
+ i7 T( M' w( nready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a0 O. T# V3 ]5 x: z2 @# m6 M
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
) }# H* |6 h4 {secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in3 W7 K; W$ X4 M& M4 Z5 p
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
I1 V( _/ U4 y7 e" h" iChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
* G( K5 R9 A8 h9 Zon weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public) [1 a- U! D. w( [
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
7 G+ c( E. ~( l) E" I) ?$ Xstudents who are not of Chinese descent.! E0 d* G& b2 H$ ]1 n6 i. Z9 ^
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said* [2 D G5 W& w" t1 W
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
, P0 s4 Q7 ~( Ncompetition. ; f5 p" i; U, |) d4 v6 }
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
5 F4 ~) T& o5 @* G6 M* osaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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# x" ~" @" W y* s7 n% v) g- j6 VFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly5 X1 S# d/ W% V1 W r! O9 V
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
6 Z7 c+ h6 O9 p5 u8 [! [. ^$ Z# @schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from; B; n0 e: a% L& j+ m
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students6 o8 N& U0 ]# w* N7 L! E: L, _
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
k; z& ]/ `/ O' H/ e! ethe school system last year.7 j7 X- V, u5 g
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this- N; o5 r9 r" o% _7 @! s8 p5 Z/ l
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.4 Z) A+ H1 {# \" K/ w4 }
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"They have a great international experience right in their own8 y7 d& j) T/ f5 w" t
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago6 e3 Z; W1 F% ?# Q4 I' q/ T$ l' K
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to# L8 q/ F1 v. G4 J, C! p9 C
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
5 E* w3 m& a1 q, ] P# p, i. jon an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
7 e1 m, \' c0 v! Uclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign( e- n! W2 g0 V% @* x. W$ A# D
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
/ d7 |! X; n+ A, x0 \- ~9 RChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
4 J1 `, f1 F! Y. p0 Vaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
& ~# s, q+ T& p$ S- yChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the9 j" s3 J% L6 i, j7 b# U: U, w8 Y
institute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
- h$ c+ Y$ K) Y Q/ A- hgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before+ b' g! @' i, F: }5 f# E, u
deciding whether to take the class., F! O( j9 K" Q. V
3 R0 n" P$ R; z+ r"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she, |! h1 {, J# W. @% |" |
told her daughter." T$ ^4 Q0 x( r3 _: S2 H" \7 E8 U
, J- v/ ^3 B7 W! GSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite+ j( F( h) L E# n$ M0 S' G8 q
class.
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2 _3 }0 F8 K) OAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are' P/ S! X% f3 {) \; O& @+ ?/ h
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
3 L8 \ c; Z! j3 D0 d6 R, [: boccasional frustration.+ f$ `. V* t l$ l
/ I4 \9 H9 X0 o* ~" E. t$ U) _, L7 D"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
! n$ T* F! U, v: D9 M9 S; X$ {recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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+ }- {# |3 m. \7 ]2 SRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
5 h: U9 a: {; E5 U' ^taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with2 r- b/ m7 E% e5 P: m8 `
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul$ T) Y& Z0 l. n& k# |4 s- ^0 U: I
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
8 y3 m k& \- ~* e' a* |as many languages as I can."+ \; z4 \8 V5 u5 j
" H8 D0 R- U6 m. a6 p, ~Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the" C1 c A4 |& M! {
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job0 t: m& b4 T% p( z( v4 e
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like% C( ]- y* g# @6 f' S
that," Ms. Freire said.
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N6 V5 t8 p, N' OMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
# Y4 @8 N6 b$ R. L* o1 rhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each8 C6 s W/ t( B4 H* t. B
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
; z+ ]# [" X8 Xtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make" K- ~5 d1 f6 g9 j& Q) b
room.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
* H! |8 l! `! F* O4 X7 k2 k" [Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
1 S) o, g, s7 a1 O4 L; B* w8 W% Hcollege, 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
+ l3 j6 q5 p+ E0 \because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
H& t1 ?) [; R1 v! t8 Ksaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
5 s$ s! K5 W n S3 lSociety in New York.
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/ \" I9 [- M! G/ u7 zSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the1 n$ h1 v# {* r5 R, w b" W
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
' V+ ?* B4 a, X7 Ithe 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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