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October 15, 2005
& l7 a& u6 h; A5 HClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity1 ]/ H! `% x: P+ \
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING5 d: K$ m( s0 j$ b; V& {# p
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the3 k* |$ a, v. a/ q& O ~
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
' P+ A/ F% I V# T0 y1 P8 lSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
7 A& E2 |. a d1 kdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese) N, P0 ~* n3 c! y8 o$ W
flag hang from the wall.( h* m, x ]; ^: p- D( y
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one- S" b6 O+ B7 k9 c
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
% a+ o( f# o8 Y- m2 J7 W0 @practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker( o3 ~9 }; o% A* l. I' e5 ?
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
( H3 m5 Z6 Y4 a9 s% X3 s# E) Dare already choosing it over Spanish.5 D0 h* W! K8 `8 F) Y* N" Z7 k0 V
- z: R. | m, e6 |& ^0 A"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal/ {0 I- L n. e6 u1 M
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
1 b ?+ b* m' uoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
- C, T" [# p! B2 z' @$ R( _schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings0 d+ c+ x7 L# r' {1 A2 z( ~( F+ X
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
$ Z! n8 J+ j2 B. h" Sone of its most difficult to learn.
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# X, U6 n: g! {Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
$ k2 o& l* I8 }. i2 L. m/ tpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
0 r+ t, K- K# `- W. [& astudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
: J; P/ U; }9 @+ C: PLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of5 e( f6 q2 J; ?& |( ?" K5 i
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
, b( @7 @! x0 H2 [/ CChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
0 A9 j1 @3 ?1 T9 \! n4 }improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee., O3 t! [/ m1 j+ k6 m7 ~3 s
( `: P; f* a% l& ZAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
0 X4 N$ m% h ], d3 [" i$ l* PChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
& j5 n% \: \: ?/ I. Ostarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to$ A6 Y$ m, \8 Q
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
0 N% |8 F' ^' u$ Scurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director) m5 y" i. C5 S4 {3 r
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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! Z J, ^: l8 M. N1 ["Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of6 A x7 g4 P7 H% X7 m
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education( E- E0 F+ p, K1 l5 d
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we1 h; N/ B0 N! l1 W. J
can." 1 @; z+ K K8 d$ v
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
8 s+ C( `- c# c3 _5 selementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
$ P& y6 W( e; q0 Ryears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
: L) ~1 e7 r! |0 w% O, o1 D; IInstitute in Washington.+ y$ I/ U( [% w* Z. j
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages; `; m0 r& y% |4 N9 a% N5 A$ l. Z
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.: D3 i, R a i7 r8 I0 O% x
McGinnis said.
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' i7 q; _1 |* V9 F' C"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical1 |7 O3 z( `4 ~2 q6 y* U1 d, N" }
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
5 `( ], x8 J6 W2 Z0 S+ {- Cready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
6 F( ^$ a- s4 E& `! Rchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."9 B4 |* t& D3 l) X, K6 p* @* J
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and& O+ ?7 F* e8 ~0 A( v! ]+ J
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
0 E' W* V9 [( E, q* D# Gcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of2 H4 d( R; N# J% ~7 X' b6 k9 Z9 R
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
% l1 t H8 K, t8 o( eon weekends., f) x7 T+ A$ n
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public; u0 G( v% J$ U7 u/ Y
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
4 x% U3 O# d7 V2 zstudents who are not of Chinese descent.7 d4 K7 e7 i v" p
4 d; y5 D- J/ a* J" M0 X# s& JMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
3 _9 M& A* ?& _5 f6 d2 ]proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
9 ?+ b3 k8 f( [' e2 ~3 B# b# scompetition. . q6 c T6 I! e$ H
/ T- o/ w( Y# l7 ]"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley1 v) t& H, C0 H9 N3 D$ F
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
2 { b5 L3 k7 M$ b6 N( ~all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
/ H! `) R* y7 H* a$ }- hschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
: D* P2 E) q& T9 w4 y: O9 o6 Kkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
+ w' g, {% u; W2 \4 pwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to8 s" x* c( k: r4 s8 M/ Q
the school system last year.% _( ^' j) q" ?5 ~; K
4 M( G* H& ]; x& u8 N- }% y' V# wThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
+ o2 k; p1 m5 ~; `8 i9 o( ^/ oyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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. X! o; b! u7 x7 S"They have a great international experience right in their own7 @. ]( q. l* @) ^& e1 j
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago: Q2 f' z2 b7 }8 e
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
% w4 Z5 C9 h3 q7 K! Q! V3 Vhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
2 b. e6 D4 v) E6 _! t8 jon an equal playing field."5 `" {4 F6 h# S1 n
. u( c5 `! x1 s8 ^ O9 HSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese4 f. ~" T$ J2 T/ o8 T, l
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
' {" \$ L$ R% @- C+ Z8 c# jService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks* Z5 H$ }% L: y! q: q* I6 r9 i
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
& v) _+ C, Q1 }) m u$ Kaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
, q( R L* ]8 L$ }, DChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
: w& d" Q2 s- S7 {, ainstitute says.4 O: @9 A: [7 y: m
' N9 }5 \* f3 F; OSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
# {; ?/ H3 V6 u. O2 Z: sgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
2 g" ~9 }: d2 F, Hdeciding whether to take the class.
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$ C9 Y1 z& Y4 z6 m"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she0 f/ W% m8 m$ P/ A& \* G# D
told her daughter.) ] X! N# e+ C0 @- L) d
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
' r" I/ B4 r7 b8 \) o5 x1 |/ r+ ?class.+ [& e- f6 v; ` Z, a
$ d3 f& r& ^, Y& v5 nAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
( p0 D( C3 K0 C# vstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without( a: ?3 r( w O# R* s2 X& T) G
occasional frustration.* @* K; k* D& N( ~
2 o$ q7 K$ W3 j/ m- m4 {. o% F"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a" t4 z/ Q5 E1 X% Y3 _6 N; K
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
7 V: ]7 D) L3 o% d0 qtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with+ f; F# x4 p* D: Q( N
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
% u0 ~/ w2 ]! S, I9 xsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn' E* f) e: c4 [7 n( I
as many languages as I can."1 w% c: p% Y, N, h# A% u% f p4 f
! Y ^1 e/ h1 F& R7 m1 v$ wAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the0 u7 F$ r: {+ F7 v
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job( ^! t0 s+ V) h2 n5 }" `+ l
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
( K2 y& O/ `+ mthat," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
0 g `$ D; g" x+ chere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
0 \ g" \4 k# I$ hschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
" x: N7 G3 j3 E4 Q) u7 G' G8 ytime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
* f. a" t$ e) x0 M9 c% u8 y3 ~! dChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American5 e3 q6 V- K' T* Y
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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9 K5 F$ e9 U( T"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
% ]% e& X% k1 ?4 K3 }because of that missing certification," he said.( t! `$ i+ l5 S: i5 i
- q, S ^" m$ v2 x3 ^* e8 yThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
}( W5 ~! q' @said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
/ @2 H \6 C1 P2 _+ a' tSociety in New York.; q3 M4 G2 R {6 K
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the# ?$ V6 e( K6 c8 s
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from- ]/ o. D+ I y5 m
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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% ~ U5 J1 m+ o" R) I"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our M+ _1 u6 P; e6 n+ a ]& H
own."/ a% z2 m4 w1 s3 s: a* K0 v: i$ X% W
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