 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
October 15, 2005
* b* ^$ g- {, OClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
$ \8 c5 d7 N0 f5 i( ~1 T
3 X; P7 K& g" M& S4 QBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING9 }" }. e0 p, ^' H
& k6 T8 a+ E, p! l6 n7 XCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
* g" O* T4 ^$ ~$ E! L: TUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary% ^5 R( h1 g+ ^' O
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas S$ V) N) V! \
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese3 \; b& _ Y" ?: s( i' B
flag hang from the wall.% Z7 C6 l% T/ z: j* m1 r: L* P
" F$ }# A2 ~3 z
One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
, ^. W; W A, n1 M1 aanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
( O# g$ P$ s2 Y& f! c; {practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker$ q* a6 \, R8 X) }, z% J5 M
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
$ z. g5 @0 @! X3 o% W2 Vare already choosing it over Spanish.9 E6 [" N2 q* W f5 ~: L8 H
7 O4 g: ^. {1 a; L& U3 J- l0 M
"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal) L, O' G' b. A$ X; y, q( B
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
* y4 y, M/ h, G+ K' v: Qoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
1 e [# Y+ v! ]7 _+ s _2 B" C+ ]& q" n6 U: e+ R+ t
With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,3 P. N, Y( W8 F& o, I- {- g9 w
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings* J5 l v, d' d! L0 o0 }
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
" P+ P) L8 X0 `4 T1 H; e6 e z) ione of its most difficult to learn.$ I7 ^0 c. s) W
+ L$ p! D/ W) B h) hLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to/ K2 o! M4 c2 n. n8 Y# m
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
0 l+ [: O% f, X0 y- o* e! vstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I." l, J" w# { d( s
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of* [; K2 ]% I- T: |% G9 K1 u
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on2 I( S5 N9 S& L, ~) x% m2 X
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to3 [0 ?& G. D7 ]
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
; O' P" ?# T6 l; Z8 f w; a, B
* y6 C& i1 e0 y$ I: v rAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
1 U/ ~: {& ~8 M, A. O; wChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country; [; u* p+ q0 S4 w9 N& B
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
8 h, H" e9 h% V$ H' O! tdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing* }1 a# }. g! f/ U- N8 U5 c$ \
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
8 G+ l7 }) L) m+ U1 w Nof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
0 ~4 `, M7 G5 }: U7 p* ]7 b: ]2 l! V# t
"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
( K+ f H/ N, U6 D7 dspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education0 g% ?6 J3 f" G
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
) \* {) z4 g! D& z% g+ Xcan."
3 I6 W+ e# A) s) {# G( r
+ f/ t* e Y6 l C1 e AThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from0 L+ H0 h) @/ _$ T% i' f/ `. u
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
. A: `0 D R9 ^ ?7 @0 Wyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language j. k4 B# \+ m) Y! S9 J1 m- K
Institute in Washington.- W6 ^, L- b1 g& c) F0 U( N8 ~
" r$ V0 g2 O6 @! O I4 i"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages# b( C( ?% X6 D# \; D" o, m' g
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
$ [8 F% U2 C; N- g3 S1 g8 p+ X, {" GMcGinnis said.3 z U/ q+ v! T7 E% t j
! N; _0 r2 q4 Z' k9 e"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
9 v4 q) W! M0 `& O4 Hlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
6 |6 g+ X3 s$ [, W( @- u+ Bready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
# M8 r2 t6 g$ U$ T! q8 a0 tchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
# w" n- w$ q) `: g2 p
$ X) z5 Z ]9 p3 c( cUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
" j, C- N" T( y" z( esecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in1 i( I" V! y, U& _) d
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
9 f; N* f9 I, T; y. ^8 I3 {Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or8 ~% ` z0 w) Y( [, b
on weekends.
3 _" V+ a, p. t) b8 p& }% I0 e; o0 W. {6 `) j8 T/ r( ]
The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public6 C5 z# I2 c. s/ T
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
0 F. Z p7 `1 Z1 V0 A) ]6 Nstudents who are not of Chinese descent.$ j" U) x3 D3 |. L
6 A1 Z; c0 c4 K# K# N7 B+ V1 A
Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said6 X, T) W4 V# _4 N* X' u# W
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
0 e' n( j* N: ]competition.
' w) ~) ] e) I2 l: |
2 {* U( |# M3 c; e/ ?"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley7 S- A9 k6 P# S4 Y
said. "There will be Chinese and English.") l3 T7 W! m) z8 y+ o' T
2 u G' G6 ]& R+ ]- L. s' g5 l5 rFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly4 v( ]* v8 P& O( A6 n
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
( X/ F$ i/ S/ Dschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
0 U( E) L: n0 Z4 U" @% |# rkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students- f: u8 i1 t/ \ J& w, k# f
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to5 s2 D% n+ W7 G, N* c6 V. m
the school system last year.- \- q8 `. S2 F1 a
1 l# L q4 l0 O: _
The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this4 ~# x$ e; @- D9 Y
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.* M& O, [- |2 y
0 d$ ^ ]+ W) R$ d g. q"They have a great international experience right in their own
+ I" a. w* G' |; x, L2 b6 a9 @6 Xclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago8 _+ F Q+ E& x% s3 }
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
; J; i& c- e4 c) _: R( K/ ]# ~ }help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet2 z' ]' f' m- G
on an equal playing field."
4 V: \2 r/ T( Q0 {3 q1 q8 @! A G1 K; M
Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese& B Z; q% F0 s; L+ t- c( y
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
& c4 `# x, h* ~; O' MService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
$ f3 K- T0 n7 R2 qChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An- \& p- ]5 t K8 d! a
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
- {& g6 D$ ~9 p: JChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
c5 S5 z: [ _- i7 h- jinstitute says.
( w6 x* ^% I/ G7 c4 h% w3 O/ E" }
, w. D K# V) p6 k1 `. HSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
9 B8 I9 R/ H* A( agrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before' N8 W7 W7 |3 \/ ?& O
deciding whether to take the class.
& ?7 W4 G- v* ~5 v' @4 P: k% V* A9 h1 C/ {2 @& ^, H
"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she0 y2 T% @4 D1 o" t
told her daughter.
) W) R' H" X% ^/ D) S# W% t5 j3 c- L7 P8 q
Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite' V$ ^" x% ^$ R7 F
class.
9 g& f. D. x. j$ e0 j. X- I# j
: z, H8 m0 S- f$ pAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are/ p# j& J9 `. H: I$ d% n/ x8 a
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
# C# k1 E' `8 {; P& k% loccasional frustration.- w. o4 E+ l" ]4 t
7 n* e1 ?4 m# M4 z; M( [+ |& Z8 k2 f"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
5 K' u- S# E, r0 precent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
6 [: N+ @# f, Z. o" ~) v" B9 [+ p* p
Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he, B2 Y9 n2 Y( j- M7 E2 H0 h
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
3 z% L3 ]. [0 p- j+ \Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
. A& b9 Z5 g; _) y3 n2 y
, S2 r) S7 t! a"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
1 _9 s; O; I! F2 A9 Ysaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn; K* [! W+ j7 ^
as many languages as I can."
0 |( i: {* K2 J: U
# d x% d5 g5 ~& N* @) O. A" BAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the( `, U& `! N u* j' k
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job8 y; p* X3 \3 A% ^
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like7 P4 c+ c/ U1 V
that," Ms. Freire said.: D# n7 e0 O! p H5 g* j, a+ I; O6 f
9 e6 P! C. Z( u5 } N' c' \! `- R
Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program* F9 h! M1 H u) M
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each+ d" @' t) h R# o9 H( x- C
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking6 s: A: o) c% I; R$ B
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
& M# x ?9 k% ~5 Broom.
4 [( {1 `! H: w! Q8 a7 i
" a, A: g, B/ t' eChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
, t' ^- u5 m6 v. ?3 AChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
7 }! x% @4 ^% W! Z! \0 Qcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
8 ]/ Y. L" q; X; V$ p4 Q/ ~; D
- F; |. F2 j" U/ B; |"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
- V- l1 S( o$ j/ L6 ?0 L0 Zbecause of that missing certification," he said./ t7 q3 {7 u- K) h, s/ f' {4 _. m/ u
e, u* G6 h4 H3 u% G
The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,+ Z. Z9 a+ ~& ^ [% p) S3 C
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia; B+ ]* l* C, b' k/ _3 B: t
Society in New York.
* [6 L- v; U8 x' A0 d% m$ B* b( \# Q; k. S) g- K( l
Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
" | }5 E( i8 u* l9 D* {+ A; iChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from) t8 C) Q( b2 M* M- Y" ^& {
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.9 x. J6 s K+ P, M4 n# C
6 e( Q* R( T8 S6 f4 a"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
2 e( i G8 {8 J1 ~own."
$ H3 T. h$ J1 p, p0 s o k! \
/ r$ Z$ V6 e/ v% i6 ?5 Y2 P$ ^( @Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
|