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October 15, 2005
# X3 f3 c! V- r6 [7 {Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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8 A% c) z* d8 b" o* C, z! U1 CBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the" g! W( e. v0 A2 X% V1 }
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary* V8 }6 F, P' [$ ? y0 T9 |" H
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas3 @% W/ L! D- F( d+ f7 T# c
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese( B) H9 \7 z$ H* H a5 F- t
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
' z( Y9 A+ ]8 ^. y% ]0 C, x/ Banother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
& c; C; b* D6 x5 ?% L+ f: Jpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
1 E, I, O8 t7 Z0 L7 q6 Kboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
' o2 G) i' @$ P6 W: iare already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal% a) [1 D' \3 M3 B; m0 L5 x) u
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
; }# D( D R/ L$ L" d* Aoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."& R! V' z/ v! u# J
! ~' ^. e8 w: {With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,. t: d- B9 U+ `) @3 @! I- v6 A
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
1 K. A1 N" j! T$ \; y/ ^( sto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
- d: X9 o# W$ Z# D% fone of its most difficult to learn.% ], a7 ]- u# s1 ~2 S8 T- y
3 @ V/ U1 P4 w% m/ Z, U& GLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
3 y8 a$ C- }8 g8 dpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students1 U$ L8 T& |. K/ Y, l8 ?/ c. D, i
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
3 M1 m/ z8 C7 d8 ^Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
0 I7 Y5 F" N1 i J5 ^Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
- K# J) g5 X% _Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
, |' k' c. K3 y$ S* ~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
1 t; A/ A$ a; w! G A% mChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country' f' K7 z/ C. a7 Z5 N
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
/ r: P' S O3 F: k5 p7 r+ {develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing \; S p- {: x' z a& |* _
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
& e+ f0 C2 P$ _1 hof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of; ~+ L4 P( |6 K0 G
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
7 o( p& i$ c4 p; KConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
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: }' O, z M1 \0 F* c! jThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
& k) ?' E+ f) T3 c. U) }2 B Z5 X- _elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
; p& e W" H5 P; l% h% X/ eyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
- ]2 s z$ r7 d8 k$ h) y" rInstitute in Washington.9 T1 y; L5 Y H9 \0 C" ]7 F0 Q ?% |
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
0 D/ l3 H( ?0 X: aaren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
! X' ]* A( S2 I' z8 L+ J7 o9 WMcGinnis said.
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n; B5 }: j C( k6 m"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical5 b8 N( Q# x+ p; ]% i% ?, o
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
* a$ h7 s7 V4 s+ c: pready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
/ W7 j4 D5 r8 schallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."$ a2 z$ ^$ J0 j h4 F; |7 m
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
, s5 a; Q |% Y$ x" Y# \secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
5 p$ y/ S/ y3 Y- l' @9 a: fcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of! w) i: e2 o( ]
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
! y/ X0 |' k% V5 ?on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
) s; E- v4 X9 v. t" K( J1 _; W' A3 Cschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
* j) D# a% u$ F2 `: Hstudents who are not of Chinese descent.( L/ Z0 a$ x- V, k
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
X K3 x+ [) |8 X% y# w% Q# Wproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the+ O* B! k" H: k5 R% v
competition. ( {( i7 Y9 G; A/ S' `1 |$ C {
$ q8 G" ?2 f) R6 J* G"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley5 ?! H/ J! I: j s
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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$ X5 k- F- y7 B' [, j5 s6 ^- A% t* FFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly6 \+ p5 F: X/ `# b8 R' `
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse. c3 G- @$ q8 E' d6 j/ Z5 D
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
* I' q* Y# y1 I( E0 W( j8 Dkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students3 @( S% v. k; e2 j; h
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to" [! b5 z% j( g' m
the school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
5 i. H" ~' ?/ T% D8 O6 t3 \year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.' O) i c! ]' z% h& P- V/ {! i
! M3 n, _2 T! F7 s! z+ {9 K8 ?"They have a great international experience right in their own
& N& \5 Q7 z! ~/ W. G8 i: Uclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
. V) d) q: l; x+ N( |Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to+ m% R, R+ {4 K; h4 D& ^
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet# Q- a2 {5 I8 y. w6 O! Q
on an equal playing field."
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! p: \9 A; ?( r( M: e! ySome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese$ P$ l6 N5 u# L( l% F1 \; h7 q
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
# K4 H* j# Y# P% M: K% K! _. C& IService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
% q5 Z" z0 P/ w" kChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An( R2 F' C: a2 i/ A- U
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in, n* A1 {2 a2 n, e9 b! c: D
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the7 r9 E) ], J( @9 ~' h$ w1 Z, t
institute says.! ]' b* W* b. U) Q# [2 p' Z6 U8 j% u
' r" I) }; R! t% ~Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth. X; f% {9 T$ q9 V
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before- v* F' w4 q$ b2 Y2 Y0 P
deciding whether to take the class.
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! O. a, `/ p3 j* B"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she+ p" a. D4 A. J" c/ X7 K" x
told her daughter.. Q5 w5 s# |6 ^1 ~3 `3 @
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite, A$ G. }4 x$ e6 y" g
class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are6 M: W N$ q/ ]4 w
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without4 J7 B: H0 z# R
occasional frustration., y8 r( A+ C O- C4 M/ [
" r Q2 b `, U& |" V5 ]" V, |"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a0 L2 n/ L: t8 _+ ?) W: b/ Z$ t
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.8 x3 Q W2 z9 b5 ?
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
- ?/ `% E P- E* b8 ?8 L/ O3 u. qtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
" i) w" l2 n4 s( ]1 R6 f( cChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.3 u6 I. O: d! M6 z* w( f9 h
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul8 h. u$ U) z+ y1 m
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
3 R F4 C7 o# P1 ^* n. G! gas many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the# Y- z) D. q I- B2 w
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job) [" W* z1 l: N! h
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
& s0 g, [; x# \; y4 N6 ?8 cthat," Ms. Freire said., C3 W# M& n& E; s
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program" p& j9 R2 L# T9 y& z
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
! [' x; w5 z+ xschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking/ a. X. E/ I; L7 q( e! k
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make5 \$ Q$ I! u/ l: D
room.1 u6 i* m' @1 ]% T0 A* k
0 e) ~; \3 B) L# q( [) T7 |9 L3 l9 vChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
, G; E; i6 G+ }7 Q8 N$ o* JChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American) Z' u+ c( Y l9 [" i E9 E
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.0 {* F+ j3 v( P/ @1 E
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
* ^; d6 @7 G" S' _: p8 ~because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,( A9 |9 C) p5 A" Q' L; R) C z- [
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
6 d* x P8 ]& J5 {Society in New York.
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8 u0 u" {2 _* }1 t1 n' XSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the: J/ N, W; Y$ l* X
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from8 @" F9 S# Z8 q5 T/ E4 _
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.' y% F* `: B8 i6 a5 k( P" _; m8 H) d
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our- R% B) I! W( l4 i p
own."
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0 x7 @$ {# K6 KCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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