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October 15, 2005
( U8 L) R6 J: M: X( Z# u' @- [& M# \) r7 eClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity7 ~6 d, h/ U' b7 ?5 j4 n
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
' q" V' u" N5 m0 R$ uUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
( R: _/ c% Z' c( PSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas0 o. B* C, A) [$ y% J1 W3 |2 S
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese) Y5 B5 }3 d3 u& X4 c( B
flag hang from the wall.
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2 I4 N$ ~+ ?9 N; `5 c* l! cOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one% Q/ L# X7 P9 L2 X6 o0 p1 y
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders, Q# x8 g! H8 c N; t0 N. F! F% [1 O
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
. I/ Y/ e( @% j* r- M1 Dboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
. m1 @. q- C" Pare already choosing it over Spanish.
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/ O+ L1 E$ i( M: X+ I, d- \! b$ W3 b"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal B5 I3 M5 u1 E9 ]3 Y* s
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city2 V0 @4 A2 g, p+ Q# |
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."5 N* ^9 v2 y" I8 g$ i7 [
- z! y9 H/ Q& [+ B0 P4 XWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,5 D" r+ U( j3 {0 L6 n- `
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings9 {6 {- _& m7 c; r3 X3 s) n
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention8 e n* w8 {- E @8 K3 u) [
one of its most difficult to learn.1 z; o! V. s3 }1 c( F
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
. v! K# u; q8 ]& X$ g4 \' Vpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students" ?( N. ~; J- g' B! d
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.& T/ V( O, |# c0 d+ Q: a
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of. s4 q; T2 |3 ]7 }$ H' R8 A& C1 I
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on* c" E$ j( E5 H- t8 |
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
5 q/ G- ~3 C4 A/ z2 A8 N. ^improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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7 G# Q) u% P+ b2 T' a, x: V% i5 ?+ fAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
8 j/ x8 H4 n; I" d" v: j2 NChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
+ L" D& S0 @7 _* V0 nstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
9 v! F8 I( W. n8 i& J {develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
$ G/ |, Y, @+ v! x2 Fcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
6 z% ^2 y: Q6 G% z/ V5 P- Sof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of& c; b+ ]7 I" c
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education4 _3 W; [2 u* h
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
& v. Z) h1 Y8 k' [( M$ Ucan." 2 v% J9 v8 z, r
+ o' `) q2 e6 b+ aThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from* n8 l& G8 Q% k+ Q4 U/ U
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
- I6 ^3 U/ y# Eyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
- u) {& ]/ h1 l9 V0 X/ C4 Y9 GInstitute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages/ _% p" k, r2 a/ t# x
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
) l, @# q# E* }6 oMcGinnis said. d% e+ j9 ^5 M
; f* Q3 ]0 |" |% z3 E, M"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
! A$ ?, z! M3 Q/ c7 m# j j& {longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
7 D% ~2 S% ]& Sready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a0 i* Z9 e0 U# @4 ?3 I
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and6 ]; P. p6 V3 Y; L
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
6 I9 f- ]. |3 [cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of9 l& q/ F* {6 n) X& b* B3 Z7 F
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
4 c9 b/ O' J) H: S) d7 J8 Con weekends.
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2 M$ ?7 P% w( Q7 r O6 ]The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public. k& X9 G# I4 w; I3 p3 \* b9 N
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves3 _: z2 u8 L5 q7 X( t
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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9 l0 o" m' M1 D# {+ ~# EMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
) R# m g8 J4 L; p1 dproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the* y% m5 ]) {% p) v* H+ k- |
competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley5 d$ }) g; F* k' @, L
said. "There will be Chinese and English."* j8 y! k" {' w! M* m* Y) R4 @
% n1 _' g# k9 a7 P8 ~# hFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly( u& q8 b+ s5 o. R
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
t/ u5 i6 V' J! {. \+ U8 _* gschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
# O$ n7 {* a' O% A8 U8 g# mkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students! U6 l6 _ \/ z
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
" z6 i/ C* G" d1 ^* Fthe school system last year.
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4 A! @4 A A+ K/ zThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this6 G2 n0 T& p/ c; w7 L
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
# l( U. i, h8 t; X# S% U- B Kclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
& |: n. o7 C0 C9 F, x* mChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
+ d$ m6 g' t9 ~- T* C: d& uhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet p r# s* f6 y1 t X9 v l" |
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
: J, }" ^$ M# T1 K/ y6 gclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
" l/ R" ~0 H7 h' aService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks( L& |1 r. n. g' I6 _# s1 m
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An B+ r1 j0 w* n8 Y
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
' n9 J" N9 w, E9 u3 y- dChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the# W) Y3 x n% U# z ?
institute says.
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& {, O' `% @0 u: ESevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth2 N1 d* t+ l; j1 H) j3 d% r8 |
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
$ X3 c5 B) W0 L# x! V! fdeciding whether to take the class.% ]: C, {2 t& d
0 }$ ]6 G& {, _# Q6 n$ V"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she. g F. S! B& q+ R' q
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
/ B9 l" g4 b" R( Y1 h+ M# T3 Uclass.
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% l0 f0 `; o; i/ `0 TAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are" r% j$ w# m% R+ U( k/ v
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without w; D5 F( C7 i8 A$ d4 l. r
occasional frustration.; d, D% b0 o) C: ]& m4 b
2 l4 V% M8 s4 V+ i( b"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a: @, l8 v4 A. {) h/ \. T( v
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he9 N- J" e O7 E3 k; n6 e4 N, l
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
% _ o# ]0 g M [Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul1 v F1 v4 g: o7 F6 s1 ]) P
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn/ a1 c/ b3 H$ D# o& V2 ?1 U) L9 ~4 f
as many languages as I can."' v' `. @+ ^6 n% A
3 x! [1 N. \; V3 X0 tAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
y5 [% {- U) s- sskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job7 [3 f2 l$ m6 h
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like f0 F" ]; U* H8 D" |! A$ F. ~* K& K
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program' ?$ b% ~; w* S$ R5 c+ A
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
/ N$ z c9 P# P# Fschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking6 t4 @1 G3 G6 @2 }8 o( Z. ~/ x, n
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
9 T; y4 [; k% V( y' e7 v9 Mroom.) |, J9 t+ i8 G% Q
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
3 s& I, C2 R% N. UChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American9 I5 ]# Y# Z* g* d. q8 U) o0 H
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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7 Y% k6 n& b/ N5 [% w, s5 K, b$ h"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified; N* I- i, _# B7 P) k7 P. [% r: q
because of that missing certification," he said.: i# H) L& r! a7 O- P
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
0 [$ \ d/ y4 D5 d4 V) l8 bsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
- @5 w Q% d% @Society in New York." l& _) @7 E5 X8 W, { [+ j$ |5 t
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
, Z$ K5 ?3 s$ ^( d( }2 d; z: n, cChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from( L$ [+ l+ D$ p _# q; v* S) J
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.* n; x$ N! }' a& ]% F( U
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our% `) C' K# P" S! _6 R3 `
own."
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& V0 q8 J: {' R; hCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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