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October 15, 2005
, k& Z! N9 a. [, ]$ n9 U9 EClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity& Q4 i# K1 @1 i" v# K
, N) u0 U+ s0 ?" n- YBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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# \6 N4 {: V# j. D7 f; l7 ?! n: e( \CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the! E& o9 Z+ f2 n3 H e
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary2 b& e2 j( u8 l
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
1 S4 A+ U* ]# @! ~8 W$ @5 Ldangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
& d+ \3 W4 A2 z) B* Bflag hang from the wall.* \4 i, J- J3 ?8 [
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
/ i) u& m( K$ C7 B7 c/ \' ?& Vanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders: U( z. |# Z6 @" `
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker; b8 n5 h3 p. Z# [
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students1 L6 E+ d8 f, a6 |
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal- p- z3 @2 v7 H# D; q
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
. y$ ?/ Y2 E- U" g2 coffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,- {/ H3 R# r$ l, ^/ Q3 h7 Z
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings6 D+ z& P5 ?6 G/ g& w
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention; K6 m+ U4 K" @& t6 Y
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
! E% x0 ^* c; K$ J X& ~public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students! e# v' T A; D; Q$ }. W
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
( Z1 Y5 o7 T) ?Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
+ y( I" x+ Z9 h4 a: o5 X. K- bTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on" D3 ^7 z& j l: P6 y2 l9 E( _: S
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to+ {) {/ D5 k# B6 @
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
) m% r8 ]+ @( v! Q4 [Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country6 w. D8 Q# p& e! y" Z/ N3 i
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to0 x6 i- h+ P! Z
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
9 W2 F- B4 S: ~/ R+ K% Qcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
- S: G2 ^* H; d6 u Fof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
+ M& S- i" k/ t- Rspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
. {2 T. G- ?$ V6 [7 D! p8 _Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we# A4 D, V& W7 ^6 S
can."
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4 D: P4 @& h9 m$ S, hThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from/ F* i- i8 a7 g& a; W* G" i
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10( n8 r- P" j; W
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language+ v9 c5 r$ h. s5 ?+ L P! z) j* z
Institute in Washington.6 m) U+ R3 x0 O2 S+ c# i+ d
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
/ e* O; }3 d9 o% s4 W3 _) M( Daren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
( a5 Z/ Z& F+ Q0 MMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
) }! @6 @* _' A. p2 Zlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
" h. G8 C% D+ r" V5 {/ M/ O: Iready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a. o( y1 @) u) v6 m! o/ z
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."6 l1 W O" C3 f( t5 `! o& j7 t( H
2 }' T: n( w) P2 f- E- y1 vUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and" t5 ~& M. p' `( x9 I* W5 b- y u; J
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in! I% m" M( l/ x
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
( W# i8 B8 u8 T$ C ]" fChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or& j% l+ r. \ r! ]' g5 e
on weekends.# z0 w8 @2 H& R. N7 g
9 Y3 i, G+ ?2 n5 c- @" C. ]The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public0 D/ N- X. D+ P/ S8 o
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves. L* U0 Y' u) R9 O$ T; ^7 f
students who are not of Chinese descent.0 J' @% S4 R T+ v0 t. Z) l. ^
( ^: j" n. @% r5 L' |- @# X7 N1 yMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
& X4 w4 h4 F7 o2 H( w1 cproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
6 V. W) T" c" N% Y# K$ b. X" |) O1 [+ ccompetition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
" \ C+ l$ n2 N5 t9 X$ isaid. "There will be Chinese and English."- p0 K/ D5 U. Q7 O" }2 t
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly! @6 }, i$ x5 e
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse% S% _/ ?8 `$ |% W) p
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
, H% }& j2 V% y5 @6 V' u) ?& Ykindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
3 e8 ~1 f! j! B- D& T, rwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to k4 g, t" B; a# B- |
the school system last year.
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! s7 @ M7 f" }6 U/ L( PThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this4 y/ W+ F* b$ Z L. B5 U, m
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.7 v6 T, Q3 m( j, D" a. w- }0 L
0 \+ B( H+ ~9 l' ]) e5 s3 J"They have a great international experience right in their own. z. |+ g( F5 T
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago% K5 v) j- {2 Y* E7 o1 h& b2 r: p
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
2 J: Q2 K7 R7 L9 n) l mhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet5 N3 |) z. g1 ~' F6 _" I' k
on an equal playing field."
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7 c6 g" F0 N; x* _ \% s! }Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
+ k( s, s |* V' o- Cclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
+ s0 u, q; s: O+ JService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
5 ?) O) V# k f. k% c7 J- aChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
0 }- L% L U4 @+ oaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
7 M6 n; [/ u) d5 h5 GChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the% f* ~' X8 V+ B$ p
institute says.& z. X' j+ s8 N# b* x6 U; H [
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth o6 J! ^/ M* H2 M/ n4 ^
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
& j+ i" m" K6 \6 @$ W; x6 _deciding whether to take the class.: |% c+ L2 E& s3 G/ N
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she$ K- H/ K4 e6 X
told her daughter.
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! Z8 [; r/ L( z8 v5 C) E$ iSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
& r( U+ s6 P6 g8 fclass.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
8 j; D/ x9 X$ M1 ~+ R! R5 rstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without1 V" }* h, E; h1 T
occasional frustration.
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" O* w1 W! m) {" f- w8 _"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a& @5 X9 M% D4 r
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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- }- Z# X) C kRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he3 Z! J4 X! V9 v: Q" Z
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
9 ` a5 w0 V$ O: Q e! {% PChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.5 I, v8 g! ~; d5 ?: b
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul3 p8 {4 C, I% e
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
+ {% V- g7 b$ |/ bas many languages as I can."3 m, l6 s: P* C6 w- i5 Q% S8 e
2 B* m6 |& e$ @. ^; lAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
! Q5 v9 `# \: r! d: y6 Hskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job! r% V6 M, O- c- k. s! T4 b6 {# z/ F! i, B
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like; H( L# a# I2 V- m! V" f
that," Ms. Freire said.0 @" u' C3 K2 D5 _- N$ n
- n+ ~- v4 e3 t. X/ h. W. M2 MMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program: J* O2 {4 N8 ]" \5 V: s$ n, i
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each8 o% v1 x' O8 \6 O7 k
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
4 E6 Y* g5 a5 btime from classes like physical education, music and art to make4 s6 T7 Z' n p7 ~' n
room.1 r% I7 M# j( G
* r$ D& E. B+ a; Y% \# t& ~Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
7 a: d' D9 o+ T5 i3 ~3 O @. @6 vChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American; B: Y# V4 |1 E
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said./ z2 S9 Z! A: Q' ?
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
0 T, O0 g6 c' Ybecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,5 @0 V( Q& A$ F# o/ H8 W
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
3 _. k+ s+ d# W6 i: f$ m5 tSociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the& l( h- d9 S( U$ M
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from3 z0 z0 j$ Z! {
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.. I% w. A/ x# I2 w
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our! _8 Z( R6 M; i8 r5 r
own."
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+ h0 b! Y9 ?! dCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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