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October 15, 2005
0 H. `. D6 f- r0 t/ N4 ?( H7 oClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity0 n7 \# Y' } c6 \3 f5 {
! }' S8 t9 T1 G+ I- V; iBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING r2 J; \3 x. v& j; F b; E
; q( q! M$ P& U6 K" V! ~; qCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
' a/ I& s8 p" A0 v" \, NUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary) d2 E5 s4 r$ {7 s; t) T0 U. z
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas8 _! u2 M' E/ b4 H- `, y
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
2 Z3 E" Y/ ?/ R0 k% hflag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
6 J* t1 E. V) ganother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders9 C$ |+ T9 L0 \ {" |: F
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker. _7 S* r l3 Q+ P4 F
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students' ^) E- i4 Q& k. z
are already choosing it over Spanish.+ i6 o" m. o; q s
+ q! K. e$ y; K8 E' X( `"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal z. D. r5 P2 Z: w( @, r; w" b! i" L, w
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
6 s- E# V/ ?% V1 @offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in." ?3 z- s/ i$ |( D9 ?" N
7 D# v) o3 W1 C# ^) ]" gWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
( |9 y) u1 q- q D: zschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
4 G* v. U0 _ p+ E* a9 Xto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention2 m J! f9 z! K9 C
one of its most difficult to learn.4 t4 I# H% a! o: b! m0 i7 b
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
. F) A+ C4 w( c2 n4 Rpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students: ~1 \% T7 h1 S# H+ K
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.. G! u l' E, A( P9 s
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of% r5 J* `9 X n8 K
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on; t% z. |- I+ s
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to$ {9 l) i* \( N6 n5 q) Q; T3 _
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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+ V$ w+ z( I& J0 ^+ U$ }+ _$ e" pAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement! V; _+ ]# W. l1 g# o& u
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
, }4 h! j1 c8 f9 M$ wstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
6 r9 B8 m& Y5 B Pdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing9 p$ D+ g% Q% A6 ~/ K* J
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
- H# e' G: J8 x; C/ G0 L& P' rof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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, C5 i3 u' _, R2 W3 W. F8 h! u6 F"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
% k+ U T8 A% R, a- I% Ispeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
f. m5 W! D4 qConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we3 Q! s2 F, u8 u: S. n! n I
can." % f5 a) a; S* j, \2 C2 ]. {
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
" j, |2 \! b9 ]0 ?; {elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
' D2 t, Y$ T/ X7 Z7 d5 z7 h/ pyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
! s" M% {6 b' D+ V: ~Institute in Washington.
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% |4 w% }3 i: A+ ["Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages0 p* r, v" f/ R/ z X
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
. k) D/ i9 W, q' U' `, N: i: }. }3 NMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
, _4 h. f D" i9 Plongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
# z2 e) x# v/ D; g5 D. d* g, f/ Dready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a$ s; o1 V1 e% b; H- C
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and7 m5 y: F9 ]9 Q$ R8 a
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
: h# G7 D6 u- w \& Icities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
" j/ S$ U. M* f) X& y( {Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or0 ?# }% j; v' S/ `" c; N2 d
on weekends.
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; ]/ H& z+ b% H) `* c7 I2 E; c q c3 g8 TThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
) t- K/ H: j. F4 }2 F" ^schools during the regular school day and primarily serves$ k0 U$ ]/ U9 D( r
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said" c p8 I+ E7 H0 i5 t6 ?- X
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
0 \" Z! }: a: T7 ucompetition. & _; H+ K8 k8 @, D8 U1 P7 `# R
) W) o! {; k7 V2 c6 f4 h: B"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
: z- F1 e' F( Q8 R. V) n, H$ Vsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."( o6 L4 c) {7 \2 U6 v+ R" e8 [
M! x6 u7 s+ o3 cFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly3 G, L5 j8 d+ }7 Y$ H/ ?% M' R
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
+ Q9 j$ X; W$ _7 vschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from# B, [6 u* z6 j: `5 m @' u, b" f
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
2 |* L( E0 ~' b9 c& U* s' awho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
) L5 a) t- F0 j: Uthe school system last year.
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2 v5 A$ g+ s4 G/ QThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
' r9 C2 `2 ^4 r! d5 Oyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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. d5 u( L& N; K6 Y, I* l7 |"They have a great international experience right in their own# l4 _9 Z2 T* _5 p( X3 {
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago& _6 \, I2 ^4 k: b* s2 G6 ^
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
* ^ k5 Z2 H1 K8 Lhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet3 @1 N1 |5 |3 ?; ~6 b, `
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
% r5 ~0 i3 ?/ e% y" Y# E) qclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
/ v/ r @& i3 iService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks8 U5 X3 W$ [% i5 U+ f/ X" u
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
! A4 w' p5 x* C7 z3 A, `/ b9 P: maverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
9 N$ [& y2 Q" [$ c' n/ MChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the p5 _# K# B; o
institute says. K z O( v4 a, f' @
+ a& d. i! u3 k6 OSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
( e' }- `/ E) L1 Kgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
8 i2 R: ^ N3 v, a; _) {/ H/ \deciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
9 n; e; p3 k0 _9 e8 vtold her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite5 C8 M" d7 L u8 G
class.9 L$ h( z0 a4 i( M$ D! {
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
: S; d) b5 P5 _1 `+ Q3 @* tstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without L( m- o. k' O, n! O
occasional frustration.
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* J/ k. j* J% [- e"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a7 {3 \9 d0 d8 Z- E8 c
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he& G7 M2 V8 y7 _/ K9 q2 h
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
5 _& m o9 W) @Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.% I5 }2 H1 X( [1 Q/ Q% @# P
, j6 i* h8 p7 X# Z8 \, n: ~- r"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul2 f9 _: |& H: f1 k0 p( `+ X- a$ O
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn0 K% F& e6 [3 R3 m% C
as many languages as I can.". t2 b3 B+ Y N
; |7 m( ~! T w/ w: S- ]+ X) vAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the# d( v @, D5 q9 {
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
6 g- E" j h: a. c* bmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like; s& U) J, w; v
that," Ms. Freire said.: b; B; |" g6 V; V5 g
; @+ Z Q( d) f/ RMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program o) u3 {/ h0 m0 r
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
; X; m+ S9 B: A& d2 I7 j) @school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
1 i5 p& D. {+ T4 ~time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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& u8 t: M% i3 m, t1 h; T$ K+ tChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer' ^2 h, o$ G& i& `
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
( s! N9 W( U7 o; u- `college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.( h8 V% c8 \/ h) y+ _( t
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
! W/ Y) m. }7 l# Bbecause of that missing certification," he said., N$ ?( F. Q2 e* w$ U, i' G1 S6 w0 [
2 K, r e: K' A2 Q/ NThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,& n2 Z' h. c X* ]# d# q+ z0 P. W
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
, x, p2 r& g$ X" v: H' @Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
! L8 }: \# d5 W( @2 l Z7 `Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from3 ]. R: v, E/ R: j5 s" y& G9 h
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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& h5 t. h/ J) x |7 Y9 R"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
+ ?& d. _) R$ S% lown."
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6 h' L8 R" G, l; b* [Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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