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October 15, 2005( l: k5 [" y, z6 ~6 ?7 m) e
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity' p& x. M. Q p! c, L
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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$ Q( v$ `, F# F/ h; n# X7 kCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the u8 I v3 ^! p$ w* i
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary6 C1 Y& Z; W9 ]7 G4 v B
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
2 o- u. {' K! x* s$ sdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese' _ ]* L0 O+ I- D/ x
flag hang from the wall.
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8 b; k# D, L1 h# NOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one* s, R7 o( ~( \. ?: @0 t% e
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
5 j) V$ o! g y1 U9 ^practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
' h( C9 U6 Y* t6 R2 U5 N) w3 R3 u& @boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
; S1 L; x+ D" B g' ware already choosing it over Spanish.% S4 f6 }0 h1 [8 C: t3 ]
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal6 F1 g$ W$ L6 w. D5 l" |
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
* C$ G3 E: y% K* ?1 b' {offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
) Q& w$ m1 i$ b: ischools across the United States are expanding their language offerings5 Q. ~0 E, l; B: E0 b( H$ d% f
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention+ z, U8 g& P. N# r
one of its most difficult to learn.$ ]5 i e# D( s8 |
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
1 G7 P: C; x0 B- B3 Tpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
. g5 ~9 t* s+ A7 p" }& s0 hstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I./ o4 ]3 v8 \% C4 r
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of. h5 p. n8 H# N0 k- b6 w9 u8 |
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
# @7 I3 @) n: R, I( LChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
9 m+ A& W C. ]improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.6 w: ]* d- x: P& x
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
/ \ t' u+ Y6 @0 e- o6 v. XChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country) y5 B- C1 g! G$ Z0 y/ M& }
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
! w# B. f4 {! Z) D3 M! cdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
: {2 D" o+ T; G2 {# j* R7 xcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
1 U7 l) w% z ^/ G9 ?! wof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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5 B2 P8 D/ p6 }/ U" m% T/ _. T9 } ^- o"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
1 w% r- }- x: z# I( ]8 ospeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education# V; g9 e5 O A" }
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we$ c0 { g; Z( W" B7 U! a) C8 Y, O( O
can."
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! J3 q) w3 B/ LThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
" s T* b% s% K% j3 eelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
" t8 ]8 d% U& e) ]: }0 W. ~years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language' L" P2 O* q4 S+ c
Institute in Washington.3 o) C6 O7 G. R, @! f
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages% q w4 x' k4 D9 F
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.1 ?4 a' v( }$ ?0 E6 `
McGinnis said.
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( K% [4 t) y: k& |6 |* P"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical$ T% f1 l I) g B3 O3 J
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be8 v' }; c: t2 c: e: @1 s1 @4 ~
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a) f( m i9 E% e7 ^* j+ L
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and" e$ O; D# g7 b" A) k
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in% ^' p) F3 A. `" p8 K$ K9 H" A
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of% c3 I T* n6 x) _
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
7 c* _& b' j9 U$ \, h: A' v8 mon weekends.) d. u3 {0 `6 K) d% [, o% Y
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
0 `4 F, q/ O3 g4 r- Dschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
8 P' {0 [; n4 _5 Wstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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" v/ s Z% A- M: _0 R0 R8 M; B' F4 WMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
2 X3 \8 j6 m {# d$ X2 Bproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
+ J. }3 l- _, ?" H$ Pcompetition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley) R$ C7 f1 o; q& [0 I
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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L" D0 f5 {$ G JFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
& M3 A/ P: R1 b! N# A& Call-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
3 D8 Q2 W1 M* P+ s: g) V: B( `schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
. K+ }9 F1 _9 Y7 w- {' o: ikindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
$ j5 t1 G* p! i& E. @ _# Dwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
' N, F8 G6 H; F I6 ?. cthe school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this- z1 e" g( _) z3 R6 k; G! _
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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/ {% C) T0 z2 m+ T @! h/ c: s"They have a great international experience right in their own
( z7 \" m- W0 |5 |% \! hclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago7 S. u/ X9 e- C9 Q
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to+ n9 K# Q& W# d$ t U6 ~, a
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet9 g, P; K0 l, \+ c3 Q, n
on an equal playing field."7 o( R) `; J- f1 {6 P
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese" k: I6 C! N) E
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign# Y8 _, H; g. J N
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
3 b( j, a6 n/ B a2 JChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
+ j6 h) g8 M' _* S, aaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in R2 G( r" t. n0 @. ~7 n- }# h
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
+ C, _9 m$ B$ [$ X. @) U( Oinstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth3 g5 v2 s P0 z7 z- G1 l D
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before0 [$ Q; `% s) `: p9 v1 X+ z
deciding whether to take the class.3 }" \7 @) L5 L( P* a' k; M2 h* ]" B
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
4 T9 f! v5 j+ [: o5 Htold her daughter.
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6 k% Y9 [* U1 D- G, w. xSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
8 `" S8 ?. t5 A; l2 B* J) sclass.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
. d7 R% H0 s2 v* b$ bstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without8 I q) j. r/ W7 X, E% F; _
occasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a. ?3 C5 V& I& \! X# V- e- o# d( g
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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( J6 j' S7 g1 ^7 H2 P% DRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he* q5 U$ U/ _5 `! X/ k' Y
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
1 R6 B6 P- E" i- n9 HChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.- m2 D$ v# A* a& j( ?+ N0 k
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
# }3 i0 D0 e8 t- B9 y, k$ osaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
, R' c4 P) ]4 E7 J9 mas many languages as I can."
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5 c" |! G. U2 a: h- RAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
! x$ ?6 b7 z) ~9 y& p3 Eskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job: h& }. g, W. g+ A
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like8 d$ t. l; m2 L5 z7 ^0 a( Y
that," Ms. Freire said.
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: C0 L' U4 H; s7 U$ `Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program7 i9 b( A4 {- B. {
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each8 U( p, Q$ |4 k: A
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking4 x: n( ~4 a9 D0 E+ E; L6 ~* z
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make1 w; }6 z6 X2 m5 i- U5 v
room.
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5 u1 r, C: H1 E) |8 ]: DChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
$ n0 }( k8 C! U. s% N& yChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American" \5 B) |0 L b# R. C) N0 O7 A4 v
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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1 i$ J. S/ X; p& J9 T"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified4 V' T' \# i W6 Y6 d; j
because of that missing certification," he said.& E- m5 u7 o' n/ p v3 l2 d; T1 \
5 z" }) y* U" e. B- @" g. VThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,) `5 ~& m @" t% r, g8 \7 O, J/ U
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
! z) R4 S$ H0 e8 S- s" O% _Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
4 q+ L2 J" c4 _0 W. I: X" O# nChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
- a1 X# r7 j0 [6 `5 Ethe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.9 |: N3 H. G4 E6 n5 c/ z& ^
! f4 L( X' j( B* b$ M"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
/ |" y v2 G, }. s" {: I7 ?+ {! Nown."
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