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October 15, 20051 \- {& E! m/ w8 L8 f3 x) N
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity) V. u' m$ R7 Q% r, K0 B0 B
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING8 h: r4 o" O2 {- b0 l
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the Q5 {9 O: |" G/ g$ J7 I& ^
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
1 m! |6 e( R8 Q7 HSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas3 l, \9 a0 { z6 b
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese1 L# b, _8 A* k
flag hang from the wall., z+ x3 N+ I ^0 H8 }' f; T
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
5 c3 c' ]8 M: \) w. v+ manother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
3 N' G' b# W- v- A# b8 Kpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker, r8 j1 I! ^- S* R' h
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
4 ^$ g" u0 Z" c" Nare already choosing it over Spanish.9 @' F/ [+ S. O+ l1 r( s5 J
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal! G) f8 g _5 R# e1 J; B5 t
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
8 Q( j5 u/ F2 i0 j: w. J- U- v1 Noffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
3 b3 V+ e D8 z7 dschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
: C" [0 R8 ]0 ]$ G; g* V) Dto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
W! w' H- N7 }" N* U1 Lone of its most difficult to learn.
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$ b# ?" C9 c3 Y8 x7 ^Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to; @7 k' t9 W' i# y
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students5 q; y$ @( Z% o
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.& s- r7 p. r/ R' u/ G
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of( S _& S! J7 N9 W0 G# L$ E4 p' B
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
, I# @( {3 T( OChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
% X4 g& J: N3 l( S5 o: ^/ mimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.3 k" Y' p Z* S5 ^0 }- \! j, e
2 D% _: ^/ i- \8 d9 cAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement* Z; S9 k# k* B
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country8 Z" a: [- K# A7 C. p" G2 a% T
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
/ Y* I# x% N, b/ w% J5 }; g2 odevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing% \5 O ^, i7 H b6 {0 j; x
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
' A$ Y E4 p8 Hof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.$ I' V- o) s% a/ p) ^) t
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
9 d; h1 u% {& ^9 X! x* m0 l2 U8 Sspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education* k, @& N4 Y0 ]3 K" A
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we1 I8 l1 p. B5 _4 F6 C# T; D
can." 1 ]3 L# H/ b5 ` X2 |, m
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from3 \7 R4 }% E, R
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
4 ^( ]1 Z6 ? R2 Q( L, B5 tyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
" J5 m) K6 G/ o$ h7 {% o4 HInstitute in Washington.
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t! Z- l/ G* L( Q3 `"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
7 l K; b* v9 ^2 ~5 Laren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
_9 s& r9 b% U- b0 FMcGinnis said.' E* k9 t9 ^: }+ c! U
2 `& i0 e0 {: v% f( a4 [9 K2 L"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
+ Y1 G8 t2 f# J/ ^. ylongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be9 \. q* n! z0 V3 Z) c
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
- d8 _' \2 f4 e5 t0 N+ t- O Bchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."5 b* { Z( b* G! D* F( f# g5 {
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and' V. _# d8 S; O7 S+ B2 W
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
* ]1 [- g1 @- O$ | x x4 F7 A7 Q% p7 Pcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of" T* s8 J! m2 P
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or$ H8 H, {5 W3 T: Z& I# M
on weekends.4 i. C o' ^1 i
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public% d# e6 A" M% t0 H: N9 f
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
. _5 p6 h* X$ ]; A( Qstudents who are not of Chinese descent.2 v4 I4 z. _& n% I5 v
% ~! j4 l" `5 l: n& i5 xMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said+ F% K! h$ K& W6 o) u3 P
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
5 ?' _: `- I7 _4 zcompetition. ( Z4 S" h" G4 ?
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley4 w% L+ O4 t: T0 P8 R, v; |" u7 r
said. "There will be Chinese and English.". k, X0 t* c; B8 Y* |) G$ `
* l! S, |5 i0 E3 }2 H9 q4 h) BFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly; \" @* }8 L& U Y$ X
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse0 q Y+ z; r$ ?' ?
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
0 D" G& C7 O4 G% B2 Kkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students( `/ V$ y5 O# H/ y0 Z' [3 a4 Z
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to; L6 U. ] M1 ]2 s$ ~ S
the school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this- x- A1 X) |- V) }( @* I
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 own0 y' u+ C: \0 {7 A3 l( ~
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
+ ]2 J* e* j! q) ?3 M) MChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
; a/ o5 V J8 @1 Q: s$ [8 v5 Fhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
( a: x$ J! w1 qon an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese1 _8 L, X* ^. ^6 s3 @
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign# k* @8 m$ q4 d$ _5 Y9 v
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
3 L9 J& c2 x5 A ]Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
' `& P. o) I) w) d' A4 D% I" @average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in" C7 t/ w# A0 J( I$ |
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the0 A! B7 R2 @* R% O
institute says.
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/ ^+ Z& x$ h) y3 ^# n+ c+ U( ?/ F/ H+ `Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
* ^1 p e9 W6 ^grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
' h6 e. Q3 z$ R: {# E& Sdeciding whether to take the class.
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% Q0 {+ s( ?( T7 s3 I/ c"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she1 [; ^' {2 k& `: L
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite, J e/ N2 L* n) W# ~
class.6 |3 L$ _# Y( ^4 [
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
# R9 a% A8 g5 V h, N1 E. l) ustudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without0 ~' ]2 t/ R1 C* Y
occasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
. J/ |' q" e! _+ Srecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he3 Y7 D3 m5 A, H( w6 j: M) y ]
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
% K9 i# f5 @! W: j2 _7 T6 YChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.5 G( d- H) \" _1 C* y/ k5 h7 J V
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
. V6 k3 @$ }* N* N% G Asaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn0 x: H( {- d" V" h9 {1 a: t9 u9 w
as many languages as I can."1 V, E+ f; o; \/ T9 H( i/ O$ L
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
( T+ v) _' @3 C0 Oskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
$ _8 W( A0 ]8 k2 H! \$ v+ [market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like) m q+ L9 I7 x
that," Ms. Freire said.' x) t; E3 Q4 s3 T+ K* {
! a% x, l F# P0 ~* RMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program4 D& R' ^ l" c, N" r6 {* Z/ J6 V& [
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
9 j. e+ B7 P+ b" oschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
" K2 j1 x B4 b- vtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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, F) I) b3 ~9 Z+ ]; p; d4 P4 VChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
" @: @ u' P% R. Q: cChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
1 Z8 T- o d' _" Z5 N* Ncollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.6 l8 K, g2 V- z9 v
7 \2 @3 @+ b$ I' P& t"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
+ x. v4 l0 K$ W& P6 ? w4 |5 Qbecause of that missing certification," he said.; ]- I. {, Z$ p( ?# u
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
U% Q/ U9 B8 S1 s" Wsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
+ z7 p8 v3 W+ ?% j7 iSociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the. P2 j, U( `' [% g% C
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from7 S+ G* k1 l; l8 ^% s
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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& r+ Y( w, R O"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
% S! {) r T R8 Iown."
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