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October 15, 2005. u. Y2 w1 s; r3 u9 F
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity+ t4 h( M& e @# }1 B$ a4 @$ ]
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING9 y! p5 Z- R: u X) n0 }6 j
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
6 ~6 c' }) z# G) `4 n' U: {! o) o( MUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
) D0 t9 H& x# L5 ` x- HSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas+ |6 h0 P: [% ]; o* D/ p
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
0 X0 `* q Z8 ?; S. L( vflag hang from the wall.2 Z0 Z4 S; }0 ^! @! B+ p
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
& d6 ?2 v' o* P+ G' i. q8 ^another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
' r$ b9 y0 p' O u7 |3 Npracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
+ ]2 M7 B1 c7 fboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students5 W# X- K& L' i2 q
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
4 w4 Q" B$ k. o) L! V0 y3 Y' ^at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
+ L, X1 J$ T$ R, Voffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,. w1 T+ s) C+ K. ~2 G
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
+ P# n U& r5 d& n% i5 s% f( e2 cto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
* e+ @6 k$ U* A) e H( f4 X2 D: wone of its most difficult to learn.1 e; O5 R( _, @
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
. V: ^+ B8 k8 D9 X8 J- W2 d' bpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students+ h2 Y" J o4 {$ h3 M" v! R7 q
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
2 Z; [" Z C5 u8 m$ P5 zLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
; |. g7 K1 k6 Y; o( k1 wTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on& \% u/ c, y; b- m
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to0 w; ^3 x6 y; g
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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" h: n3 I& i) h. o7 ZAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement n* u0 ?6 Q" e, E0 F% U1 B
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
# ]2 u! L# B( Y; Cstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to7 U$ D5 S5 S/ n2 [+ _& {. D6 e
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing, F( x; I2 O2 ^) l8 S
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
# U8 {. e. k; W! Gof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.0 ^6 s" i7 x0 n7 [2 s
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
' o! J' I8 D6 h9 D) E0 xspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education, b* {9 A6 S. y9 T
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
# `# A' v9 Y) l; t5 xcan."
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! `; d+ t0 H8 v" L" [! lThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
9 z. h& }% J# I2 \% |elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10$ l% p- a7 {( H, W$ g8 B" v; d6 R
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
; v# f0 d. d Z5 b$ YInstitute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages+ c6 P6 b1 g, e0 L
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
( ^6 G. k( H& PMcGinnis said.0 k& F% t8 M! Z6 w4 s( U, a& O9 Y3 T
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
' M0 {: a5 G$ r4 wlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be `7 Z. t: X. G# P" }$ _; }5 J. \
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
; \0 K* _" X u8 X7 w% Achallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
. T1 b/ ^/ o% R4 w2 L) _; _secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
+ i, s2 V8 G! Q) s Lcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
8 ~0 Z4 e% v8 ]6 _+ I+ M$ pChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or5 \# X$ h% s4 A' n# R ]
on weekends.
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. B( _- x0 \/ k x) C: {2 h: ^The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
5 v& p' L( \2 I+ k) Gschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
. u9 |! V% i. Y# V4 {3 b; Estudents who are not of Chinese descent.' A* Y) h9 g) o; p& I6 L
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said0 [8 |# }$ m/ @2 _
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
4 x- Y+ E7 }3 w: dcompetition. * v" A4 I! Y' D0 R6 Q( h- x
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
: o0 K6 Y u! psaid. "There will be Chinese and English.": m. k6 A4 }( M6 B% [. w, G$ ~
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
/ O0 A# l1 j% zall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse- ?; {8 X5 T4 d* M. {
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
0 q, u Z, R/ \( ]( J. c( ckindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
; Q1 B# k6 N$ F1 y! {" m& x. j' Gwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
5 E1 H. t2 C7 Q. U2 R2 mthe school system last year.
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' n7 J/ P. f" k( fThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
2 W( |$ I# X4 [. z xyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year., b5 ?2 q* D: _
5 V+ ^" e0 {8 s' _"They have a great international experience right in their own, \. T7 U+ [1 [/ w8 u9 _% S
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago, x: c6 e( T' l$ u& w+ \0 t
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to8 J! I; N* P1 c
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet: U0 S! |) W% `: F& l
on an equal playing field."- u' s: D4 T, _1 T+ N5 g
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese6 Z; m: f3 Y" ^3 h" z$ L6 J
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign) e: S" V9 w1 R6 x
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks1 r9 s6 c3 t& G+ |/ b
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An4 ^) m2 M- D2 {( `- ~
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
9 @5 P8 C4 S9 F, b9 aChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the$ ]6 Z# p: u0 M8 C
institute says.3 J5 \( `! a+ r* Y J, v
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
5 C+ q6 ^ P$ t+ u7 n5 c$ W& Q/ Jgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before+ X" ?1 e6 [1 z7 D% p* G6 c4 k
deciding whether to take the class.
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# O' S* Z. w# `4 N5 j"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
$ l. r" H( E$ ktold her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
5 n8 I" M( S! {( ~+ {class.
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/ \, l- ]$ T, j# u: V, e5 O' S9 GAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are U8 J9 T6 F; @3 e4 d* R7 [# a
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
8 d& K. F. u2 u0 Koccasional frustration.* U0 c' s- [- E# Y
2 L! U- M+ l5 f4 \. ~1 D( h"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a+ y5 ~1 V* w0 |8 v
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class./ P- x* Y! S: @4 J( L
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
4 h- T/ U% u/ @taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with; F0 l& K) b3 P( Q* i6 q9 N+ ?8 T
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
1 ~" b! ^7 k0 `) z% Bsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn4 I- |0 ~% l$ j M' T
as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the8 ?. v/ l9 s4 Z& c! N
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job$ ]6 N# Q& m, |$ U; P3 b6 C
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like' m+ p3 |( Q( ~% r- A4 z
that," Ms. Freire said.. R( ^, E0 l+ C% y/ j% c% h
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program: T5 Q0 ^5 P+ C" N. {
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each1 Q- [' {) C# b& V0 V
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking' S- K) C _3 E( B4 g [- A- j
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make4 T3 R: E- K% m3 Y9 u
room.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer* }6 D9 @5 K" E9 p
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American1 V3 E! ]1 P# P& O5 x
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified! C+ ~" o( A6 m' K
because of that missing certification," he said.
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8 ^- D% [3 V" T0 b6 pThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,# g$ L6 }" ]$ V) Z/ `$ [2 T2 Z( U
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia! k2 H2 b; @" W$ [
Society in New York.8 Y! g: Z* s* K6 k5 X
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
7 G. T: N0 V. Q) b5 iChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from5 z" N/ c; r# j
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.; B n" n+ g; @/ W( {
! t; Q. y7 {" X1 J% }9 g"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our5 u9 @+ r2 L4 S" V, r4 _& i
own."
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