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October 15, 2005# W [3 h1 j* r% \
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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. z4 l+ z3 s+ Y0 {% x' GBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the! n0 x$ T6 L g4 O
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary- g) \% K' h0 E3 d
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
* W/ C3 x! n v0 m9 J4 y8 F, Ndangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese( ?8 I r3 g: S+ I( W* }+ v
flag hang from the wall.
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; v3 _8 k( n$ Q: r6 ZOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
- Z" @0 B9 D9 O; xanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders7 A7 U. a$ Z# L" ~+ d0 p& C
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
& h, @3 |. ^ f2 o- u: Bboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
) e4 N# ^8 B g) L P( Hare already choosing it over Spanish.
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* a$ _: D) B/ @"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
: C) Q8 J4 ?! g3 q7 ?+ E- bat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city9 X& R/ d3 `) j! i# l4 p2 T
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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: ?" H; S. ~ N) W, cWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,: v m x4 _3 S; \7 n/ H
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings( x h {: S7 S0 X
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention/ |$ i m5 c8 J4 S5 Y
one of its most difficult to learn.% l5 v) u$ |' m8 E3 s
1 h4 y. T4 C: h4 y# z" cLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to3 @' b, @( m0 I( ?
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
: ]( ^( @; B" T( |% o/ C& `studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.8 [3 y, ~9 j9 S6 Q, ~
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of$ h6 G5 p- D2 B6 G6 k) c
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
" O" O: v7 _" d8 Y, o& L; bChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
' s. ^* d; G) e- P( Zimprove 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 Placement7 m# o# @" j+ W# k% @
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country" C5 [# ]5 v3 B) I
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
7 s8 V/ _1 u0 Y3 k Ddevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing1 n W* A& ?: W( C- P4 r& Q; D
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
0 N0 V4 X- y. z! \- M% Pof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of8 z! Q% v4 o& `$ y8 f1 z) _
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education) k! B! u2 F$ c3 c6 x2 V- y; M% _
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we5 F9 s4 B4 f B( ]' @" c! E6 e- j) x
can." % n* L3 [ p" o) b/ ~. Z, v
5 ~! G, J& A5 ?% r. D: SThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from. q9 `9 g" s1 H
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
3 G3 H& F2 R+ H# ^, r$ `/ Tyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language V. ]( g3 k1 ~: A# l; b
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
z5 d0 X! w9 N% f/ Karen't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
- }. D8 q5 |: X+ R' ~. t1 ~McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical* Q# [9 v$ \3 x0 h
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be, N, t) f5 s4 Q4 l: J" H6 W
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
_) u% q7 N2 g, i& w' pchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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, ?3 ~/ r' X. W1 [Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
( d+ X% Y, K, E- j: S8 n8 D5 isecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in* L: ~' L, b' U7 v* o1 W
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
+ z: ^: F$ ^# C i/ FChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
- x. o/ n& a% D% N4 p; Con weekends.
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- l t+ H8 n/ m9 s; i/ L7 UThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public% {0 q# `4 N8 l; }& X( [
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves" I( U0 m5 @+ I, a% ~9 o$ M
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said/ g0 E' V3 e0 ]; w; f0 M
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
! j* i% i9 a9 [) o# S. tcompetition.
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2 X& l* Z9 D+ N0 v3 f M- ~6 B"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley+ B' W7 l" p4 X+ y1 S
said. "There will be Chinese and English."2 T3 R. G1 m0 Y7 D
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
& y' Y# l5 O% c1 s2 O0 m/ C# ?all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse' R2 k' P; m) x8 y& h4 @
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
# F/ R! s6 r# `( ikindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students, D N# C& Z: f
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to1 c+ f7 @) _5 V5 K% P$ T
the school system last year.2 }7 N6 I: x3 |5 l7 _- V
% G M4 q9 e1 D# GThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this* g' k4 a2 V3 Q5 w4 R
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.8 w. f' w6 j5 i2 r. H
3 x/ D9 J7 C6 I) H( H) Q6 m4 d8 F"They have a great international experience right in their own% \, y+ h; h& T& Z. v+ M
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
; m% j J3 I) U' mChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to. B2 e: H# G3 n& F) P% `
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet" p, r' T! i* P0 A% ?
on an equal playing field."
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; h$ [+ Z9 P) a& q; v: J5 f! d2 X/ bSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
6 \$ h) j" L2 _( J; Bclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign I2 D% H9 l a
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks7 I8 B$ J4 T2 b5 B3 O0 V
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
/ e% c! w& ^ R7 Qaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
; s$ K# T2 d* R5 |4 }: f/ P/ p2 OChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the5 F( t9 ]4 a+ S* C
institute says.
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+ Q; D* M1 u, |8 jSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
, S% q% E% J6 ]" ograder at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
+ q5 _5 ~% p+ c9 I/ Wdeciding whether to take the class.' ]/ X9 v6 |3 A* |3 p
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she/ `7 p2 X/ b1 O, I T, H6 B
told her daughter.; R! t& O+ k: Y7 ^& W
4 D' h3 J% V# ?$ X; e) q- ?1 G; PSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
) m$ y1 ?8 D4 R9 b( Z: T- r+ y* yclass.
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7 P" R+ v% C0 _, L) dAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are/ k ?* M& j4 t$ a
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without/ A% P3 K W6 ~( c7 p6 N
occasional frustration.5 O; A* p0 Z$ [, K" U
) |! i8 j$ m% A6 P/ Z$ F+ D"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a$ R- s; ^5 l9 e+ x b- r4 z* o) T7 T
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.( b, c" ~0 I0 f* t: c! S' Z
* U" M* D7 q+ ^; }$ h1 IRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
; [- }# t5 Y0 [1 k7 Htaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with( G+ }! l6 `3 O$ A8 w4 W1 T2 T
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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( h7 A- H7 ]0 E) x A; c5 _"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul5 E$ H6 ]/ t2 i, Y7 x6 C
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
+ W+ G5 Z. }9 e: b1 P! x/ c4 ?as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the/ x% w- \" Q j# L
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job( z7 |# M( m2 t! G, s
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
' l3 i8 u+ R# T5 J. f* lthat," Ms. Freire said.2 u3 c! P9 @5 g; ?
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
# ~8 D; e. }0 Chere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
\4 x- k' j2 L( D5 o3 Cschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking/ A! i+ _; O; F t$ v% }
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make, \9 w6 Y7 w# a% D' Z
room.
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% a- P7 G% U# KChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer8 [# A% A7 h8 E4 k7 d( P
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
0 l9 o2 q. d4 m8 V scollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.% p( H/ B+ {7 i* g2 O4 \5 o' y" C1 t, K
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified3 x! l9 n2 b) i& I/ |6 x I
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
; T& `- M9 U" Z3 z# J3 asaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
: \; x1 ~+ X, V! sSociety in New York.( R3 c0 U1 M2 h1 J( q
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the( B" b% ]! q+ t
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from3 ~! s4 N- b7 n! r1 J
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.% D4 ~0 G/ ]9 ^1 _
, L1 z5 B4 F4 E"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our5 \# M- Y$ t7 v; x7 `4 \' y
own."
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- Z, F7 R% y# o# R" ~Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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