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October 15, 2005) b; e, S( B+ H' U
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity5 z4 K3 Y( A8 O" u% V5 w
0 F* I$ [, }1 W' E7 {5 MBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING" H7 Y% K7 I3 H
5 \' Y9 u/ ^6 Y$ z& Y/ c5 mCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
) r& G. p. [) T* D8 H# W- XUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
2 n! j6 t8 R5 Q, v8 U# rSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
* m5 p' e6 }9 F' d; Cdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
) T6 b4 ~: C3 @; e8 ^* {flag hang from the wall., D3 S6 w/ i' ^
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one5 u( O" p3 ]5 H+ N6 f
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders' [, I7 M8 i" K5 z; e# `
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker6 |' p# @# k0 P" c( e' v% ~/ I
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
! x1 w% D, f w h9 }are already choosing it over Spanish.. B9 T4 t+ Y! m' Q: z5 o& C
' w. e' k a3 R* {"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal$ W% r- K3 y/ y! ]* B0 B$ m" l
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
t9 d5 d0 e' k7 x/ |) z: qoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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* s. v7 A. I+ ?! @. U; ^3 C4 Q- _With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments, q _7 V+ h0 E8 I. J; E
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings' |4 B$ s, P2 [
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
' v. ~0 l( }1 ^one of its most difficult to learn.: J) W) U! e( p; Y! k6 X
* h( D3 V' U% }! l, T" NLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to# A6 O# |' P! U7 `& y8 v$ b4 z/ k8 @
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
) ?; s. F. [* l4 L/ Jstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
+ N, J3 G6 N' s9 k. G3 eLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
: X& {8 }! N* Q/ y( ]7 UTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on9 Q! q! [) Q( B( A
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
9 g8 U! O" O' c5 i0 d i# ximprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.7 R) f: }3 w# N; t+ S
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement7 G& q" d; T; F( W4 z
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
: V. \) j* y+ x/ ?5 f0 Wstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to3 J& h. @2 Q' W E! Z6 s( o/ w" |
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
* E$ g/ b& D( r% Q5 Gcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director& K+ Y* G- H! Q: b2 p9 G
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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. Y' I R2 P" e4 q"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
u) Z U4 u% z& W9 g2 g/ H; ]# r( Mspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education: Z* A# y, W9 g5 z% H! y
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we1 g$ k* K7 O0 T
can." 4 L' N: k' P: n2 m
9 l5 L2 N8 a; H4 ^! w, mThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
6 V, Q; r( L) F- P4 H+ }elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10& X& \- w9 X3 _$ [- e+ O& B
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
2 Q5 y9 U; Z; U& `Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages' G# W7 R5 c, ]+ C O
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.7 M$ P, [7 ]) m7 n& \, k1 G
McGinnis said./ v! j2 P7 L5 Q& s8 ?4 T8 G: D
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical* d& G c5 J* t; C
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
9 |% X$ o: Q- y/ _! {3 \: a3 j4 dready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
% I+ A! ^& Z# m0 q- w8 _& ^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
4 j2 k' }' `/ A) M! o- T- Psecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
& G& i, g/ U; ]- C) H, Kcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
' K7 L: Y& R0 J! d" |Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or6 g9 }- b6 h+ U% J9 T% W& r8 i& e
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
. n8 t2 ~! c' y! |& |, \ C' Pschools during the regular school day and primarily serves. l9 Z* N o1 G& |$ T" k H/ i$ a
students who are not of Chinese descent.# M* `6 M6 o* r& H/ T0 C6 v% p; R
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said: N6 D% s G- [
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the1 F7 g3 r5 f% p; z- D6 E8 d- h
competition.
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2 w# f: z9 ?/ F" Y, f"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley/ h) P% o$ q9 [4 `. t% t9 ?5 E
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly5 U/ [5 R, r% }3 }+ j& @
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse' u9 a! S/ q7 A5 W% N- V
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from/ y" [& R( `, q C* k
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
" i3 |# H8 @ ]" E; }* H8 ~7 r; qwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
6 ?0 c8 w! j' G: @* z3 w/ wthe school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this% q: y% H( K4 D
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.2 Y& x8 V- C1 I) {+ ~
( t5 v) Z- A" s+ h"They have a great international experience right in their own
9 O% Z2 ~. s; Q, s2 K* Vclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
( x3 n2 s" X* `( IChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
) K/ s# ~# X! D8 y6 Phelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet) k( q0 l; _" C
on an equal playing field."4 W. M5 t v, n$ O, _, Q4 f
+ e0 b+ u8 m# z- |. z* x) CSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese7 f# g9 ], ? V. `$ b7 {& x
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign: m9 a4 C5 q2 [, }
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
7 {0 v# B, B& s$ N4 WChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An* D7 R! [$ |' ?0 l* _# _& {
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in0 j9 I% I! A- U5 |" h' t9 I
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the. z8 m! b5 G6 l2 i
institute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
# i1 l \% B$ Hgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before8 Z; Y0 Q: g6 }" ~2 ]9 M
deciding whether to take the class.2 X0 G2 q: J( C1 b2 `' G5 X
( h( h0 \, D( V' G7 U7 R"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she' p$ T9 U' p# U9 n
told her daughter." s, v3 g/ S% C* _$ s+ G
! ^+ V! g0 t" F* h1 l% WSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
* q9 ^' V$ O0 ?; y# x% ~7 Yclass.9 B" T* T, [$ \! r2 D
0 D) L6 w$ g# r# ~' IAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are( a6 K6 L y5 k* x( o
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
* ?9 X5 k# x' f, ]! y3 Goccasional frustration.7 |' j: T- x1 ?: X
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a) a4 ~9 i; B1 k7 Q
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class." I! R) u, a- f
2 d3 m. N# L+ m7 ?4 V7 l! B5 l- {7 TRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he1 G5 f+ }: U0 B+ Q5 O. `3 ]1 v/ k
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with) t9 m+ o5 |8 c
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.$ ?. ^" r+ t/ X. D
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
! G2 n8 X$ K& Nsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
A7 P4 S$ e' L; das many languages as I can."" K! m% t+ {6 E& L/ j5 `; d; ~* d
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the* ?0 J( y8 n$ H G
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job9 b* Q2 j% O: O3 B) w9 p
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like7 _/ s1 @: @ M9 u& E* a
that," Ms. Freire said.& t4 a' J: b3 e9 m
- s* N% O5 d6 c) YMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program/ J4 n, A: }1 K7 V
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each6 B" W* j k) }7 J; C0 r( b) {
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking3 e' R) H4 F& V6 O9 \
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
- d7 r* D @' X: v8 Xroom.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
J F% G* c. e7 J1 a0 T- {Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
, S" z, G1 a: v1 W( K7 X' ?college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.9 I" N) ~9 c( \ E! U
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified1 y6 ^ `! f8 y. O& k" B
because of that missing certification," he said.2 ?+ E0 q% i4 T2 B/ x5 o+ H$ h9 C
! P. P7 R, I; l, v7 q- T; W( [The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,5 z. ^+ \- X2 G
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia/ [( K5 M# F" n7 j$ z5 a3 Y
Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the# A$ z/ B G2 g" H0 B6 T( F% Z
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
( u* g/ L9 k! Fthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
# B) h# n" z: a- eown."& W7 u: {/ I2 i, |
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