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October 15, 2005
( u1 G. c, O) L4 H4 ?6 ]Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity3 x( _2 D# Q- ^* U
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
' ~5 D/ F' ^5 r% b% EUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary- ~3 ]0 o8 a( D7 c" x
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
2 v! l" u3 j3 b- Qdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
2 ^5 @4 g9 q5 {flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one0 v: Y5 W- m; @% i
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
, s/ j7 m# V, f/ u3 I8 `2 }* O+ {practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
r6 D* C3 c2 R. M/ `boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
8 D5 L6 }+ ^) m, nare already choosing it over Spanish., n2 G, t, S* ]% v
4 P' j( E4 `, C' x/ g; c) u"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal- H) N0 S ?! G5 [6 U7 o' @3 M h- a- P
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
- h( f0 |" ~& F4 Boffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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( O1 t" K) `# E+ C0 v9 nWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,4 `; b- ^+ O$ m# y6 _! t
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings- ] X1 p6 _) r8 G& Q+ g, K2 L
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
l& ]/ {/ N2 Z/ g) ]5 L% done of its most difficult to learn.$ a! T2 m$ o7 x% K5 y
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
" p4 \8 M3 h* kpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
2 r9 B& y# b. Jstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.$ ]0 D; f9 T" ?2 n) e' ?& u
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of% L! Y, T9 \+ h/ N5 n) e
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
3 f/ W9 f' p4 H) {6 JChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to2 v& l' a$ w ]. x% g" |7 t
improve 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 Placement& `/ X% Z- ~ U" Z
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country1 j5 I* g1 m- s; |2 Q
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to: R) x3 x# |$ I& R' U) T
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
! i" a* D: w" G# X j! d" Y- qcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director4 _* v2 o7 s$ v( P( u& n# V
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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( i8 h% o( Q2 s"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of9 \+ p# L' _6 E m k
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
% v, q; s0 B# aConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we1 o9 n" o+ I# q4 |8 x
can."
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5 z' }7 V0 b" A4 w( bThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from, l; T( a5 J9 H, `/ q2 x
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
# c" t! N8 {! G2 c5 }1 D' Cyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
7 B9 R% X' i0 ?1 ]; ^2 d& ~0 g( B% B: O, G4 ~Institute in Washington.
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' ^" u2 D6 `& E4 @2 p/ W4 H( p* i"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages6 r% t* l, r2 w5 i# Z3 p
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
6 `1 G) h% c5 j' _! T: _& N$ V. s. jMcGinnis said.: h K0 |5 ?' \( J6 K
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
3 t5 u; R8 j1 e; I8 Blongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
6 s4 v$ b' H# @' ~& `ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a M, Z- Y' m- v' G! A7 c
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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$ L7 b% X( p* H, `! @. T' r1 [Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
+ O% [% Q1 k& u9 C; N: L% K9 P& Tsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
7 I& e- r! j8 ncities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
6 k, e; {1 L& J' a) R jChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
% L8 e3 z0 |' A7 Zon weekends.& c% P# U! N- c( E% d c& \
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public# K/ o( ]/ `. _+ U7 V/ Y
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves7 f# I+ y% c6 w
students who are not of Chinese descent.9 ], n; ?" e5 {2 m( E! b4 V) t6 q
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said9 v' \$ {+ w# l% B& Z
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
: ]$ z9 Q! q, R3 [! F( qcompetition. 7 q1 l; s3 c; ~; D2 ?
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
# ?5 ~" l" b% i! Vsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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; |( _3 M {' ~& N# V" GFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
( D F" ]* |8 y7 ball-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
( a' @3 @: ^8 c6 M# L4 ?, T1 I9 eschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from, m- {* z. D# H1 B! o
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
- {1 a2 ]. x$ t5 E" a1 G' {who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
: g% i* X( V* l2 ^& r, C6 Wthe school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
4 g( A+ l" y; @# N7 C" F8 wyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.& w% j/ s7 b$ C( ?5 w5 S: |# ?9 V& F
: I. L* e* {3 W"They have a great international experience right in their own
' o$ i. q$ S. o3 Oclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago! M7 B) u% o% m7 k& G3 B n+ t
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
5 e$ ?; ?$ E7 U( thelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
1 i7 |8 N6 U6 B7 I0 R4 non an equal playing field." z2 e1 ^% h) l2 B
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
8 d3 p9 `- h8 x" B& \3 R+ aclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign9 S/ Q3 s, u; ?/ @
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks# i/ y. @& D O/ H% J
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
6 p: D3 b* O4 n/ }: k4 _average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in$ Q& T. a7 n* v8 I/ G
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
- ]. m8 G* _8 w% o3 e" w8 @institute says.
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$ B- C0 G9 R: M" \6 QSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth' t( ~+ Z2 S P' G6 w; h
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before3 Y6 ]! X9 d: Z& U
deciding whether to take the class.8 {- j* k- [. g* _/ w" e6 ^
* d0 b* ?0 D. b"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
# W& B g; L4 p3 j9 M3 ktold her daughter.
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$ t# H" a+ g! ^' X; N: ISahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
2 t7 ^$ J3 G( J$ B+ ~class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
6 Q( V0 e- ^ L6 @& estudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
7 e" t5 {& ]7 M1 d" Goccasional frustration.9 C5 B# V9 K, \/ K
* M4 Z" Z- g* u; s$ a/ ]0 B& N7 n"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
9 y: x. {) `, t7 Orecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class./ N' q# k9 [9 D# o3 E: K9 H% @
0 x2 N; x; S+ n" u- U# [! D" ?Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
8 ]" O6 Q2 m: _+ w* h" m! @( ftaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
0 ]* ~; d. k0 u f6 b) EChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.4 y- W1 w4 i; w; `. x
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul- H$ ~+ u9 y8 V1 H. J. D: @
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
# {# `+ }" J, I' X" H# v3 Tas many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
# Q3 L& r% h3 r. X* I5 C0 vskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job. l; b2 n/ p6 c) X7 o9 @9 H
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like1 L5 o# r' K9 k& I; T
that," Ms. Freire said.
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2 ^4 e! b5 _9 ~8 N1 h' R2 B7 `! nMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
; b0 z( b) }+ Y# dhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each9 U& }7 m3 P+ n! l/ r
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking0 z8 c: V8 J! @0 Z$ Z5 ]3 `
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
, O) n f4 L% L/ f, Eroom.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer* o/ K: d9 O$ `/ j
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American, W$ K& ^8 T# o% ]$ \
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
! v- C1 Y) p3 M- jbecause of that missing certification," he said.! ]" o _( u" a9 [2 e/ \/ _' s0 ]( M
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,6 i4 e x3 l. _+ A9 U, F% C
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
: `5 R% I- w5 ~) A' ZSociety in New York.
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- I1 ~1 b; d' g$ x$ FSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the' Y5 G( b' y, O' D# }4 T
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from1 b" J1 \9 X' n+ I" ^
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.1 r4 W; \5 A3 d
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
4 i+ G8 m; w. C# o" ~4 q1 }7 A2 oown."
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