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October 15, 20050 m/ J* b) ^6 C; `
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity) i& t4 e5 M- X
* q: ?4 ^3 e7 z# VBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
# i. B/ E3 u& M8 R9 {United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary: f( V; d+ y1 u7 ]$ ]
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas' S$ ]" \2 J8 O2 {. G
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese. T; N8 f" j; Q S* s- D+ K2 R/ Z
flag hang from the wall.- p1 V& J/ n1 D/ L# g$ v
& v9 F5 l6 A- q2 O! E7 C* cOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
# W p: R; ?" K+ C$ ~" ?- J2 |another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders2 L- y# |4 u+ ]8 l B
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker7 \" S w/ w3 D4 F" z
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students5 H; Z# [4 }2 a) e$ y& y
are already choosing it over Spanish.& n1 U6 z" I+ w( Y4 f/ P. K+ H
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal* ]9 Q. l: H8 i
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city n& S8 _$ @3 w# L: E" M/ A0 o# v
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,6 u( w4 x( u3 X* ]1 s
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings& H$ o: H! V: {2 D4 t
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention5 H1 _% q: J, R8 s" c) G- a: h
one of its most difficult to learn.
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0 d' [' G# s' O0 X; U, c2 C3 ~Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to5 `* k1 z" U0 v V1 N
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students6 t! I8 c g7 R8 v$ m9 u: d
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
3 s @( ^* Q$ g- ELieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of& m* |3 ]- G3 i! w
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on' C8 K! g9 t/ _5 _! `6 G
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to( P% J0 ]5 ^+ H
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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# m2 F# }% w4 jAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement1 X! t+ f. q# d: E' a
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country0 \' U5 g7 r4 E3 g) ^
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to/ D' {+ t+ r+ @, b n$ [9 q
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing7 O3 U0 I, u3 i$ q! a' d% x
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director$ D* r- A" N# \; ~" j
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of% F5 ^3 n; {! Q9 X6 _
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
1 ^" k7 h5 F% }+ k5 O( O1 K' m% vConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
[0 l/ ~( ]6 e/ S. Pcan." / X, m3 P, x: Y; Y: |
+ X, n: [4 m `4 S( R) dThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
}+ g" o) ~# Q" Celementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10, A: b9 D5 d( [) |" I
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
- _! n7 c9 Q- z& iInstitute in Washington.& W6 p: H7 y; R0 [. h: `
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages3 K6 _) P/ c7 W+ c
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr., o8 T# N2 M* p5 \% |( |5 {
McGinnis said.
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- ^6 ]0 m* a: Y+ o: |5 c5 B1 C: s"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical+ S- }) i1 Q# h' `" J
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be! s! M5 }0 H. Y5 H
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
! g' k" u) B0 N" u- [7 _+ xchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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& c5 F. o% r$ O6 q6 _Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and) k& V1 H3 j* f, x) M- x& C
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in7 G0 b: q8 ^) ]" I) u; G7 b+ n4 F
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of8 G& w! @/ G0 |. u6 u
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
, h8 y; e8 Q5 v4 [- p$ Yon weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
/ y [, ?& [- w3 ^' {, @schools during the regular school day and primarily serves, P! \/ @/ Y* i
students who are not of Chinese descent.5 K4 n+ M% l/ A4 y
/ R& O4 t( D7 P, |3 ^0 Z+ iMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said$ J8 [) m* `( x7 R
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the) P' k6 @8 X5 ~, y; ]% E
competition.
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; v, ?) u6 S) I3 y2 P"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
5 T1 D% \/ t3 {said. "There will be Chinese and English."% Z `$ F3 h+ c3 P! `: j$ k' d
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
- B: K$ i+ Z9 B& ]: s- S- Qall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
: s4 f0 o6 b0 r% O) y/ x: L- cschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from6 r* ~4 e" q' f6 Y1 c' Q, |
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students$ y, r! Y4 Q5 l6 b; z0 W
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to/ [' W3 y+ Z- T. i
the school system last year.+ ]6 Z1 |9 w# g$ M& `9 _
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this7 A4 F- Z( C6 w t+ N7 {
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.$ P, N' i' i' R9 \' V6 ~
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"They have a great international experience right in their own9 _- X8 p( q5 p" H- P! E+ W4 b
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
# R% V! o: |" z) j; dChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
3 s: T, J( O7 t6 l+ Q6 C" Lhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet' D( x7 Y* e8 q
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
. F8 g, L6 t% Q* n- ]5 n# Nclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
& J" E5 ?1 J7 s" e, y7 zService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
, Z3 e( x' r+ G: x6 SChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
( @" E. `2 D. {2 _7 Q/ oaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in$ {( L& R% f% y/ C8 ]
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
4 \- B/ @4 F: N+ ]/ ^+ U" {) }; ^institute says.8 J( K) P$ Q; Q1 l* c4 X6 i) m
6 |: v) U6 \6 L- H7 t5 XSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
( n6 k3 s5 M% Tgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
9 w; i t( J- b5 I; P1 bdeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she$ ~" Q. u% p, [4 g1 Q2 f& b) Q) M
told her daughter.1 k& r! B/ W" c4 w( ]% R
- P: G$ ?. q' o5 u7 b# O4 e6 uSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite0 l. D, b/ ^* ]3 A( Q$ u" Q
class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
5 ^! e7 E# U5 b- Astudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without9 A3 _5 j, J' n( q: i' M
occasional frustration.
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1 X, M9 f$ U, Y h6 B" U"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
7 z) l8 a/ A7 [7 Xrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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) h, f( f% \' ZRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
7 X! q1 g! c+ r/ Ptaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with# L8 Z! d' o% {! |% j) _
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.# p5 h% w! w+ Z& a- p6 h G3 R5 s, z5 ^
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul2 j& @: L- R% L) M' y
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn- A- V/ T+ Y8 n6 r6 y3 w
as many languages as I can."& R! G5 M9 p+ V
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
# w, J8 K5 `- M* B3 w! dskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
- l, e" h7 N4 K. L# A! ^market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
* R+ O, {) ], Wthat," Ms. Freire said.3 A8 C3 ~4 |! B2 ~
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
; w# ~8 y, ]1 V, \9 @here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
8 C/ i# V/ ?* M5 y3 a' v5 Yschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking# A$ _4 J5 b- a
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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g7 `/ ]8 O7 u, _8 o- f
Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
6 u) [9 j d) EChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
8 K2 C, A: T9 i4 O f7 \college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said." `; f" K8 v1 w- D# y0 ?* J% p4 r* r
) X! ?- }! z+ B" Q9 n$ J1 i"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
' ?, M( `7 N& X9 E- R0 Sbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
" j, y5 f+ q1 _/ v3 K- Psaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia9 D% b( P0 r& d8 n5 \ o6 ~5 {
Society in New York.4 a) ?* b% x9 K9 r, r
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the! Z: {2 o0 z3 A5 F. C) r3 ~/ C
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
~( I1 w" W7 G% E$ ~/ mthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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& V& J$ W) D( U9 WCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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