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October 15, 2005
& l( k: ]- q d, j8 IClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity" r8 k7 S( w3 O$ Z
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING3 x7 n( d0 ?3 ]2 s6 }8 S: N& l
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the# }0 k0 `8 r! L% @: |! U# \& N
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary9 |' U2 T* _. y }2 _2 d
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
, e0 M! \ F6 q Y5 a6 adangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese. p+ D1 g/ V$ t0 ]$ Z( A
flag hang from the wall.
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. l3 v/ {3 x6 @5 |One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one0 R& o4 R! n2 Y& `) k4 Z
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
$ z' l: X" ?( I9 apracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
3 W: x0 I1 a8 J4 a7 Pboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
* |+ U3 d, h. C7 Uare already choosing it over Spanish.9 W7 g, {( U( W* Z/ [
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
. J+ U! l7 F! y9 iat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
- k5 J% Q$ y B7 uoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."# W+ e4 i( o" o% }9 t
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,% ?7 H/ ^6 s7 k$ Y$ \
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
6 G4 m/ g8 T8 o3 Y+ ~- _' Kto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
$ n% U% r% k, Ione of its most difficult to learn.8 g( _- D, I, Z' L/ G8 L
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to9 \; \: H8 B% b5 X
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students7 ]. r: t8 ~: z; V8 Y
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.+ b! P/ f0 g8 L9 A
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of/ s) n" |& [! A1 m( L3 L$ `" V
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
2 d" J2 l8 y" P nChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to: ]; c+ i4 e- C$ k: b3 `5 F) B
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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- f6 c, S# Y6 F7 S- k9 xAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
5 | k" |4 e) d* r3 J& H1 QChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
& ^/ k0 R9 v5 v- w9 k2 u: fstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
$ B- D: l# m8 _develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
' F" t' J O" ^curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
/ W- s4 y" u% {2 K/ l. X8 `of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of L0 _% g8 _* n+ U3 ?0 u3 i* L! R
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
3 D7 Y& {7 J8 y3 c# ?" h: ZConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we6 k4 L; S; z' w! d* h; U
can."
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) H/ F0 s0 Q* A0 IThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
4 \* J1 R& P/ uelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10' `5 F6 q% J9 Y! A9 }) e- y
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
0 T b4 o( D% z8 cInstitute in Washington.0 H% m6 E4 }9 K" @
: b) |+ } d' ^6 n w"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
. i! ^0 e: H/ n3 z( ~2 Aaren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
7 n/ I) k) l6 c; T, {; K5 S4 J4 cMcGinnis said./ a4 O. ^! i( J7 Y8 d, N
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
; \# }" H6 \8 o4 }. hlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be' _) e. F ~- n5 @4 ~& B
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
) R/ u/ m. U( gchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."3 I0 d, |" \7 ?
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
# C5 E- X3 [8 y7 b0 |5 osecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in2 b1 K8 j! \/ g' c: }) m( U* A* C9 e
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
# \% _6 T6 d$ F$ [1 DChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
$ F- C `3 P3 N5 V: pon weekends.
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3 K! ^% h) o1 E$ TThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public/ `* s. _8 }1 p' t- U r8 }
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves. b# F# u$ R9 p) o) O( L# S
students who are not of Chinese descent. h3 b+ z9 B! c4 ?4 S) v b
5 p9 s7 H; C$ o5 X8 @7 _8 f' v: qMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
3 i ]) D3 _# f' f6 b% n' Bproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the4 y1 s$ z- T9 @2 s
competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley9 ]1 r3 v8 ]# q+ I7 F% Y, W
said. "There will be Chinese and English."6 V% `' F; g; I4 Y3 \" B
8 O, i# _: ]5 }From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
0 f1 L6 D+ j" v% J8 U0 I3 x, Y2 Rall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
/ J2 K7 @1 H& m# h' B, x% }schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from/ W! t& R0 I$ q K! E: J
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students3 r: f/ O+ o) R6 `' W
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to4 a2 d/ U9 s/ C7 b( {0 c
the school system last year.2 V8 z" X: P/ I" t0 ~) B9 Q/ I$ Y
; Z( B7 I9 d- I$ oThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this! `9 @/ f. D( H6 C
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.$ ]; ~1 ~- ?! G8 F) k0 M- O
3 a- e% K3 w- p5 |"They have a great international experience right in their own
" f0 M% [+ C! S+ pclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
: w% P9 H( k" UChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
! G2 ^+ P& }8 m1 \, V& k% zhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
2 W& e0 Z( d/ j& I: X, j* c `, P$ M6 ^on an equal playing field."
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" v* d* i0 Z: Y) q$ DSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
4 {# v: K% j! e- w7 u/ h3 ^classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
) T, d. p9 M5 H6 ?! tService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks2 c# D+ Z% I. d7 G
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
+ O: B3 A. U0 c( K2 N H& C; zaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in5 [0 `" ~) f, k- k; H/ B0 M
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
+ n0 p7 }' T5 A+ r; Uinstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
- O, ~+ x" ^0 r4 n' U5 ~grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
6 b* ]0 m4 w5 b3 ndeciding whether to take the class.. p$ n- r4 d9 Z5 T* [) m
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she( W& @' ^ `3 u; k( @
told her daughter.
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5 ~7 c% {* p- L# ?& q P5 v, tSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite# z5 h! g T# w, k3 Z4 s& |* W
class.& _" E* o3 u! D O
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
' S! p; h$ W% kstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without; h" B8 y3 v$ p
occasional frustration.
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. ^% @* T% k+ z, R6 N"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a2 i# l; T8 K3 E$ @
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he/ s" j( J) u3 h5 b+ ]1 |
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with& T; H1 v# a. ^1 b$ }' M
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
; J! j+ M, @; g& Bsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn, ~& j1 [9 U) d U
as many languages as I can."7 }6 C1 \* o5 r/ m- t0 J% t3 w
' ?3 p! W# M) N" H9 ~8 B& KAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
+ d! X; C* m3 ~* X Askills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
0 ~. {0 _# h! S8 A! i: ?market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
4 z% q# k8 p4 Y3 R; vthat," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
# V2 H8 @" ~2 s4 J2 mhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each2 i* ?, @" ?" x$ |
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
+ Y9 v6 `' {: T" S0 Vtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
! l: A/ l. o' _6 W4 V( T% ?room.. a' w4 R: p9 ~
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
8 n6 o5 ~/ h) H& vChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
% b; T+ M7 @6 o! L! _college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.. U& i8 T8 F! o: @" h
( W9 y" S- G0 O+ `' t2 V"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
+ k% l8 L4 }7 V) F5 q! Fbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
4 b9 i, F" ~' E- p" j3 I9 Isaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia$ G t% h6 f7 x: U
Society in New York.
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( a- f* S$ Q. o5 A- ASix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the3 v- c% M$ ]+ Z
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
# }, L; ~) n+ Ethe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
& D9 a6 o8 t2 h+ r+ {/ w8 {own."
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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