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October 15, 2005% }6 Z: U" z) I+ k5 _
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity& y1 F& v, N) V6 p! L0 M
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING. J) n# ~1 B& I0 i, v6 _+ N
s9 d7 x- x D) w0 B) _ QCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the! @( ~4 ?* n7 B% f. H
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
+ R: _ P, n) k" c6 {1 I4 W. eSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
6 T5 d* ]. Z! m3 M6 A- Odangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
# }7 m1 y& T6 N& [! @+ ^3 Bflag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
5 s X1 N5 @ x7 K' Ganother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
& N" ^3 H \+ [2 ]practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker, v. l+ ~$ ], g( @. ?. i7 M S- Y L4 x
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students3 ~. @8 s0 b4 @% I w
are already choosing it over Spanish.( _. t" E* ~0 a/ \" ^
% a* w2 h) Z- Q3 i0 z+ {+ B"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal& H7 b# T! I- Q: n2 _. }4 u
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
! Q' v0 C3 m7 Ooffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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+ o3 W4 i0 W3 g7 j( ?With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
1 p8 i) q5 W c8 D/ ~2 _: nschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
3 F* d; J1 z& A1 C5 Bto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention9 J, v( \) ^6 v4 M9 ]4 F2 j
one of its most difficult to learn./ P5 J4 V8 D- `9 z* i ?/ }
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
4 A( s5 M \9 Upublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
: X0 Y/ \1 q$ T3 w+ O9 W% ~$ xstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I., z, h( F k" B6 x- ^1 Q$ R* c( P+ s
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
J8 r( Y2 c" x* HTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
$ E5 E' S. M3 r, DChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to" C# V }' g6 C9 }) T* f6 R
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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3 R# q4 D" P; cAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement& V5 M8 D! M: n5 `9 I
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country4 i6 S9 X& P4 ?5 @( B! ~
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
, e+ I9 \1 [. b8 P; D* l5 |* Qdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing0 g0 N- Z$ r. v* {) y
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
. e* T* y/ n9 I$ L5 Uof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.$ K5 q$ n% j- A$ X* Y
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of( h% m- q$ X6 o7 w% B
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
- L( J" _* }! F8 PConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we/ i! H" k& X7 c. j) c1 { {
can." ! e/ }: O O* f: D5 v" h3 q
2 ]6 b7 T1 l3 X2 ~; Z S' zThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
* w& [; |3 m. T' l; ~) Delementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10# C: m! i. P1 t- g" s
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
6 c( C* [' v' m4 S: yInstitute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages4 d6 c |5 F! M4 E) ?8 M" K
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
% x$ q, `; r3 @! i! z" G! R8 D7 KMcGinnis said.' L1 o3 ]; Y/ `# b9 N$ Q, @2 g2 X
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
. E# \1 U' L& f& T4 p& Slongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be0 G( B5 A3 R% J6 F4 T5 S# P+ S
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a1 b0 [6 p2 v- e5 b2 m8 B0 w/ s
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."! ?$ ~7 v' u. J* q5 Y" Y9 t
. U5 i7 h# K+ [2 n, iUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and' V. O7 @( t/ T4 R& M4 T- A
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
0 |1 \3 B1 f5 ycities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
) o4 Q Q% u* D5 `( u. jChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
+ U( G# t6 I3 v& i5 R2 b- Jon weekends.
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+ P8 t6 b; p1 xThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
% f/ c6 R" {6 H; m5 M$ Q& d# Mschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
3 ]6 P; i# W& V R cstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
' k- E4 @2 z: m# ?. hproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
5 j3 r% H3 Y) D" F2 Ucompetition. 8 i7 `9 C; d3 ?$ [) T: h9 [
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley' I/ D; B% j6 Z T6 K7 i8 B
said. "There will be Chinese and English."5 S4 S% h, z+ M X2 r U7 @1 z/ P: e
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
, y- `: E4 B8 q) Y! u4 V- {, wall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse W* ]2 \: D$ c! q9 b6 C+ w
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
5 o b! @+ S& z+ |& d* }- t7 Gkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
" z/ C( Y, Z" @. Ewho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
! }/ d+ |0 e6 Q- ^$ Rthe school system last year.4 ^" C9 S0 w7 I2 Z8 y& H
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this% T/ A- `4 S% s: x5 N! z/ D
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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9 V4 b$ u4 F! i6 O"They have a great international experience right in their own
1 I% |, `' E7 W6 a% Pclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago V4 ?( ^' b. T2 |" M
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
3 z8 Y- r) E# Xhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
& S3 I6 C9 A1 U6 W* K( Mon an equal playing field.") ^ v- B) T/ Q2 v; C
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese3 e& o! f+ R* [
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
9 r0 c5 E, Y, j7 [% T! KService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
. K9 e2 @" g. P9 e' [; _Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An( x! W" {8 Z1 m. K
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in+ q, n" A1 h% p% V1 I9 J' R
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the. _. y, J9 S3 g% {, ?) s
institute says.- M% P$ V! v H7 j7 y
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth: u, S* D2 s- W j
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
& J8 t& x1 A4 q: n- A2 f. D3 x) n7 Zdeciding whether to take the class.
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$ y4 \! G5 X% u/ R"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she/ F3 s2 `$ W8 e5 q) t% S
told her daughter.) s1 Z9 x2 n9 p# | @
/ Z/ T" t' h. L* n/ F9 G0 KSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite, ]' t) J- o% U: y& _: E; G+ ?/ D: ~! W
class.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
; @1 N- F* s# k4 ystudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without5 ]+ ^: J0 S* m# V" E
occasional frustration.
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: E7 x. ~5 |. G1 R) b"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a5 _& Y- X% E1 w5 t+ i" c8 f- Y
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.! D9 T- Q$ a* i% z! x
9 z' M# A# ^! h- q. lRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
- s% F8 V. t4 G' _1 |7 L0 Itaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with0 p4 @' ^! h' ^/ g0 x
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.3 j4 S- Z. N% I
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul/ S' h$ R! q, s' q: m; z. i" d
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
3 w/ Z+ }7 q0 G/ Z/ r7 das many languages as I can."
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2 ]8 G( q; H: m" h/ sAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the$ H- b7 h7 C! p- o' l4 g+ a4 a* `6 C$ F
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
, i# K5 P3 T1 ~% Hmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
, k5 k6 ^+ t) Ithat," Ms. Freire said.
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' D3 L* G, L- t+ tMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program1 p0 z) J v: ]3 p5 H& ]
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each# A0 Z0 E0 N! t7 |
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking4 s3 Q8 y2 g& C5 m0 G6 t! p( i
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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) G5 D3 `" t! ~$ Y/ \Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer# P' J: D& c8 F* ~5 O; C
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
5 [7 ^8 h" G( f% Wcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.' r; N% j+ w4 q) u9 ^7 J
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
, B" B: ?5 {8 sbecause of that missing certification," he said. y% ?; U5 _% ^( W4 F1 \# k
, i" Z' S: l9 I* }+ r# C2 D) g3 _The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,. E5 ?, j+ G. H
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia8 _ S. v- \3 r2 a9 R( U |# [% l6 M
Society in New York.
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( {8 d6 F3 \7 @! {1 m3 Q" QSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
8 I. I5 m( d$ K' j0 F: J, {Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
2 |5 p- x6 E; d$ }8 w* Pthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said./ l( H) h2 ~- C4 U* h+ a
_6 X( H. F( u1 M+ k"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
7 B5 Y/ b5 x1 M3 uown."9 y' v2 G7 l( S; d" h$ N
8 g$ w$ Z3 k, B4 j4 Y* Y) T5 GCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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