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October 15, 2005
$ F8 C; k/ Y" dClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity. ^1 g9 ^- p: _+ C4 s u
" F3 u" _, V# G; DBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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8 n" G% ^6 K" V7 M& iCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
, [9 P; C' r/ o8 z" jUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
$ {- |& q# }8 h. QSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
4 D3 p$ k; q% Y, H. Z3 bdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese0 o/ e% Y: S' X8 m$ E
flag hang from the wall.( r5 S% ?( G$ x7 E7 l. p
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
, K0 e; G. F: Z! x5 m2 ganother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
) `4 b1 L+ [# A" M. N( C# ppracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
5 S- Q! T" Z! K+ `+ _5 Dboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
8 r1 W) `* y; ]2 fare already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal( c! I) @- ~0 w; S
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
0 c6 [8 k. ]3 s' `2 J+ _offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
0 Z; ?4 f4 r* c: `schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
% K0 q6 Y* |& W- L3 [9 a: r) mto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention1 s" B* m. v# H' g! u: X
one of its most difficult to learn.& `& r5 O5 m' E
/ i, z4 h8 X6 T, PLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to% [! U9 T0 G4 o5 e4 z
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
/ p6 k8 a$ Q7 ]8 c; A3 v8 Xstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
* |0 \9 N3 T- N# u+ @Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of. V. b Q" N4 ^, `6 p
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on8 U! u' g, j7 q: ~* N4 i8 s9 C& k+ ]! |( l
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to. A* w9 p }8 J6 T) F7 I, s3 q
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
b# Z: B) n* u0 j$ g2 lChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country, [2 F0 r w7 [- W. D
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
1 J! H J( i$ C: u8 `3 K5 idevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing6 R w( Z2 d5 C5 Y* ?7 H- u+ C
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
) @: O# p: ? S/ L' I' r8 ^7 } wof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
# C2 F3 G3 H. n% dspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
, |4 b# I5 e( D+ ~, Q9 o' F3 gConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
f/ n" C! X; L! c c, L bcan."
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) _. b8 M6 Y# s' {- k" |6 iThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from/ L; S+ L+ I% f$ Q
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10. \- h. {) J+ H% t9 X5 o
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language/ q8 O8 A2 n7 s' ?$ C
Institute in Washington.
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8 \! n% m$ L1 y"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
/ `* F3 x- |/ Raren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr. Q/ U$ e; i* N6 g$ d; e& o
McGinnis said.9 y* u& [; l6 V( x% l- t
7 |- Z! h+ S8 _3 H7 ~"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
! `/ [& a, `0 d5 [- m, dlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
) b% p8 [- l' T9 G7 b3 g, K* a! C% {ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
z$ [# ^; @( ychallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."! v- n. D* |! H, P" V4 j
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
, u$ _8 B J0 ?! L2 Usecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
5 x. u! w7 C6 |) B! D8 Kcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
) \9 C* j6 i$ _# a$ H* {; KChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
7 ?% y' o: q' F- r. b" C4 oon weekends. p, _4 o3 d& O- a! P6 `& R. g
" b3 @( h' H1 DThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public$ E6 y6 f& y4 h% ~' { ~) }- W
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
6 N, v8 ]- x* W) ustudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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+ ^% a l Q7 i0 ~4 b$ }; @Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
$ c3 B% f2 s! [' pproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
3 m( ^4 p" x( T8 I! D% Y6 ecompetition. ( C7 _3 R0 X4 D5 _ n' Y
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
. J. @: s8 m, V; D8 r4 h; i$ x* L/ lsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."5 ?$ J6 \. Q" Q) |) F
- e) G5 Q: ]( t9 p9 iFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
8 U3 b! h& O2 R+ Tall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
6 W7 v) p C: `( kschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from7 m/ K) t) x: ]/ v
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
6 ?2 ?3 A/ A% Y D rwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
( e* Z d! w2 Ethe school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this4 t$ S! L( ?4 P! ^$ G: [3 u
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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"They have a great international experience right in their own; Z% d% Y( S) ~
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago1 d9 Q& Q" }5 t
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to7 O+ ^6 {, r2 _' _; [
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet& U+ r8 }, F& \3 O6 l; X- r
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese9 ^5 j& M; {' [) B& c
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign# M0 M/ k! v* }& H% c$ g4 k1 ^/ `
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
8 A" b i4 G, BChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An' t) R9 t5 S- I r
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
& e1 M6 [ o' H& n( m9 CChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the2 `2 y& ?' b5 `
institute says.' e4 ?7 \4 z3 B- C) A
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth- S6 r1 e$ f, z1 s- w
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
: I: c" ]$ E! B* a2 Y: d0 Ddeciding whether to take the class.0 m# N& l4 d6 o% e
" D8 Z1 G# b+ X! i"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she# c( |1 u& r+ e0 r0 }4 I: v
told her daughter.
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' r q& ?/ v9 E( |6 `9 }$ F- Z2 \; MSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
# C5 E/ L/ \+ h4 v& I2 f! e$ Hclass.2 c4 N$ z0 c! M- e
2 d/ ]& g1 V7 v% `8 nAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are' J1 r1 V$ B; V% }, y
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without+ }3 f7 e. `* a5 m3 |2 O7 U* I
occasional frustration.
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& R5 Q9 Z0 V G$ @6 a3 {8 z( H& D"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
# V N/ S* @2 ]% s brecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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& m3 w) v, `6 \3 u l% V* P1 v oRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he+ X6 Y4 k2 ~( W8 ]3 s; h
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with( N/ A8 G, ]1 E& p8 y) } Y( G
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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: J: g* w& T9 z"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
% p9 E1 d4 L8 G! d' i' z$ x# Z- X6 Ksaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
, y2 s8 E. |1 F5 ^as many languages as I can.") b8 K1 Z2 ~' k
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
0 v d8 K/ J: x6 \* Y0 H- Jskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
1 g: S+ @3 h0 |% smarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
) P4 i4 a5 c6 }3 d! C* t) j+ vthat," Ms. Freire said.
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" ]! j( b9 f9 g$ wMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
# U. d/ w. _- X; l9 `here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
9 L1 e! ~6 ~6 L4 N7 x0 Aschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
3 F1 k6 q$ |5 utime from classes like physical education, music and art to make" ^+ H( l2 i( I
room." }% U; i$ m- O
! n3 V' j/ n" o( WChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer: v; D0 a0 k$ ]& ^8 }( o' ~
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American4 l3 L* L) g0 { B; n: U
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.5 G, \" [7 ^4 x' L) p
+ ]7 U! }% r4 o( \"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified: c# r& d1 q k+ ^! n
because of that missing certification," he said.+ v$ ~2 F2 Y/ p l9 R
- }& ~: z3 ~& ?$ a" EThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
4 b7 q+ D# N! N; s5 a. Z, qsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia; ]- Q! s1 V' Z; }
Society in New York.
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( s. j9 U h! {7 Y2 F) z- C' k6 d- SSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the- z4 b% `- t& H, N' I# ]+ n4 R
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from8 Y) ]' h1 T$ H9 r- X
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our/ V2 ?5 }' a$ q) e# { C
own."! T4 G' p/ y8 z2 S+ _, ]- `8 Q
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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