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October 15, 20059 N3 B' a: e0 Q4 B, D/ Q; M
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity$ o" b. d$ p6 L& c& A' ]( t
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING# m6 Y$ e% g4 X
" o# X( |3 X0 S. ECHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the5 r/ G7 `5 f% @
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
[9 _% y7 M7 d8 H5 ^) O9 M* s6 kSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas8 p# z" T! M+ M
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese K$ T! y- Y3 h) r" D
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
, x z# P T/ C# oanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders. g/ {8 ~7 ]. @2 D7 }
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker7 O4 b3 O* k$ s8 Z/ g# |$ F5 U
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
7 ?. ]8 h( ?% L9 v+ N, Nare already choosing it over Spanish.
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k0 W! }8 k9 m"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal1 { L" m/ {1 J m# b1 y! Z. U
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city' O" T1 }0 [) ~. ]; @: z
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
5 \2 t8 X6 p/ _ nschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings* U9 Z) W& N* O- r# {
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
+ s% }# r8 M9 h$ \. Bone of its most difficult to learn.; q" E; a* u4 O3 D G
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to8 }5 K# S7 d' a; f# |. l1 E, R, Q
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students0 G# Q ~& W% V
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.0 j1 c3 ^5 q9 ]" A" V2 W% E
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of" v9 J$ r2 o1 x7 }- w5 E7 x" [
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
' o& M0 c/ n) K3 P# S7 {0 |" QChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
# I4 k$ V& R% f! L/ W, Simprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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% Q( V0 u" t( o1 I: _' TAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement+ @" f/ `$ i% Y/ l c& k. w" P
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country4 ^2 S2 c+ r5 K* {+ ?8 C
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to" N6 X2 ]! s" a0 E, ^
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing! y8 X& h$ I; y% s9 I: ?
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director3 z0 S. t3 x+ g
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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U; k, ?0 b0 X3 T/ K# t"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
/ i E, L0 {% X8 B8 f9 y9 |" G& X" P4 fspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education7 D9 }. m! q# q3 t1 f/ a
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we5 n) M% y1 O# n- p I7 ?; d; N2 S
can." 7 `4 j- ?+ S7 O% L/ I
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
- B( `3 z4 h. g; J, [- L: i" celementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10$ Z/ `" |; r3 m2 ?
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
, S7 ]6 ]2 ?# I0 p! `2 ~, sInstitute in Washington., B/ ?0 z4 Z% j
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
/ |- N# t1 j1 ^: faren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
P; M B# r9 h2 GMcGinnis said.. Y& v" a, _/ D0 q
. I* ^2 W) p9 W3 Q$ @"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
& D0 k+ z! g$ L$ slongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
! U+ X5 x# j1 `! t! J2 Z/ Oready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
~ \( X+ }& d: J) uchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do." a) G7 ^9 H6 X: c
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
0 \ c) y# D. r9 o& Esecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
P* t4 D4 [0 c' ] i! ~cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
- x% l2 a1 L1 }3 [Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
% E- F1 f4 w. Y. L% e) o zon weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
$ H- C9 i2 N" ~0 S$ I) X8 Kschools during the regular school day and primarily serves* W" Y+ r# y. i0 b( t5 X
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
; M1 }4 o$ w( uproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
d V, A u! m4 ?$ Y' fcompetition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
; t5 v, D! {0 Psaid. "There will be Chinese and English."7 h, B& E! ?2 x! e
4 J# n0 E( P/ N; T+ KFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
0 b9 X3 j% v2 s2 fall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse+ T( T" F- U& x3 y
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
$ L; C6 l9 S7 S1 U6 u: tkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
% z* e2 s. |3 dwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
- x' ^: M2 E* Othe school system last year.7 C T- l2 a, ]5 ]( z: s
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this- b! y2 a! t5 c5 H% p; {
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.& a: y$ b9 N9 ?5 f7 L% w' H1 G6 w
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"They have a great international experience right in their own
9 t' M) u" d4 a4 m3 T4 Iclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago( D$ O& e7 i4 t- F" | G2 |
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to6 ^0 A* U" @% ^' l; E. ]
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
% a2 ]" l! d7 T4 lon an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
6 m) d$ ^- A3 {5 j7 p% pclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign1 A7 ~6 ` B6 f9 m/ T: V
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
6 {' x/ H& Y* G+ e8 Q1 Z qChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
+ I( P2 ^5 a& F& ~- M maverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in# V) S2 u7 H# v
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
3 D" U! O# I8 O4 v+ i" V+ g" d Ainstitute says.
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# U0 v+ s- Z5 g5 [; w: RSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth3 K' _6 e5 m, {. b
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
: w) L7 @2 e/ J( H7 r: A1 W/ J" _deciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she1 z/ x; a ]; s6 X. D
told her daughter.! y, M8 m7 v# A& K. g, c4 }5 L
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite& Y" W" u- o! e3 i
class.
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' E2 ?! V/ k0 O4 T" }. \) LAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
9 K0 s# X) t* J3 rstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
$ [' g9 D9 Y2 G7 l& N0 ` V7 woccasional frustration.$ F0 N; b2 E4 p Z7 e6 x9 _; B% u
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
( b2 A, H" ^, C# \ x# Erecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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1 H a- Z- a# a2 q% x1 U* m: Y2 uRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
" N# u% v" p, Ntaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with2 g" a1 L) q" r+ U/ [% G
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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1 s g$ d: f7 L: @" N4 |"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul) o, p+ X6 v! G2 b8 L
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn* N5 t4 I7 B" r' ? M8 D) @
as many languages as I can."
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0 Z3 A$ J" {% K- G R- w" KAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
2 ~! s, v g5 j0 C4 Pskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
- \$ P4 o- p2 Amarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like. o$ c/ B g v& g' P8 Z k
that," Ms. Freire said.
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) }1 i6 z6 N) e9 B* A- X5 U, }Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program2 A% j5 Y/ E9 u3 w0 \: v
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
5 r2 Y; H% F0 [1 r. Bschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
2 M. F/ f5 G3 A( Etime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
& q1 L/ x. A9 |! h5 ?room.1 H7 Y6 ~$ }# J7 V, B- d+ ^
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
0 p- G& B& F4 c) MChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American5 e, [+ R3 Y2 V0 K3 p2 u
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.* N5 m& ]* d: s. h! C
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified" g& {) M: e- `# g4 h3 n
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,: H" `, _; }4 w) ?# ^# i
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia" [ z i* |+ V! F! _
Society in New York., l4 K6 m) j8 Q! |( ?% H# }
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
# d1 t2 ?3 W. R+ `4 e8 J. p% _4 n4 zChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from2 i& Q' h7 ^' F6 H
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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" K3 d4 p8 Q a$ D"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
, p2 c d6 U5 I9 u9 P1 Oown."
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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