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October 15, 2005
# o; O* B' ^' y. p" `# zClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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& \2 N! C) `" MCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the n* o; q% e; Z3 b6 T$ H
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary |" l( E; r- O" j; v. E) D
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
/ p0 g$ X/ Q4 w% ?8 m4 F% P+ rdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese' ~6 W; b8 H1 {/ C. g
flag hang from the wall.
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- R/ w( _% F* E* K9 |! B0 YOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
: ], D8 t5 _% L8 D9 eanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
* [* _ n6 n, I7 r* s; Rpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker! R# {# N* t+ s6 t
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
+ e* b+ K7 {, D+ Z7 }. v, mare already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
! b, {' b6 U8 k4 Lat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
- N9 M( s6 f, k. coffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."9 p5 U2 p% x( T
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
2 x& M7 {2 I0 i$ o* gschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings5 }+ q& q( c4 X9 f& B2 P
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
6 x n' W) ^6 ^' qone of its most difficult to learn.1 k8 {' x2 D; n# `7 N+ F$ W
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
; S: k/ c: W6 ]- bpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
1 o" m- B% D! zstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
* w* W7 [" w: Q7 JLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
! l% }- g1 {0 N' yTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
6 y( z2 L, ^- }$ `% `Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
* c$ b/ \9 i7 vimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.( J- L0 ?: v2 ]0 o
; g* k. b0 z4 N& ^# ^! zAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
( I n' U4 }2 {Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
1 O: R& Y8 k9 t: Wstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
+ L, l$ o& @0 v7 j4 u" C9 Kdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
! }7 _2 v/ g* [# z( Fcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director- d, Z( `: `; w; D
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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3 M" b3 c. p6 i: G"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of5 i$ [3 B" i2 w4 b5 j
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
, Q. A, e5 y6 aConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we4 t9 D$ t5 L4 T7 f Z
can." & Y# B3 g5 i* V+ {
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
) P! b& C/ Z9 y. R# l$ @elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
2 X/ u5 e/ P4 G1 N Cyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language3 C f2 i& r8 u( O' J- j
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
1 e+ m$ w( l9 ^0 z2 y0 Raren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
2 @6 ]3 o7 t3 U4 LMcGinnis said.7 a N: K. c( _9 g3 v! q% |/ ^
0 ]# E5 v+ f8 w6 m/ P"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
2 W6 c6 i5 G$ F7 \ e3 P; V/ ]longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be0 U/ N2 W. ~: U# a3 A$ e
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
5 q% ?9 r- s3 o. `, j8 uchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."1 F8 S1 M7 |8 s& \/ A2 X8 j w
: E8 T" p# J9 a, qUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
d1 j5 H* M1 D! l/ ~0 I( usecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
; x6 `; g& h3 E) ~9 a# R# O# }cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of- z7 W; }5 Z4 F, e
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or" b# a" z; D7 T* G( U
on weekends.' A( @* C! D# }- `8 ^
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
1 j3 N) i5 {5 nschools during the regular school day and primarily serves6 M/ D1 K2 M: m0 g# B. F+ d/ r
students who are not of Chinese descent./ z8 O O7 a( _) S# c0 I
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
. R6 A) Z: q& X [1 dproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the" n9 y- F: r6 ?6 b
competition. & L9 `: v# [5 y* n1 T
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
8 P) @# N0 ]! G$ `% wsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."; L5 F9 N, A# E' b6 n* w3 M
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly# p1 O9 |0 ?' q1 P$ I- A% Q
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
- W6 B o5 Z: Q* Y; G/ {4 Cschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from, W% K+ Z7 W2 @5 h# x
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
7 B t6 e$ I. Y) o! N% b2 Dwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to' r, V/ B# c4 p# M
the school system last year." k. f ~0 [4 r+ e
% c5 {- T9 f- R$ EThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
. x3 ^' B7 W+ V* lyear 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 own2 c/ `2 _/ M# W2 W+ f5 H
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago3 W% D5 ?+ }3 w+ X
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
- {, P/ R% M: O/ }# `3 E: N0 }help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet2 L; a6 v9 X+ w9 ~' I3 o4 ^+ S, A
on an equal playing field.". N8 w) f- G5 Q% |/ A4 i, S1 F/ n
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
% i, \( R X6 S1 p1 X+ qclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
2 B: |" L; o# X/ e0 UService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
+ P$ T1 h0 j1 b. M; b+ AChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An' g {/ s9 m8 Q; r- Q- H
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
2 o6 S0 Z7 L* T$ w6 C( V" C2 YChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
* g1 S. ~0 Z1 B$ ^- `3 iinstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth! t: Y) O* v6 A) _* t, j; J4 P
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
" ]# Z3 E K9 ~ K7 r- f; Udeciding whether to take the class.
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0 X: u0 M4 X6 q! }/ w"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she }$ O' x3 Y" a0 b' k$ |9 `5 J
told her daughter.0 K2 h5 ]3 e. x8 j/ I0 j: I N
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
6 j: V+ @5 ]& k, w) H) vclass.
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) v6 r5 j. Y: V3 eAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
, c" U( F$ K4 t$ b/ R) ?: ^/ zstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without- f% {: t- W; l1 S' D0 F
occasional frustration.$ M9 o* V: L' M5 T4 O1 n
! n3 v$ C9 R9 P# [$ M" K2 a. \% q"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a3 Q& k; A/ s+ f
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.( q0 f3 X1 ]. m
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
( B6 F) n" @3 Etaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
8 K& P& m8 E+ t& wChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.1 c7 l* D+ c* @( y& b8 _" g) P
7 R; `& @1 _+ N/ n2 A3 L% J7 O"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul0 M2 U k# R* |/ `- ^$ P/ Z# t
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn; K! B" z2 H) j0 y
as many languages as I can."/ Z* n8 J: _( g* y3 v5 L! N
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
5 f! O' {# X$ D: N# ^! hskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
0 O* g. a: P: o+ O& a% _market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like; k9 o! d/ n, B5 e' A/ m$ w
that," Ms. Freire said.0 z/ y6 B2 {3 O8 L" R& W
1 v" ^& B, ?( R3 H8 m* q, BMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
6 [! A. |$ G- @here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each3 n v# e* j5 T7 m
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
/ W3 Y) V6 d* w. _7 |9 P- gtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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) p3 C) `! y: Y& iChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer+ }) K+ e' K$ f+ x: v% r$ N0 ^0 G
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
+ ]* E5 m6 U0 j v- u/ Ucollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.% N$ f* k5 x, o( q
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified, A8 v2 V9 c4 w$ C
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
" ^! E; Q% o5 |/ V3 Y% z+ L8 |said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia: w: g3 \( B; ?1 g; C
Society in New York.
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0 k! j4 A( v/ OSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
$ f% a2 N9 R1 }7 e6 l' i2 JChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
s% j y6 z& z2 B( n! Vthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our) T( F# t( k4 H2 ]; ~) B& X% ~- ]$ d
own."
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