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October 15, 20051 Y" A2 C/ k$ P- D# \ g: r
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity" S. z1 k$ P! {" i8 u. J I. `
5 n4 E% i; V2 p. o5 S2 z7 S1 ]By GRETCHEN RUETHLING7 L8 D& z+ _0 w! T3 _
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the5 e9 k4 S8 G: w Y! m6 c
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary; v+ x! b4 V0 _- m% m' ]
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
7 m! b$ |8 a! t8 n0 ?3 E4 ydangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
5 B! G) r: t7 C+ D0 J; \flag hang from the wall.0 }3 J$ J0 i4 J0 ?5 Q3 _1 l$ n
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
+ I4 i* w; ?# @) R2 x# _) manother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders% J. H$ v, M* ]1 C3 K1 Y9 v% ~0 {
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker% S F7 u+ D& Y6 Z2 H# L1 r' U5 z" h
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
* d. _, D: I* O( E( f* r% |are already choosing it over Spanish.
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* ?6 j7 g' J& t8 z8 @ H"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
4 {) {. x3 H6 _at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city5 B! L) \6 U" O5 j8 @
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."2 O7 K; Y: g+ M6 c0 @& A- v
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
$ k* @2 T- l! X- @# Sschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
" r' h4 d1 K8 N& T" _( jto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention5 z" L4 b# P; G7 x: R3 b0 B
one of its most difficult to learn. c/ z. E5 y' b2 q3 f% G
. _6 K# m# x! kLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to: j& I, r2 @; n6 Y3 K
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students& K! p6 V. x$ W+ ^; C
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
% Z& m" ~/ M6 W; m& j# \: mLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
6 g2 T3 O. l- q2 B2 m1 i8 gTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on( u5 B5 v( H, {7 A! Y
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
# l( ^) y) U( z# ^ `improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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' |% Y' m0 g3 r: D1 `& gAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement1 T7 m% _; w2 V( B e& R
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
2 C) \- H3 t3 U1 e% Ostarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to' C+ E: M# H# q
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing1 z2 t; M- M* h. W9 @0 ?
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
, e0 L0 t$ c/ G) g8 e6 W: r* s" jof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
+ P" d$ }4 x/ F- C/ q- ?9 ]1 jspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
! ?% [9 e5 K q$ Q! v3 v: Z7 w/ _* KConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we6 U9 L% u5 _. R8 c6 D3 b5 K/ Y
can." ' u' V+ v& A& l( s }
1 A3 \6 C$ J5 l5 aThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
G% q: z- }5 K. [* {4 _; ]elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
1 A/ V& ~8 u6 ^+ ] z/ G1 gyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language4 f* d, h4 o( _
Institute in Washington.
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. D0 y; X! D h+ n- _; E6 U"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
! c& C' x2 b: T" P- {$ A1 v6 ^aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
4 O& v0 {* t C" {' a4 F* nMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
; A+ u; l8 T' ^; Jlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
. e6 d0 f+ {* e- l9 j2 tready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a8 \: Q! n+ }- \& R1 T
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do.": s: Q* \: w/ V/ V
2 F' u2 O1 q2 _' u! x& MUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and: W e8 d; l9 q+ E8 N5 b
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in" B; Q) U, c" ^) u
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of% K w6 j& y1 X( O
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
. W' e+ l, K/ i3 Y8 ~' F2 c1 ]on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
1 Y A1 @) m( K) ~/ N$ cschools during the regular school day and primarily serves3 x4 _) C$ p+ x; G' ]
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
x5 y# q6 M: D; P! v/ tproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
1 A6 S" t' E. f3 U) O2 i! J' ?9 f5 l# Acompetition. 7 U- m4 X3 u, m( f
0 M+ ^5 R! z1 N9 ^) P4 [+ \"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley& {4 o6 i0 U/ g9 Z# }& k% i# p" h
said. "There will be Chinese and English."8 w0 s" a# m% J+ N! s( r& n
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly2 d5 J4 q$ ^" Z" g# A
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
1 r' ?4 ?1 A$ \* D! A w* k: U& nschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
" d8 e4 K3 l) { Tkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students2 x* p( R; R- `" G
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
3 ]7 T1 K6 [3 M2 z5 r. }the school system last year.
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: J. ^+ Z6 O# Y$ B: rThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this* D4 D& L; L+ ^- W. _) g
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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( S& O8 ~0 D- d3 `9 ~"They have a great international experience right in their own
% m- H3 d& Q% B3 {classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago1 M# i, y3 i, Y: o
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to# R6 ~7 {6 T8 Z+ B, I( M6 Q
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
' a# q& H2 d2 N- y; I1 Oon an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
: S; Q/ i- w. _/ p8 Qclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
+ |6 B& O% }# |$ N% UService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks/ ` R, ~% F4 S( z% L n2 v/ L/ d
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An- \+ S7 T6 P7 M- P
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
! w+ C2 ~$ P( h/ ]5 O+ qChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
0 ]1 j' Y: ]$ p7 Zinstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
# y, _1 T0 N6 X5 igrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before: F6 P1 F% a# d/ s
deciding whether to take the class.; c( T! V. P/ b7 k. H3 r
9 g8 L7 @0 U+ c: x"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
9 T+ m$ c. p7 D9 B4 E) ^$ w; itold her daughter., x4 f" w$ |5 g0 y
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite7 |5 P% p* h. O H l1 Y
class., Y' I, `* r& a* F+ ~& o- S$ D
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
+ Y1 u6 [+ e" F( P' `! W0 G" Bstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without9 N% K7 o$ o# n# R" B
occasional frustration.2 i5 w! [1 q3 Y$ z
) f/ r; |" P9 Y# _( e. e8 w2 I"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a, U, }2 }8 ^9 Q7 a+ \+ k
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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! u& V3 d# I! Z, g7 A6 r- p& d( IRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he. Q5 x/ u+ B+ x2 F! R
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with7 R3 u4 u! N9 `! j
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.* o1 t! n9 c4 J* `" h$ W( A
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul$ V2 w2 F& e2 L* e
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn* n) M4 \. o/ q, z6 e7 A4 u4 H
as many languages as I can."
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! [8 A/ e# t( ~ ?Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the: `& a/ i, _6 O" @9 [
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
: e! N1 s( y8 A) b7 E% Tmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
. {) o/ T. q Y) d3 f8 hthat," Ms. Freire said.) C8 u! O! p* _9 n! n `- l0 c- }
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
$ [9 s F4 B; t+ k( @8 Ihere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each' d3 A: D1 l6 t+ F
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
7 J ]( ?9 g0 e5 Mtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
4 b t7 Y. H5 r: u! P( ]room.
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( M. n% i+ S4 Q, M) b6 gChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
( t! f( [ Q/ w$ ~+ l7 z9 gChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American3 _- y' |# B" U( U
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.6 G2 J, G, A" r' o( e4 X9 b1 G+ @
# H, ~; N' i' z: C* ?$ e6 \"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified& D0 f/ G' Z6 J4 r+ ]6 l
because of that missing certification," he said.+ K4 Y6 d: z- h1 G" j( G6 e8 K( c
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
1 B3 |3 _; U% A. r! R) e* Z$ ksaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
6 x ?: L. {+ ~Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
. z9 T9 R3 j' J0 v4 V; l& _Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
$ L! d# e2 f8 m" O* h' ?5 o% y9 ythe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
2 K8 Z; w* p/ @8 p0 @3 R, J9 wown."
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% ^9 C2 Q4 f! j4 R3 |/ ]9 OCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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