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October 15, 2005
2 ?: g: `2 A5 X2 p! d6 R! EClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity4 f) g3 t& R4 y9 ^4 k
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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6 l7 B/ q. K) K g+ p# {8 hCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the) q/ z9 v- k$ R9 R+ l3 u$ k8 |! P
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
8 _8 O6 k+ S" I' [, zSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas* \3 C/ v* w, x8 s8 [% l6 @- D. e0 l
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese5 x: r+ d8 z/ D- W( D7 ~# W
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one" w+ w6 z3 M* A! D6 e9 g( ^- d
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders4 b/ I& p; ?& T6 t7 S' U
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
" g' x% g, Y+ B, t& x1 \ `boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
' v$ o" g/ a1 A8 lare already choosing it over Spanish.
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8 v# b a" [9 A# y0 W3 \"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal* z' T* P8 f# d" r/ a/ ?8 `# c
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
+ ?9 q1 ~% A6 Foffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,+ m6 w3 ?1 t% f4 ~$ I+ n6 v. I1 z
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
6 m$ Y! q% m+ ^; Xto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention9 p/ c9 v( q/ ~& a& n9 L9 z
one of its most difficult to learn.
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' q7 K* J3 v' P; H- w' ^2 e5 |Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to, P X* f0 h2 W0 v! j
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
7 C5 M3 e5 P, u1 k3 \studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.; {2 o. b4 t4 ?( o& c/ M# Z2 k
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
- s, h3 ]& M5 T# f" e7 Y# WTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
" O2 x0 f( t( uChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
2 [5 G. D! s, l+ e& u% Q3 \improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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. ?' `4 S; C! ]( E, uAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement( U; Q7 m+ Y1 ]8 o5 d* l: [" N v
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country3 V1 ?! u% k% l. n( @
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
: x, G! F2 t+ ?develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing H& x/ ~1 z8 B0 c- N
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director: Z8 e- {9 v& h6 i
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of8 e3 l. @( p5 a" X
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education- V: m! [" B( C& |$ J
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we/ ?1 t$ h9 j/ p( {7 l
can." 7 Z1 _/ D& y0 g; t- N( H
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
$ v& L+ x1 F, U& D5 Jelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10/ \7 _6 F' `& T$ u5 e2 G9 {9 d9 |
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language9 o M, I ~+ O* P( w2 M
Institute in Washington.; ~$ E; `0 r: |; R! Q2 e
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages( a1 k9 j. U- j. d2 \
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.0 x& v% ?4 x+ F& j# A
McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical$ i; M' X/ ]$ M1 x3 G
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be2 |$ G P! q& e# ^1 T/ h5 b; D$ C
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
" h2 d- Z5 m, k. e; I3 L6 f6 Ichallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
, q1 } P& k( Nsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
$ @3 D- w, p+ m: ]6 C. p* |* H% pcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of2 f8 V$ {; ~& \( Y* O; I- V
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or" Q h4 t1 j! x, }! r0 G) Q1 {3 T
on weekends.
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( T9 H0 ?! {' g9 f/ H) VThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public) a) i5 _. J5 X r- R D4 @
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves2 l O+ R7 h1 y* S3 N
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
! R) h. o8 @% t( p7 lproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the% O( h7 J7 h0 C7 c5 N
competition. % e4 V$ S/ A: j- }4 v6 P+ b
6 ~( Q- M+ J, G5 H"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley$ q2 W/ y& r8 s1 |' `. O/ X, S
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly8 Q* w. u- F7 \
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse* o% U6 G6 J% h9 J! H8 U& s
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from& T- g ] u3 f4 J
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students4 ]& U( b: q2 ~0 F6 p' {" e3 a
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to h5 N, B) ]5 {9 I
the school system last year.1 d4 t T% y: h+ s! s1 ?$ c
1 E# g4 g* b+ E! ~The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this8 }* q, s) p6 f/ @ G2 f7 F ~
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 own6 {+ e0 P! O' h u
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
% I6 f* E3 ~4 N7 M& oChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to/ a9 v4 T8 T. O W3 M4 R- y3 Q/ |" S
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
7 _# E. d; D4 con an equal playing field."
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4 f# E- n# {& ]7 [: x6 C: Y& iSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese4 _2 O0 n5 }0 { z
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
( g2 ], V/ E4 W$ d- D: TService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
! e" [) ~' c+ b2 Z e; n) CChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An' l4 \! y& Z. U% D0 W5 z% f
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
; y f2 X! r% C5 i- m; F$ nChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the/ M9 v! j& K* Y( z4 ^6 i
institute says.
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Z$ ^+ f! T6 ]Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth0 U3 q: Y/ h6 u0 e4 H$ R
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
& \% \, {1 _8 udeciding whether to take the class.
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/ ] X$ r' t4 x4 Z4 j O3 w"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
$ O% ~, o* t" ?; W/ U9 ^told her daughter.8 N: T# b) m6 I, \
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite6 M' H: Z( c$ d ^8 A
class.2 S% Q+ y$ d) I3 I; u
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
. o' D( o1 x R" w# nstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
: ~* k: R! x$ I4 B$ C1 ^# ooccasional frustration.- _+ t2 T) p( b* R) W
) |& S- r# M* W"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a7 r/ y+ |& b, ~7 |$ C& p5 J
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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! H. O8 n' u. _7 d6 u# v/ uRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he+ V/ a% A. e; t
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
; N' w+ u2 a: oChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul8 D) I, y; L. c b* x4 L
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
( i7 i# U8 ~* B: r4 y+ las many languages as I can."2 D- `% ]! w4 |) q @1 Z
: s" S( s6 ^# X: o/ DAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the6 g2 ?7 b8 T' Q" L$ C+ V3 ~' v$ r
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job2 n+ t* q8 X3 ?- N; I
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
! J6 a# H1 {4 `1 R# X) ` y% ?that," Ms. Freire said.
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+ j6 c& m5 |' Y; a+ `Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
8 C6 p* v3 U4 q9 c; `4 |! S$ n9 |here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
7 X3 O. V- @ P- w7 uschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking- a4 ^, {) D( O* p' F2 k
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make4 L" b( c$ o d$ Z3 K5 X
room.: N6 S" }# _5 Y, r' t, I# z7 x1 ^8 P
, P, G; W- M+ }1 x1 O0 @; YChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer9 y0 ?+ g- L. s6 C
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
6 l3 f! [* g9 n3 V- ^# `# Fcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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- t6 L" {0 g$ q7 S: ~5 c3 b"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified! p5 a' l" A% k; O
because of that missing certification," he said.
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( d. a( K3 R' z! O4 TThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,6 o ]% j1 a* o
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia6 W5 `/ m1 \/ E$ n5 b5 G
Society in New York.4 f! Z2 X: t/ [& E B. [4 u; a7 v, Z
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
m, Q- G1 x @/ G4 v5 PChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from6 E, a5 n6 z0 S! ~/ C6 D
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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q& s) O4 _8 ^7 J0 P! ^+ i"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our( }- |( X' m) m9 S
own."
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