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October 15, 2005- t$ {0 R# g, K. O2 D* ]
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity* Q& r* z- p/ K( h- M
9 L" x, a& ]8 w- mBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
) G) W" J, ^9 H/ C6 u. @# nUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
) Q/ T/ H& b8 F8 x( USchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas: L' t8 H+ p: g" @
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese0 k2 s0 V* K h/ |+ W9 V3 u% ~4 W' I
flag hang from the wall." m# I6 { |; }
D) ]& o4 N0 k+ VOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
4 P* Y, y2 {' X% ganother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders& q) s: v5 D K. N4 j
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker i- U- y% x( @1 w7 X8 Q
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students$ p5 _" d9 z; A2 n
are already choosing it over Spanish./ s! e$ \2 X! _, `
' U% w, S2 e" L5 ?* D9 ^$ l5 V R& t"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
1 e5 ~+ H1 n+ P( P/ S$ zat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city! t* U% d; W: J$ K) O
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,% {, p3 Z$ ?9 j) C9 Q1 P! o0 R
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
/ T# i8 p0 ^4 }* c$ Dto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention, Z& K: H8 Z4 J+ e& Z3 t/ w
one of its most difficult to learn.# P, _# U% V% c$ G
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
6 c" Z, y, y; r: Y9 g/ _1 Npublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
/ u& O* \: V. g/ M4 P' l0 K1 estudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
' d+ z5 k7 y$ q7 gLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of* W1 G9 n3 M; i
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
- X2 h; a$ s5 J, u- c0 WChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
) ~% S* x# X, y6 x( y( N s7 H0 n8 `$ simprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.1 ]7 Q* q: N) m( n2 K! b# T
( u1 {$ k5 f! x6 w, M3 ~" j' \After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement+ x8 ~: b3 Y, p" P
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country4 s, J/ N# z+ H! U
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to2 s6 I; q/ V+ H' s
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing8 o+ O ?/ m/ v' y2 f
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
: R5 H4 q* b& ~ Xof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board. d7 @! P+ ^! t6 x8 I6 O
. V0 B# J i7 X& T"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
6 u+ |. S; B/ Qspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
$ e. D6 ~- C6 |( T3 LConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
+ V' H2 m& n5 jcan." 6 V K; {8 I6 b. M
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
# W3 p2 p' E2 P% e8 g9 w o1 felementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
8 F ^ {7 m/ o1 \years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
7 t4 l+ V6 e& z6 e G" YInstitute in Washington.
4 I( d: F8 f* l% D# a" t" `/ O% g3 n
/ T7 _: o' u5 U. o. G- |"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages( u1 P1 _7 A( p: u
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
8 K; z& Z1 V/ B f( m% o! o+ K4 n; K0 TMcGinnis said.
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0 A3 w2 R. @ \% b$ v"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
5 p& ]$ [ F( |5 e. l) b2 p. a. xlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
' w% T9 q# K* H# X$ ?9 Dready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a6 v8 z" c: Z4 @* R( U
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."% p8 `+ n6 t+ f3 W) K
& U3 ]' n6 ~' m# Y8 mUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and: V& z2 U% {. b9 Z9 G
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
0 C5 V3 P! f* h) x% f: T% |0 m0 Qcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
$ b9 K- P/ J0 K) T0 u+ F% r3 TChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
9 l% w) H. `7 F: q- }% |on weekends.
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6 |4 z* F7 [. p+ L$ [The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
$ ~6 X6 W2 v& B lschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
( O1 ?. }4 K3 A) J% A2 bstudents who are not of Chinese descent.# s: D9 H+ }( U
; E: N4 Y/ _: C7 }; v* S# uMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said# b. ?! x, v$ K: y6 f/ A9 k
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
9 H5 p* e, U% @" _7 x9 ]competition.
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F$ g6 g( \) G. i9 r"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
3 l5 V1 t' f4 H! Nsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
: P$ u0 M! h1 G
5 E2 A2 }1 H+ `1 B: yFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly! T1 k) k5 G2 p: M1 M0 A+ K
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
9 c) K4 O. ^8 s! @* Q- Ischools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
! H# W) v) m5 i- T; B2 ?7 {kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students% V8 J/ h7 f; X. m
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
' P3 i- T' r, M Sthe school system last year.$ h8 R$ d& m' q1 w
, H( ^) s3 h! }* v$ \+ `The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this @) R% `3 C# K G8 w
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.# l0 x4 N' T4 A8 Z" r0 |
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"They have a great international experience right in their own! \ j9 x" T& d% {( L
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
+ J& p N$ _! w1 l; L. m# NChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
7 |, f; o" g7 ?4 X- D. }& b6 whelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
; ~) k! u$ Y" r d6 d5 A2 q7 zon an equal playing field."
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( a4 c0 ]% E* H) @Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
7 a/ W% J* C8 L) |: r+ ]& xclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign. u) w$ n$ F1 ?
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks, |% C3 I/ M9 g$ V E- E
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
( O n( G0 c6 k1 kaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
4 L, @5 i# c8 C' fChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
^/ L& g$ h: t! ^; Y- tinstitute says.7 K6 ? y; y7 c; A$ c9 j+ ?
, r# G& e0 v1 H+ r, e4 LSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
y( \" m4 K/ ograder at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
. Y8 k8 p6 x6 Ydeciding whether to take the class.1 ]$ u/ t6 ^ \. D+ u8 Q1 a3 o
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she4 y4 x5 I& q0 i' ^* ~
told her daughter.( H0 ?. d! j3 `
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
( F# L) v' s0 rclass.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are) y8 Q* R7 P# u6 F8 @- L
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
; w2 {5 C$ E, w" i6 \2 Ooccasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
% O. ? T1 \3 T) V- N5 V/ ?recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.& h6 {. E* `9 R8 O0 F: R6 s& p
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
' Z* c, D: a2 T- }8 Ktaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with$ G) Z4 y. | _
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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3 j3 p1 R1 W5 `* D$ l' e/ T4 ]# g"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
, C, y$ E+ \# [8 j4 r2 K' D9 }said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
# _: {2 \/ {+ h B, ~( t9 qas many languages as I can.", R- c& H- Z3 Q4 Q% x
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the% \5 I7 @; v' O: k' Z
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
) c' R5 b5 B+ X" J* zmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like+ v' K7 A, R8 ~8 w4 f: S7 d
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
( m7 S" f6 P* L" _# ?here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
, _' x0 K3 W8 a1 N0 yschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking( h6 r; ]. w7 H* B# A% h8 ]& |/ O
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
! K' H' z* q9 l# x. y/ Oroom.* V7 {( V! z6 U& f9 ^( d4 ^
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
$ p$ m+ G. F% S' IChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
" J5 {! {* ^: ?2 E" Ocollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.& z. T: o2 o h( y1 g) e
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified7 c1 S( u6 g0 t
because of that missing certification," he said.6 V. ^; u5 {9 g4 T. A. g3 U* F
& d4 Y- A5 O& wThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,- w) Z' e+ U) \3 y C( V7 U" m
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia" g4 x1 @" Y# w) v
Society in New York.7 x0 B1 d5 t$ w s$ W- n* k
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
. n+ R0 _1 A# |' k8 p4 OChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
9 x( r T. W; I& b0 mthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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/ G* h6 J: [( U$ B) ~"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our. q: p1 C4 p) t" G* ~8 t- Q2 `
own.") D: r0 i0 u7 f. x3 y4 |
7 l @2 q! E( W2 eCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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