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October 15, 2005
' @; A h2 T- j% K Y1 i5 qClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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6 }- W& c2 x: ^; k2 y% xBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING( Y+ M5 k8 w+ T( p
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
6 K8 o& S$ @2 w5 y9 f; hUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
! M2 A, z9 z% Z7 o0 E; i8 @School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas1 I& V3 U; V, |5 x' [, @/ L0 P
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese+ u" Z- @/ v+ R& O& K1 u
flag hang from the wall.# G; C) A/ W! Q8 g; o$ {7 |3 e. j
- _7 ~1 o9 C; B! p) e3 w, }One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
% W. G8 b- |1 E9 f k' canother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
* k* g4 o8 F+ U$ ~practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker# d y" V$ W, {. J2 f2 `
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students1 Y5 A: F. Z2 l- K
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
# b. J1 O4 p4 a1 q P( T% {! X$ Sat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city: n) H0 P+ {( E% ?- x5 E9 Z
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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0 b! O* l& A- n9 j7 T; ~7 |With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,9 `: e3 c$ L( Y6 I# Y+ s! I8 Q
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings5 O9 O4 V r. s }# t9 O: g
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
; y( D# I9 h: Wone of its most difficult to learn.
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" F3 H7 C: ^" y1 mLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to) e& y* U M2 X
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
M" \9 V2 k: ?3 C6 U! \+ K; vstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.6 K# w* g5 P E4 J
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
- ]# t* k9 I* T) }9 V3 X& wTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on9 j8 i- p6 m" d, m
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to; h& ^* ?- B/ H6 k- A# m
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement! w) n c" Q# \* D- C
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
; p2 S# [: f# |/ w4 mstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to* o9 l3 P2 f2 n% J
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
* @3 |2 R; t! ]# n! k/ A* scurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
, x( s8 i, g0 W- g, [' cof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
6 d0 \* `6 ]6 k6 N) Lspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education# O0 x; {' H: E S5 y
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
( H W$ @+ m {# _9 Z, Ncan."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from, n: B0 h& j( }; \0 r7 J
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10" l9 ?3 C- X$ X9 F d
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language3 B8 C& S r h1 o% H4 |
Institute in Washington.) _1 D: D- O3 t. h
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages# M. }' D* f$ K
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
. J3 Q: t& V# Q) NMcGinnis said." o% r M9 O0 S" h) p2 S, F
6 w e9 L/ E9 R) d5 C"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical- G/ i8 O$ ~6 F
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
- z; V2 `7 A6 a( Aready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
7 [4 o/ `- @3 k/ I- _challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do.", s1 U5 m+ c( V3 Q7 ]
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
. J. N% }& Z0 O; e' [2 q7 lsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in/ |! X Z1 c' G/ Y
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
0 ?9 ~- s/ _7 VChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or9 e7 N' w$ s! I1 Q8 P7 ?, O
on weekends.' L4 n- {2 D4 K) ]5 X% v
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
" _1 {3 A4 Q9 Tschools during the regular school day and primarily serves3 V5 ~( ]! I, @! h# C$ x6 t
students who are not of Chinese descent.9 U3 S, G- T# {9 b3 K2 |3 i
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
# W7 t1 Y! V' m& p3 C ~; Bproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
% N4 H" k) |$ L% y" M' ]competition. " k8 T+ ^9 ?! k! o. h
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
/ }7 w; R' i4 Z( M7 `5 F" H. rsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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" D$ j, L$ d& E$ w: HFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
9 u& ?5 B: Q( G0 @/ ~all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
5 ~) m9 M( q2 j' Xschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from/ `* \5 Y' m3 s
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students: p! Z7 L+ A: p
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to" x' r3 E7 p; A+ O- ?
the school system last year.
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2 [; D+ C% N5 p3 M6 ~% Z+ R) @The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this8 N+ l6 T2 u& U0 _* h1 t
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.4 A0 |' ~7 n7 J2 _
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"They have a great international experience right in their own1 p: i4 A6 ?' s
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago# o# ?' t$ d3 C3 l9 K' f
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to1 }& S7 l V8 E$ S' z& ~/ c* x
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
7 N# A. ?7 R* T- i% ron an equal playing field."" m3 P8 p) G. B5 c" T
% n( O; _7 L% V x- DSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese9 k E4 @; y: q
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
7 W. T4 |7 h% n$ n QService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
R, L7 f& E* a/ z- J' UChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An8 w: b# `6 b. D
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in5 {: @& C- R# `- W- @- b& z4 j' V5 U
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the' Q# R+ X( f5 a/ }
institute says.7 Q/ h' a, a2 V# b! `
Z0 g0 D, {& g0 B, k- Y \! pSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth9 @* y- Y B5 M- b
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
, W! b: r" m+ E; {, a0 n+ a/ m1 c2 Ideciding whether to take the class.
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/ q" r! H( i4 T; ]8 W"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she% g' i' c6 W; M( f1 G
told her daughter.
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" N( x! g3 M2 G Q5 ySahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
' U, i# r4 [7 Z! G( @( M0 q, Qclass./ e9 e% Q, w0 [
* D1 V* V7 _7 H8 [ D, R cAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
/ A+ a9 \+ i e$ F4 X6 ustudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
, B9 }) E ]& Foccasional frustration.3 V$ I$ @$ C5 L! q% r: E
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a6 @ @2 r6 d. V$ Y+ m8 z3 `# C
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class./ D7 n7 ]; P) s+ ?$ X1 r
" O9 `& Y3 {3 Q% n' ]Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
# Y0 }& J; O: Ktaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
! e) O( F+ U( wChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.% y& E2 [+ a9 b4 ^
6 u* Y8 e" a2 y. e" o6 S, L2 P"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul& T N9 @+ ]. I. l3 O) x7 ^# h. S9 o
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn* m9 G" p, m* J% M9 J' S6 N
as many languages as I can."
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( _8 F+ u' s% a# J" o+ VAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the' p+ Q# T t1 C9 C; ? d
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
* C7 q, q1 ?+ q! e. n( Jmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
$ R4 ] U7 l. P% D+ ?that," Ms. Freire said.4 O; y* P7 d* F9 @8 h
3 I) @$ G& x, B! {7 o! r& Y) K! cMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
1 }2 v, f# s4 Z; W8 ghere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each7 w0 ?2 g4 r, l# b
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
" B7 f1 k& l# B5 C0 q# B- |time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
1 l9 i- P& f& A8 vroom.
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- e; J7 \2 i9 MChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer- @9 ?3 A3 ^! e4 \$ @
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
7 d1 `9 N* P; g! @. d/ ocollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified0 g1 _" I: B' Q+ e5 N
because of that missing certification," he said.1 S5 s/ j5 Z# u9 P2 l# f, X
" G1 B0 R2 u; J- `/ h9 }, O7 xThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,1 m0 T' ?' L" J# ]
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
% I0 ~* N" v# [2 ^" WSociety in New York.
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6 v) x& m- L# o& M/ W8 ^5 TSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the& j, W; H3 L3 d6 D. z
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from( U: _2 I; ?. L9 d( C" [. \9 {! y
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.- r* }$ ^$ B7 {4 u0 H
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our( y2 r3 U# z2 L5 N& t
own."( K2 l z* S! I8 i3 q& f3 E7 M
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