 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
October 15, 2005+ L4 K0 D' ^' S% V/ t& b' o
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
" y2 R7 c2 g9 D; l; e- o7 y
! r$ ]. ]' d2 ?( T2 UBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
4 t% O% V2 Q; q1 I/ Y+ O5 X& T3 W% D2 u0 l1 e' m' L2 G/ R8 c2 ]/ F
CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
; p1 o ~2 Z; |$ YUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
7 t/ k4 W* I$ w- ?1 F- eSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
; k+ \& ~5 n" \4 }' k9 qdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
, X7 h6 [) c. i3 B# u6 j! q$ ^7 rflag hang from the wall.5 U( b! O% \* {& u- {6 t
" m% }8 V4 l" {( `+ x! MOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one% U! K }, j% d6 y
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders% R; M. a: Q* G/ i, T' J- o) ?
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker" @$ j( r1 I) L8 J
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
9 K6 A2 Y; d, A; t- O1 Mare already choosing it over Spanish.6 n. q5 @ D7 W2 F* v4 ^
p; \0 g7 W; ~& u& A
"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal' l" ]+ u$ b2 w; J' Q5 L) h
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city/ i: q; \1 o2 M; Y
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in.". l; j' U( G) Q% A$ m+ k6 P
9 l3 X& v o/ V+ J. v- L k
With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,& o5 a* A7 x" i' V. b9 ?+ Q1 c
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
9 t' H; E( p/ \/ }( E, ito include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
1 r: H! ]- i( H! x/ T f( y7 Kone of its most difficult to learn.5 z3 c# e, y: H
( \; D8 D' M# C6 G( ?" Z
Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
' }' x$ N$ a4 B! Q- b/ x7 spublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
; ~2 w* j2 a, l/ r1 }studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
3 f" ]+ x/ ^7 R$ BLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
' D+ H0 L4 s5 h! Z$ uTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
$ m$ z# X: c7 LChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to5 N6 a; \ |* J8 |+ G4 `
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.% B2 R/ c; D; k# I) u/ H. g
2 ~$ M# w( D- ]; ^" uAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement& E9 e1 V6 [! b2 h5 ~, T0 Z7 K% v
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country" Z% l* _0 w8 r
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
9 W2 A6 G, y l* `8 A' hdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
9 P! j' r K3 I2 ?4 u* Tcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
! {. w9 [1 Y. f$ S5 [. eof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.8 e$ D" Z/ d$ ?7 f- G1 U* r8 o1 _
S$ U$ C7 X# \9 d) k4 z) Z; z0 a5 m"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
. P% V/ c7 [+ A+ o# kspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education, e0 b9 `. ]2 f1 X1 o
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
9 ?6 ~. `) P, T! I$ y4 `can."
/ H3 H9 p; o# g
+ z- f, @( l- _- ?9 b$ e) M ZThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
7 v0 D1 p1 e$ }5 n/ ielementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10/ V0 j4 N- [ r
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
4 N* h2 o4 C: ?) e* D% tInstitute in Washington.
; v5 g* ^. J: I+ K: G; I* M9 i# U: z$ w/ \
"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages' q E5 v3 z+ {) \
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.2 m9 n6 ]. w l) S6 x
McGinnis said.: X' a3 \- {, g. u
1 P5 M! \7 m s* l6 K3 B"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical4 V5 I. B8 a& l/ g
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be0 C! r; I+ l6 q/ o+ z% \
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a6 k1 V L' [0 P* A- ^: ^
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
5 h+ Z4 f4 Q+ z% d% ]8 H8 |! h1 d* ^% d% _7 Q( c! `$ T
Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
+ I3 f6 T& W4 W9 S1 lsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in5 Z- n: q: P* Z. J8 t* ?' o& t( j
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
; w/ f9 ?. A! X: \' T( T- N! {Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
. l; P- ^7 b# `5 w& K: mon weekends.
- y6 F% Q7 S) t2 j& E( w9 K# u7 h- y; j/ F: z0 e( ]
The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
% B1 C0 O+ T& [6 h5 A; C; pschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
. N9 L' D* d5 }7 M9 [students who are not of Chinese descent.
5 l: |" R* i( V: a
9 b( r. m- J: j' ]Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
5 ^ r7 x3 _4 @/ y& A/ F# Oproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
* b9 l& T) D) ?2 dcompetition.
* X7 ]4 [; Q- q" {+ V* q- e+ f. i# C* {8 _! k' A& d/ y
"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley& A5 U* z4 Y: Y: d! k
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
: X! S1 a) L* }0 _6 p- N
) M" C2 T3 b# F8 `8 G9 I+ UFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
8 B% u8 H& ~& c" ~- d) W, rall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse; I* v( ?) i- U: h! l
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from$ }$ X8 X) w/ Z8 ?" D! X) y- s3 a' F
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students* O$ n: z5 W3 j
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
0 Y8 m# o2 D3 [the school system last year.
7 C5 E! @+ q* `# o
$ c% |/ ~/ A$ A, T4 n9 ?The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this! q( l$ x0 { N7 O
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
3 M2 l3 |+ ~) Z8 B: M. [* D6 R1 u. C. O: k% l
"They have a great international experience right in their own. L/ ]& \5 [; T+ s9 N
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago# i4 l4 U- H3 M8 A9 @2 f6 P
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to* }, ~4 y9 p& _7 R% E+ \# g8 E7 y
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet* N! \8 M. |1 q3 w
on an equal playing field."
7 ?7 G2 Z7 Q2 o- s; y
/ J3 H2 M& ~& h! ?" |, C KSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese- e k# {. \5 D+ L1 x( `6 ]
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
7 B4 s2 b. W9 w! D' L% y) s, hService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
( }% d" M3 D8 F% Z3 p7 A! `Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
( W5 j% v1 n- A: r6 raverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in V! S/ ?9 \6 n
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
1 ?+ j4 C7 z7 C9 r# kinstitute says.% z8 _" s* m% O) t% w: M/ x
0 t7 Q+ F5 o6 f( uSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth t5 M- G8 }3 d9 Y; n
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
+ ^1 t: e4 J$ C1 d1 }1 W5 bdeciding whether to take the class.- w9 ]0 f9 H$ @7 R8 G4 B( _
) b$ h! ^9 q6 B" P3 E$ a2 |6 u
"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she9 y; F1 O! r }' L! [2 n
told her daughter.
1 S6 S' ~, [9 ^8 U ?+ T4 m7 p0 V. f3 b$ E
Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
- R* Y* ^; X1 q( j3 y# N1 i: Y `& fclass.' l9 {' w# l/ s A6 l
! M! |! \, n- Y* r) ~3 s$ c4 V: eAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are$ t$ {2 G- c# K4 z2 o
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
, _# }- D, Z9 {' n1 j5 a: _occasional frustration.
. |/ h$ _. F" O4 w# k. b9 w: c( H* w( N( e' r
"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a0 K( O. h: ~1 U. H# Y* M
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
$ k+ m! p4 a- Z% q. T# l& t
& G! V8 y: z7 M4 o. cRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
- ?/ e& i5 G$ q$ c. V1 B% |0 Z. Ttaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with) {" {9 X6 ?& y! H3 _
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
4 Y8 u# t( a# B% g! o) T) `& ^/ d3 Q+ f2 u
"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul0 `' l8 B! f7 ?( I; C. U
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn3 m; l+ G; Q$ V
as many languages as I can."0 Y. C# _5 s+ z0 m
! s! p8 v$ i) z1 y* t, U1 }
Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
2 @! k7 R: v; iskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
- K% d! }3 u$ g+ ]& }( T1 qmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like1 a) s0 n' b9 w$ [; R _
that," Ms. Freire said.& m' A5 H: I0 L- x! d/ w# }
! j0 u- a/ Y8 x# C$ [0 `( N6 e2 WMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program+ @2 i5 ?+ V$ X X h/ W& k
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
! S( W9 N( Q' r% gschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking7 q4 X3 D+ M3 T4 S3 C; d9 C8 M6 Q
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
- I) ~$ P' H4 L- n5 M# p& q; Qroom.4 U4 {' E. i) ~0 Z7 ^- N
5 I# Q6 D; o W f- U" }3 }Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer' Y/ M( Y& y/ |+ a+ p
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
# l# q" n1 ~( G; ^9 U$ t/ Ucollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
8 b4 q+ b' Y+ k! Y' O6 N3 M9 ]8 [7 Y8 J. `/ w) m
"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
( R9 [4 ^4 M ?because of that missing certification," he said.; u$ I, Q( N1 Y: M6 ^7 f: F
* Y- B$ J. I5 h% H
The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
/ [. a+ K# U0 p* ]7 Qsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
0 a" c. i4 l1 ]$ H# T- I* F3 H. @$ VSociety in New York.
/ J; e% l" V' Y
1 {8 g' { @1 O5 }$ W. a& kSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the* r0 X+ d& o4 N
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from, W# h! G0 ^# T" M
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
5 i: d+ c+ G) M V+ n7 M; ^8 q1 s8 O. L7 R# [% S3 [! Y6 G" h
"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our( T. ]1 @5 r6 j6 A4 j8 Q( r
own.", i3 K* |& _6 h) x/ ~( y8 V
$ t! r* N2 J' a5 v+ S3 \, L
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
|