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October 15, 2005
' J0 p( c1 x: \' h/ j' {8 DClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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9 X) \7 ~ L1 k6 P S8 b0 qBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
: H0 A( w9 e" \, o6 S1 R+ k' i2 BUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
7 Y; E) h* L, E, q2 sSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas# D, } T) c1 G
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese$ K6 Y+ H0 `0 p5 x' J
flag hang from the wall.4 |+ I5 Y% a: U; S
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one, ]. f' B/ S1 c6 K% N' p
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
7 U) U9 w5 H/ ~; h7 }4 |. h& Lpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker7 j! E8 i0 D) e+ e0 b* L! s
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
" }* J" r: m$ x& O0 w2 ^are already choosing it over Spanish.- F& q% i7 [' S
) J" f( J( ~/ W4 q* y. u4 T1 ]"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
& ^) c& b' ~( z! @, ~% ]at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
) e0 \! O& I6 S* k6 j, aoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in.") l$ R' h) M) L8 K# i+ I( y' d
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments," K9 Y8 y5 \: ]+ t9 j7 z0 v' J4 @
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
- E: r1 A8 @: @. Nto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
2 U, z1 j& P; i( x: N+ C, Bone of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
1 U$ f& b+ L( H# K6 Dpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students; Q' ?) M0 i9 m( s$ V' Y
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
& z9 a9 S+ _% uLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of5 o z; ? h1 v& {* |0 z4 C
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on- T$ |8 T, K. [/ d, T9 ]
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
' ?: r% q5 c! Q) a: Fimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.% X! W H7 _( k: m
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
) F( m" s7 d, W8 C. T5 J% F9 mChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country9 Z2 G! _% g- r
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
- L2 Y `. L; S2 K( K6 o! ldevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
5 Y; p* v" c! E4 E$ Xcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
4 y8 F" q8 L' `: A7 fof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of M0 n& _2 v$ q5 O, y
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
9 d- C6 m6 K2 |Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
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2 |( {8 M- U/ O) S+ \The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
. {. i0 T1 a" ~7 o5 [$ Ielementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
% b) Q1 c$ f# Syears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language8 R: W! E/ ]# h8 x ?+ p3 z
Institute in Washington.
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4 i: U0 b; U8 D6 A"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages1 `& w6 F! v. `& N" C
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.4 C6 e+ O6 ~" F( ]/ W3 O$ `5 e/ P
McGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
; @8 P7 l8 I ] A `$ g3 ^* plongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
- c% N, G. N, x3 r$ Cready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
2 d; k- @7 N \5 Fchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."* t, \' }1 _# t" N1 n/ S' f
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and; K) w7 S& F& i- X' e) T# u
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in& \2 P4 q" s6 _0 r! E2 _- t( [; ~# ]
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
- I6 k1 ~1 R( w5 `# n( @ x: IChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or7 I* b9 }" j" B8 P" V9 W% g
on weekends.) S; W* W9 s. A% b" F; D
2 n6 \( t4 R7 ^2 i* K9 b% ?/ G. bThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
+ i5 o$ U: V; L. i" K9 Hschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
4 F! d4 P$ u- t+ b; P: I/ bstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
* ]% Z8 s9 j% {; q2 [proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
7 n X- u: Y. k9 P$ H5 n% Lcompetition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
0 S# Y; M, L. E! N, o' F9 psaid. "There will be Chinese and English."& ?3 M( x% x, m' k$ r6 c6 s
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly' c% S7 w! [8 E. ^3 G
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
/ w6 N' i, Y$ }schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
5 r! Z, H; p, [" E* p4 v7 ckindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
. v0 h, ~% d) Hwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
. g( i1 l5 ~2 {, ]0 S& nthe school system last year.
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: C+ `; O: E1 b9 F) rThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
i) l) L* k9 X2 _" l2 ]' Lyear 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 own
) O. u! F/ B/ b+ Q) |classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
0 C; s4 L/ o( [$ M) M B8 V/ lChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
7 M6 ?8 e5 w" V5 x1 ]. T+ uhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet& M V9 N6 Y7 [
on an equal playing field."
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5 U( @, ~0 }0 ~' A! Y. x: ?Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
9 v' j$ s- v0 b* a9 Y1 Qclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
, f) ~5 s! O% o0 c x1 gService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks: ^& T$ \* j& P# ]9 f8 ]( v
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
6 D' ~! t# m& i! [8 oaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
4 V, f/ `8 [' s+ p% F9 M% O: [7 EChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
7 n; ?$ @2 J h& [! Binstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth, k m2 u& r5 s$ f
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
3 f5 p7 }) x% rdeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she( z' i6 f3 V* ]
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
% d2 E; w9 v4 [: w7 v. o$ S# }' Uclass.
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. {8 Z% m w# MAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
: N4 [" D: M9 D0 k* R% G6 {; R) istudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without& n9 |. e K/ `" C/ x: [6 @
occasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a9 ^( ]3 u7 m" }/ l# k
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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$ B7 F6 F* [: o. zRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
# P a0 I, m$ w) P+ X+ N# x$ Ltaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
7 c: t1 t2 B/ oChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul- N" X( |. v4 i- |/ x
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn+ \( E7 Q& t: v2 c
as many languages as I can." s$ c4 O2 N! l: k
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
- Y' O" W1 o/ g& P7 j0 [; I- Dskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
, a# W+ G6 ?: ~! smarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
5 q7 o7 ` S" g! G9 T) K7 cthat," Ms. Freire said.0 ]! h' Q; n1 T
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program# ^8 `8 k6 R; r# o0 m* P! v4 o4 [
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each- o: x! y6 v1 Z) w
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking' ^5 l4 a* t7 _$ d
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make2 C( c" S9 W' `0 J; O' X
room.: t: y7 j% `: L0 |
- X) `- x- S o, eChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
. y& N; J3 \6 S2 ^Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
$ c1 a2 i9 g- Z- Y p* L3 hcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.+ I. c, c4 J% Z w
t. c, n8 u6 Y; b7 C. [- u"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
( g: ]5 \! W7 X+ }6 ^5 ebecause of that missing certification," he said.
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$ i' L2 s; k; `$ F/ l1 e$ x! bThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,) x5 P: c- e+ p" C/ Z, O) A& w6 g1 {
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
1 m7 |% Y! B& M( y/ ~Society in New York.* P8 G3 N6 g- r6 ?' m+ W$ a1 b
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the# f+ G/ c; e6 p7 u
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
( O3 Q5 k( e% p( [8 m; [the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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# w3 y# C6 W, N- F# r6 Q/ @"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our7 E) G: p( G1 w# Q9 p; p8 J* Y4 ^/ l
own."
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4 m7 T' P+ m" k8 vCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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