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October 15, 2005 ?6 [7 W6 |: `) I8 e, O
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity2 s1 D# ^5 H5 u( F& n/ ]& j
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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/ t8 \+ f( z' ?CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
' K$ S7 ^/ {3 N: v) y$ o/ Q0 {) }United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary0 p' o4 [1 n3 A& `2 J
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
( m6 T; v y" J- R, B# o/ L& c. Vdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
* f; S5 }8 Q7 i* R- Rflag hang from the wall.
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" T. m: m: F- g" K; j% @One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
8 x! ?& G6 A- w8 kanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
) g4 G3 j7 z* z& w* C' V- V# Ipracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
e. f: w n* fboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students4 Y7 t9 u2 O: r! E6 F! X. j: R s
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
2 S9 `5 R3 v5 G: Y9 q3 `at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
# \! `" q7 B9 T7 [& d* {% b' U' H+ M; ^% q7 Poffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."0 i3 o- R! H% U
& D/ s3 w' @9 K* D$ VWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,- i+ @/ d( w* K' ]; \: p% M
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings- r6 q8 r6 b9 y( P& E# h" W! K3 W
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
2 ^1 k. V& y/ oone of its most difficult to learn.+ w3 ]! t) w) \
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to& e* Y1 S) k) s A* t
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
9 @, z/ ~8 O5 _9 ~/ X: {/ ~ Tstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.( D z Y0 C' S6 v) Y
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of8 _& H! F0 k* P: O
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
4 Y$ V8 x/ U3 e' w( @Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to b5 c* H/ {5 L6 z* h2 _
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
9 {$ {8 J. a7 M4 d6 b" |4 ?1 nChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
% K% @; ^ v0 |% Z) k5 X' Qstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
; U7 f7 z$ Z! e1 B; o, Adevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
8 I- Q* |. D$ E* fcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
8 m: j; P$ ~' k6 cof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.0 j( a5 L P4 [6 ?
7 M$ B4 o F8 d* O! G; @"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of) B. B5 |: d. q1 X7 T
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education+ \' E9 i% `$ \
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we4 O9 M7 Q# C3 F& e+ k, ?7 A& O7 \
can." ' R8 b4 I% r- [/ Q7 ?
/ {9 V+ s; `% ?! d4 |& |7 h/ hThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from5 I P0 M d$ ~7 T* b
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
% X E# a, N3 H/ c/ tyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language$ p0 `5 q, c' L; r: L' T: D' s
Institute in Washington.
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, _1 A8 G9 t! v% P. e5 V( N"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
5 N# v3 [9 v4 B( o' X6 n, faren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
' i3 _- L" a; Q& X* h8 N* aMcGinnis said.
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) j7 `0 N9 [! v, c, n"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical, x/ b& q# d" {
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be' s6 f8 y+ G( r' p6 x& ~# M2 I1 ?8 a7 r
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a) \% I5 r. i) @5 Q* y& T3 @- u" J
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."# G1 B! V, n/ x6 v" k2 k- g
* ^! g: @/ w8 O) ~2 }$ M, XUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and; A& y/ e5 b4 x( z
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
) Q- [+ S! t# t5 c$ d$ L8 o( k3 B. Kcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
" N! S5 I1 U5 u6 i& K6 o( uChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
4 d( f% E4 L8 mon weekends.
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% \/ w* {4 ]$ A; gThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
0 _( M% V( z6 rschools during the regular school day and primarily serves: ?. F; l+ _- @9 y2 E9 L7 |5 A
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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' z6 U# k2 s! E4 V6 @: f5 ~Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
' F* q, |. U5 d( L& n5 Aproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the- L; E) q2 `/ q* d1 V
competition.
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
. @; Q" N; k vsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly/ n; f! F0 T; b! X) P' X$ J9 U
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse. h5 ^7 ^/ l) a2 N/ |* u; K
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
. G; w, H4 c' x; S* Ekindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students% }5 _1 q3 J& q# x x; U
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to" W1 I3 g1 [; x# H
the school system last year.
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) s/ S1 C5 D: c2 \& h- _* hThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
( u# I9 c! p5 C, C4 Qyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.$ Z- L6 q- ?$ R6 p7 ~/ {' B
; y+ Z/ Q/ ]! V2 d2 t4 b1 Y( Z"They have a great international experience right in their own
+ P1 i3 m( x- ~classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
; b. I: S/ S% T0 n7 i7 Q; R& M; pChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
) K/ O& B' j( u" v* S& ^ Fhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet/ ]5 X+ W2 H' v- T. E% a! C
on an equal playing field."* n( X6 q9 d) Q& u. q- M: Y
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese2 D- g6 S: y* \
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
0 H" \6 | K2 b3 b9 RService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
0 ^% z6 s( u7 X' q) p- KChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An! r9 @/ U: H& W
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in( ]- k6 ]8 }6 q
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
- r6 S1 T& a( c( C5 zinstitute says.. i" u+ B# l! @; W
4 V2 U6 ?7 }+ L/ |8 iSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
+ ?: e- V( L* `5 O; j. A/ H& o7 ograder at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before, R& u9 [5 S% c4 j) e. ?$ ?
deciding whether to take the class.3 \- a( Y% t# @ O
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she4 Y8 t/ q6 O/ t" X6 j4 T: e
told her daughter." u5 P4 n3 K8 N* y3 B
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
* c9 f- M5 p1 q. j& E$ ~+ wclass.) @5 Q& o/ g( B& N- a
8 e6 {. ^$ O1 C1 u, d3 K3 J1 FAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are) x6 Z" L' |9 a/ t: `/ B
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without4 y8 [4 d' \: L* M6 M
occasional frustration.0 o9 b% `; M+ ~+ v
7 e7 Z0 J! T8 B# a"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a, \) O5 m" K X+ ^
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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! E& r) z3 ?: m6 a& M1 kRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he0 F- `8 D) P% l
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
7 H9 k, k6 ]8 p; AChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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1 A6 R' S P6 H- ?1 a0 I/ N% @& |2 \$ b"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
; f8 V' t* U4 ~% ~9 @- l! j7 s) Xsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
3 Z7 c0 J, U6 H/ a, J/ Eas many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
. g. D" n1 p# w: h3 R+ h- F8 g9 Cskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job x- N% J) {8 _ u2 s
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
" L7 Y% X4 [9 i2 T# r2 N' L/ ythat," Ms. Freire said.* b- }) ~8 q- x* P/ ]
; c; c7 Q" D% e0 d7 l3 K& WMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
# N2 a4 G8 P K6 Q8 k% jhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
2 R3 b$ |" O$ m, lschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking4 O. L2 |4 E! ~, ^
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer6 y$ W2 ?$ I, S. W7 U
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American3 @+ b `1 e6 r0 z7 g
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.2 \- Z u' {8 X3 N5 t( K" s
( a" V, ]7 l; j- N' P) f"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
* l4 q0 {, L( |( Fbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,5 v! h) L# e7 Q6 d% {5 R2 X! O
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
* i* V* H: i; CSociety in New York.% _5 f1 H% z" q$ S$ g/ Z
" w( x- t/ e8 p$ C# U& k9 XSix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the) V2 P' n. |+ S9 V* _+ o% ]% q
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
6 f, V6 V2 S, e( l. K1 c$ kthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.# u3 O6 Q- y( I5 N( _7 ^3 [
4 W$ r6 a5 q; ?0 Y"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
~7 q \' _8 x5 |3 g0 Down.". M" a: @; W$ w+ A
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