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October 15, 2005; X* `9 [4 g E! L E
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity1 Z2 l4 l1 t) r9 X8 l
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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1 ~, t3 G: ]$ D0 QCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
8 X# F9 t( H9 S; C2 t0 OUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
. G5 B" |7 ?, V, K2 { KSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
7 |" q! [4 P6 e8 Rdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese+ d8 B$ H3 j0 z9 N+ ]4 Q
flag hang from the wall.( j7 e$ H4 p8 a6 u( A+ ?
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one: l2 S, `; L8 m6 D( c
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
3 G( c! T/ Z& z* Upracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
2 D1 H0 s; J0 Z" W1 tboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
& x% P) s* z+ f( p# t1 k! Eare already choosing it over Spanish.
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6 U7 [- L4 k# v9 n"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal) k$ N+ [* J# D+ Y; Y& u- e/ i
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
- n& t7 b1 o2 W, P: Boffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."6 M$ z7 M3 F& `, X7 @7 t6 ?
. y8 K* c3 C9 mWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,# g4 Q, F% U( c: L5 F
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings: f9 G) c- v7 z3 |4 T
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention( b3 J \" N0 ^/ c3 _$ z( _0 {
one of its most difficult to learn.( u& H& w! j1 B. T8 s9 t, y
; {6 P5 H N& z" A8 @Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
, c! x% q3 p0 R7 Q. ?& D M6 Fpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students( P( S1 t4 {- N, |
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.8 |0 `+ s" P4 z* i9 v
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
/ A8 z$ U% u$ b! X2 M* WTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on% V8 j, e6 m7 E- L$ q% p% v6 W
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to, y {" a$ |; I( A
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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* l% s5 @5 t7 M2 o' l# yAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
3 {: p# A) S- W' w9 qChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
" n; K, Z' w j0 q0 q$ }" Kstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
; ], W# P' Q" h/ m8 c5 E6 A+ a5 H& cdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing% I5 U8 c. N, V2 D. d6 M K
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
4 |- [3 {0 L0 h9 X5 Tof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of1 p" F8 U. [! e
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education+ Z, H K4 \- I) j M+ Y# F. }! L
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
: n2 Q G( |5 N H7 _! z6 q5 zcan."
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8 e& @- P. ~2 X5 Z/ Q% g7 f4 q: P- mThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
) _7 q/ M( ^, j9 ^elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 108 T( N4 S; l9 `
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
' f8 y" C0 ^: r4 y! n4 h1 I( rInstitute in Washington.
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1 o0 X) j N, o"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
' p" y3 j" E: f; s4 ~, Jaren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.' _- k" }2 M3 U# t& q" V$ o
McGinnis said.2 b- | i4 J: [! l
# h' B, M% i( B1 i6 W' J* d J"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
p" ?0 g3 I# y, k; @! J2 @+ G. P) ]" glongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
, f% D1 i) D0 Iready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a7 h7 N6 ?2 K, ^) e5 O0 Z
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."# v0 e. ]/ M$ x0 f( L. ?
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and: l2 b1 J8 l# z0 ~( Y
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
/ \" E6 p1 U3 U! y ]% T9 icities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of, G' x3 o: p/ [2 v4 e
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or4 W7 a, W5 C8 V& y
on weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public I# o( M% c; l! F6 g
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
7 d4 j: i/ R) estudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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' ^- k0 N$ }: w9 HMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
; `- l: _% |. o# sproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
& a& E/ m3 _" S0 dcompetition. 0 ?0 J" T ]8 h# R& t
# x5 a1 q1 S% N% X8 q: B; q0 {"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley7 a6 ?5 A, u+ f/ ]6 { Q2 n3 p
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
# R j: x3 z8 j% Rall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse, Z7 }4 \0 F7 P. E& @. N. i- W: [
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
3 `" d1 }1 V7 Jkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students1 I2 W" w4 v, g5 u% _
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to6 I0 \( x- I0 ~& [6 x
the school system last year. f4 q6 d) ^$ T$ ~8 s
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this4 @8 [( c+ o/ a) I- C O
year 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/ U- \: |* k1 Q9 n6 O
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago. K& o4 t! y+ x/ P5 n6 c
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to7 M8 t0 j" f, E( [/ W6 j
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet* B+ N- c. h# c9 k; e% K$ O
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese: P% L3 G3 ~5 G: Z
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
8 C, U H* B7 x2 F3 IService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
k, }3 d' a9 y( X s* J6 |Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
, C6 P" O# L# H5 w# p Faverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in7 Q7 }/ x% k. p+ D9 N* [6 S1 x
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
& Z, B; P, t. P" ~/ w) Q5 einstitute says.* }) x/ [* U r& g8 x
! U8 ?8 B. \ r3 cSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth' b4 C: P( l4 [9 `" T+ Q) D `
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
% j+ j. U$ O4 z; p+ adeciding whether to take the class.( A6 K q" J' H0 v
4 M& i- e' v! p# ]* l"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
: s+ U1 r2 q: H! y1 p" ?, Otold her daughter.. E- P; i: @9 w! k
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
' q; M& h1 r1 B* l+ V. w; Rclass.
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are! F+ X( j9 n. ]
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
( e, @6 j; J: H9 ^: Coccasional frustration.
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5 A# j2 }. w: R( H# w) u6 c"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a: u" r3 A2 }% m$ w# p4 J1 F- [
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he8 @4 o. K, w& H, V1 `2 w/ h
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
% T" e' G& H( f q9 K! ]Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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# u! [6 _& ], [) S4 f"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
& k0 X' _% g# j; Gsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn( x/ ^! c2 `! l q; b
as many languages as I can."
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+ s9 T) ]5 R4 ^9 `Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
5 N) z1 d* N j: ~" w" Lskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
6 F# ` |! ^8 W* Rmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like' T% ?# |* }1 \, g+ o/ Z6 `$ Q0 @
that," Ms. Freire said.8 W; g5 W3 c: J$ `
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
) } B2 L9 u9 zhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each& f1 t, z) R8 V3 A' L$ W3 W/ D
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking: Q2 _$ { l% N
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
( M" u. a5 o% _+ z: mroom.
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* @7 J0 [% R9 ^" jChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer7 ^' _' J; r' S% _5 Y% P4 a, R
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American6 J7 B/ i% u% V
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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4 ~: r* ^% _' J) W" z"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
) y7 t' R% {8 T& x! s/ p' K- G+ sbecause of that missing certification," he said.7 s6 v3 c3 W2 L
+ |) Q- I$ _: s" Y. B8 ]/ {The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
% N4 m3 u8 Z9 ~& jsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
/ i/ D* I* \9 x F8 MSociety in New York." Y0 [$ Y& r6 k2 P$ I
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the, @) o$ ^0 E: b
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from: J; k7 I+ M$ v5 P: S6 P
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.& M5 q; ~4 F: B+ c/ i2 \0 L
0 V$ P( f' B! ]* F F"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our2 s6 i9 {% i, N/ Y
own."8 h# u5 p7 Z: }5 a* ?$ B
5 @. ?) c. L% P& C; FCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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