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October 15, 2005
& S( i S( m, o# q: M/ J; lClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity' b8 ]. h6 i' `! y
2 ~( e2 x8 e& h; p: Q: \, KBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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! z) f0 c; ?+ N7 _# zCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the! i! x7 t& {; i0 |
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
5 M& m4 I5 K% X9 t6 V! zSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas! `0 s+ {+ z5 V% s- C2 ]. Q
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
6 n, L4 U2 C+ {: z/ o, tflag hang from the wall.5 k* c* e6 x& w; W
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
2 _4 W. Z/ j* b( _; banother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders1 X! V. I1 H$ ?3 I
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
' ?- U% K4 Y+ p2 Y% H# A( a* }% Aboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
/ D: W2 q t7 z& |are already choosing it over Spanish.4 h- H/ ]/ u7 |$ j* E- L$ U
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
8 @! @/ d- a3 k: ?' Mat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city0 R+ p6 U7 N9 z& r
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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# H! P" J" t: ~% d) Q7 x4 v; l( EWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,1 J1 l, F1 b) H+ M6 G
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings" e L$ t7 O/ e" X, z" C
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention& f3 I4 @% A* F4 r/ z( Z
one of its most difficult to learn.: C, Y, @6 p J7 Y! k3 [, }8 t
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to1 \; z$ t+ t _% e0 M5 ]7 u0 M
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
" w: x9 @# N- V% k! X5 pstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.* |2 L- t4 t& P1 E0 W0 u4 S
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of: g# b- A+ S2 r: Q0 D3 m
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on* U2 l& E6 C! G7 f$ M
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
* r( X# P$ O5 Iimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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0 Y- A# A0 _* VAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
8 V9 w \* A$ z4 l9 Q5 b& cChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
% l" H! B+ ]3 U6 Q7 S* k/ r$ R7 Hstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
/ x) E, ^* i. S2 S F& Pdevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
* h7 w5 ^$ p6 Jcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director& P1 p& n# c" l( C) o3 z2 l( x
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of. N) z7 L8 S3 V( h J
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
, ~) |+ Q2 v" G5 y$ n4 xConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
2 l' W8 B8 y' t: I5 X R( Ecan."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
3 F1 g e3 D7 p- j- e M# U. Nelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
9 H7 b5 @6 k1 u6 n! x3 p- S: k& Eyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language1 o& \* q4 H3 f7 l( n
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
# i4 O, q1 t* Q* g' waren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.+ Y% g5 N' L& M3 L
McGinnis said.1 z( B/ Y! h4 e* \0 j3 I
; A; Z3 [' L% N7 T1 u"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
5 H3 K ~4 v8 @+ _longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be) d/ n- D, o/ p1 g" D7 m6 K+ }4 J
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a( I( o: U* n: w+ f' [. k
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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8 S( G2 i9 Q m t+ P& H( LUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and: e1 S2 ~7 f# G: d# J8 W5 a
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in; N9 a/ e( Z( R! ?& N6 t" p
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
% Y0 k( u* A h+ W6 H8 C! |- A: c) QChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
( C8 ?( M3 A( O! Con weekends.# o+ ~5 U2 g% @) n
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public- V% b m5 O8 z6 Q' m5 f
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves$ b* j' d" B3 X$ y# k' ~4 O
students who are not of Chinese descent." u7 K0 I& c2 H( p5 p! R% J
! R# t, P) _- r# w4 H6 rMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
* n7 O2 s- y. [, [) m- \6 f/ W* g" {8 qproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
+ |& B% j4 o L7 y5 |competition.
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) ?4 I. t( e% z) |9 c- _"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley: I% K- a/ R3 D3 x. t
said. "There will be Chinese and English."( Z" }5 V! P$ E( h2 v" r0 W8 r
% I" ?) p$ a; PFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly6 v/ L( n# s5 {
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
$ O" t' F% r1 o, T- W4 o) xschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
i0 Y2 i( I! s% J5 j" ykindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students7 _1 g0 S" c: z+ C* c B
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to6 B8 s, M" x8 Z h
the school system last year.
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8 z* ]0 L* i' N4 rThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this$ ~# x( d! W! K
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# `: M" w% O0 J
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago% M. J, P( x1 V8 K- ~
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to9 f: o$ c3 K; a
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet; L$ i% k5 [' ]2 j* F( }
on an equal playing field."
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% s! b5 o6 G1 O v2 b; BSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese3 O4 f. }* _/ W6 A" ~
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign0 Y3 T4 Q! _; B/ B& _, x' I
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks8 Z: @; ]# I; m& _3 ^
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
9 s7 u" O$ M# ]) h, ~4 r1 R; ?average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
/ l G. C d+ I, c6 g Z. O9 WChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the+ p6 K4 r3 h* y+ E3 x7 u; v
institute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
& @9 a3 G6 L/ g9 P# W( }grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before( e' S4 _2 n" T9 S( q7 s$ u) i
deciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she7 y" Y) f( U" Q+ A& {% |
told her daughter.
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/ {7 ^1 u' ^ b; k$ \& USahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite$ p: o9 t, _; y% O. _( M Z5 b' I9 R
class.% v* b q2 X+ \/ I) f
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are! v+ E# h% Q/ K
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
7 h) s1 X8 Y% Q, V& ?2 j" noccasional frustration.
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) m* x/ Q$ w5 ]" ~9 ~4 a0 t"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a. ?; V P' q |$ Q4 P; B
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.6 G, j! h2 O* N7 |2 h
9 W$ \/ y4 G* c1 |: O4 S* lRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
}+ e: C0 }& y* Jtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with9 T5 U5 [) [6 y
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
# Y S% W) o& G: @! ~* psaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
4 f& S J$ G3 A+ B! n/ pas many languages as I can."9 a# S% E6 B/ N" E# K5 m& N; P
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
1 X6 N9 m" L: l; U3 Cskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job G( k; X3 w" a- W: d" Z% x
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
5 B( U/ a4 c _% D5 fthat," Ms. Freire said.
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5 R1 v5 o$ ] |( O2 r4 ]Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
/ O! m" Q* D- f" s* Vhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
, N+ R# f! [& B9 E M3 zschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
. i/ v6 J1 A& b" M' o9 E/ r0 Ztime from classes like physical education, music and art to make& R. S4 F" I0 E2 S& P- H' p1 {( d
room.. Y4 O$ |2 b, f
) |) t: B7 _5 |( N& n% ~Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
4 G& Q& T& B8 _: [1 wChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American. o/ E. r3 r0 H
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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* N8 f( q: c! w* O7 ]$ m) g- y; A0 O"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
2 e) n$ C% [, |, r+ sbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,6 H% v; E3 z, T- A8 |
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
: q" d, V- w! d' oSociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the, n5 I) n f# v D& M% T( |
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
% i2 O# m# O8 [9 n6 s uthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.( u' A) R2 F/ N( m
& g; @+ q, H, I8 G# Q* y" a"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our u' G! d* P: C+ G. C
own."$ R9 C5 I) t6 A; L r. U- M
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