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October 15, 2005
: |# @4 s& \7 D( s! f& w2 hClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity: ?! a/ z, F: C
) f7 Y. H. R. e5 a% I7 P
By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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% ]8 i+ B* {5 N$ kCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the! ~% Q; `" I B3 R
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
; B+ h+ e1 _+ L" w; qSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
* c6 y+ o4 h5 K, i" F s" kdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
7 p5 E7 l' \9 ], `) F* L, |- Sflag hang from the wall.
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\1 P/ ]0 r2 E U! e& GOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
, |: c9 N/ ]4 F4 l0 W: `; tanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
" ` w+ N! d& Y( b' [% spracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker9 q3 z: W+ J# ]& r
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students6 z% {, b7 }& d1 s3 f
are already choosing it over Spanish.& L e1 o5 W; P9 V$ A
( k+ f7 F% d, t; q! L S( T"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
+ j2 h x/ d: \) Y t# Xat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city+ U# t" r( x* i ?. p
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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% ~. Y. W" Q2 s! D6 FWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,& c8 U& a: S! [1 J6 a8 M7 G
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings* I0 A8 E0 h! Q% @) M6 @
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
& m3 V! A0 q& A Yone of its most difficult to learn.) O6 W! c& e% ^( P
; x6 v) W2 A0 `1 ?) MLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
2 _4 }! w" R8 v$ b/ apublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
2 v1 Q7 t1 ]8 A1 h6 Astudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
, s1 N' N6 E+ l9 [" r1 g- ZLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
4 Q6 n# z+ t* X2 r' M" \3 u6 _3 \! J) aTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on( y/ Z) R" e8 H/ K4 ?7 J
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
9 \0 W- P- H4 D0 z5 ~: Nimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.2 {8 E. s( x8 V5 N' k; {
0 ]) J- a; A7 e# U. I) LAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
( A' W$ S4 X2 H8 qChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country- m3 a: P* o7 a
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
$ O2 F# ^- c* i: M! C" F, `develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing2 Y6 j2 }: m6 M5 _ v1 Y" m
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
' v% S9 j: |! |. L/ Eof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.7 C: J, p. A5 Y1 n' U
' h/ W/ \8 \0 _. X% z"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
5 V" Q, \1 w9 C8 a0 m) j+ ospeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
" {) O+ I1 k \+ F& J3 SConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we; }5 ]5 p. G5 y. L9 o" \6 T
can."
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$ D5 G2 t8 c; t* o( U, T3 x2 eThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from8 n0 \$ o8 b6 A# v: o9 a0 \
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
. h3 T& w! o! ?years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language4 G$ ]6 j: Q/ m7 K
Institute in Washington.1 r5 E8 P* J( m% K( j7 ?
+ P- V* r; E0 F. \- ^ U"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages, c( n8 A6 r9 h8 S: O
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.# |2 n( W M3 e0 g5 c0 o( B0 }6 A
McGinnis said.* B1 X3 L( `" n8 C; q& i
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
- j) K! Y& ]% N& v3 {longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
" i$ f5 h0 j4 @* I( t# \7 m: ~ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
! ]/ y2 ^1 t ]challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."8 {. a/ E9 i s; ^8 f3 F( g
) I( p4 R8 F L7 x2 F6 Z" ?6 }+ wUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
" u; Z' D% E& d5 q; @/ {secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in3 d! u! c4 D$ f5 X: @ v
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
4 O& i" T/ m# F g' I/ o eChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or* d& g/ H/ p# a0 H8 H. n
on weekends.7 g- ^2 W1 S: L$ z/ a
$ r# a/ Y& Q3 @$ u4 aThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public1 C0 J# o6 a3 ~. a" T
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
: b& {+ `& \8 l6 x9 m# ustudents who are not of Chinese descent.- {* B1 y6 [( l) w: S5 @2 J/ O
* _0 A: N# D4 H; c4 [0 jMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said W0 j* }. \& Y; g& a* ?& s1 I
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the9 l8 q1 Z3 |9 N6 L3 V0 [
competition. * l+ w* o4 s* c& x
6 p+ `. U# m; N: b& m& Q) n4 X" k"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley* {7 R$ @4 f& c3 L, k! d
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly5 {5 c1 _' t% H0 n! E+ @& v( G& m
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse- n% `6 E- A7 } _! e" T
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
& Z; s% @& D7 W: f% B1 S5 M- i! _kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students1 u$ K& Z' o" A' ?. L4 Y! ~7 Y
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to; V/ K4 ~: M, n8 I
the school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
- R9 ^1 n/ M5 y* c3 Iyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.( v( x& q3 e3 Z3 s, H1 d
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"They have a great international experience right in their own. Z, L n# O: Q
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
4 u1 Z3 _" @7 Z9 d& xChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to/ t# B7 u/ i8 J7 k+ i# ]
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet$ ^& z% |/ @9 V8 Q, Q8 [$ A- j
on an equal playing field."9 O4 C9 n2 F3 v0 Z
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
) M/ K( n6 _8 t. _! a, `classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign1 Y& I }8 G- v. ]6 x
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks" s6 p+ N% G, ?
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An- _7 d* O3 N# ~3 l
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in6 W8 @+ }) g& |$ ?% S' z* r
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
3 e- G" S/ f4 Ainstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
3 Z- i; R, Z2 R g4 T: dgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
/ f4 V' x' n1 q2 p' e Q; O/ pdeciding whether to take the class.
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6 W+ G# h+ e3 C1 {"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she. I7 p: ^; v- O" G
told her daughter.4 T$ A" l7 w9 H* O6 Y- b: Q
: o4 v6 D3 w2 t' B' R) A' `' QSahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite) x+ Y. Y; C3 q. R. h; x8 V# u
class.- |, s8 U y" k# _- t* G- Z
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are3 K$ a) B" X0 d5 i; ]
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
8 W0 g X Q, d+ D4 ^) ^3 Yoccasional frustration.
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
/ E# a) d* u" K' K D; Z- ?# ]recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.( C6 @0 a! q5 A7 E+ ]2 a
7 g* s! T$ v* M6 \" wRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he" U2 j) v, E. H" a
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
# p# g2 b+ G% a+ Y0 tChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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5 [( c5 i' M+ y5 ?* a' H& q"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
2 ~' E% S) N) ~9 R8 y/ J7 j0 \said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn5 K* P" j- s; U" m; N
as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the" ]1 C% W. { N2 h* d/ j
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
( c' j3 ^$ e4 j7 Y( \, r' Qmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
( d; F) l; s; Q& j# |' pthat," Ms. Freire said.! j: T4 [$ k/ \5 f5 S. q" Y
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program# o( A- V+ K+ ], C
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each* S. V2 U* F$ {; u* A& g
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking- m; a5 A. o% h U
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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1 F* I. L- J4 ~/ RChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer% D2 N0 Z/ ~% J5 g, u
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
5 Y3 m# r+ U# c+ x6 mcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.# ~9 G! X; C) E: [, V# @/ J
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified- o. X& g; K6 m( A4 b* ~+ |, n% Z. S
because of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,0 C9 V& b u3 I; k, K6 Y
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
, N2 H E1 n* s6 S; TSociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
l+ p. o9 N$ f! B9 X# [Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
' a6 P# K& o! ` F/ \5 k8 Tthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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; M9 L- W# x1 c& p* \1 j"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our( U5 R- b& A7 x1 J& I
own."* l" r( ^! ?9 ~ B% z1 g
' s- Q, }& Z* C$ Y: C7 bCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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