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October 15, 2005
* Q9 F+ |+ @1 e" T& f5 Z" TClasses in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
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* K, g3 }2 p2 R8 oBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the4 ~) _3 i6 d0 R4 s
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary' ]: s6 i& i/ q+ n' `! F* b) I
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
! b1 O; Y6 ?: E9 gdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
1 k) H5 ~3 A( h% ~" ^flag hang from the wall., t' D- z% E9 s) v3 T# L
. t4 o; b! g9 t1 y+ y5 G! nOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one5 v# H2 L3 s5 C9 T4 D
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
B0 A& l" Y; U( ]& B _practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
; k" @& v/ a/ u/ Kboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
5 q7 @% J7 U* A# tare already choosing it over Spanish.
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, P# }5 n/ Z) ^+ \"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
# H* { \; Y* bat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city! u( w# B: E3 A. G: _1 E' Q
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."; n2 J- T; g" T C" b; H
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,4 n* D+ _" s- ?6 y; e. B# a
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
6 F" T& b- q) S# N" D7 O2 `, Jto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
; Y: i# z2 h8 z1 bone of its most difficult to learn.4 v! e5 A0 V5 t0 E$ }: J+ T
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
; [6 K- |: o2 f/ N2 G8 o6 X8 B! Zpublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
! ?0 y$ Q1 c2 ?' k9 n2 w; g. Ustudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
0 V& w* r5 A7 p" h# aLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
" }# }& n8 V3 t; r# f* rTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
9 Z5 w' H6 ?* kChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to* r- B# y( m6 m' w. o2 T/ ?
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.0 T/ B1 D: K/ ?; V% d4 u: p+ p4 r
5 ?# Z( s/ w8 I, p# KAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
; r, I6 e3 Q. X0 ~' J5 h3 w8 g- lChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country6 f+ @* G9 {; S# m
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to! I% W2 q2 L3 q
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing& T& L0 p+ ~! V W
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
# O6 [, t9 u \8 iof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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3 g* x! H1 b7 ^- X# h- H% n1 c) H"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
3 c8 S+ K! F4 pspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
1 z: W' d: D# ~0 j: L9 JConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we% ^$ d% r3 [+ q ^
can." 3 T' n& M/ c) T) H: C- I
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from; H+ H1 X7 e8 T) K3 m9 [1 z% e
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 105 \4 N- L1 X8 k: @
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language( `8 W" `$ p; j) }5 Q
Institute in Washington.
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages% o, Y6 p5 S1 B+ z' c" E
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.9 c7 r/ H* {, E4 Q4 B
McGinnis said.
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( f: n% v& L: q3 R# N9 s3 ^: w. O"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical4 _$ i% H2 }+ f; m! _3 U
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
3 s4 E4 H7 ?1 V$ Nready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
" f' q$ a: f9 q- {5 Y7 ~' Zchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do.": A5 p" N+ {! _+ u# j# J
/ ]! A! r7 ^) ?6 l% C) iUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
$ D- z4 b- |; R- }* ]; P3 g Lsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
2 D# l8 e( L: S5 }! Xcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
: i/ A6 x# O. G, p2 XChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
9 ?/ G0 i/ }6 K5 e" W5 n; [, eon weekends.
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3 s; S! w% H/ t3 q+ Y9 Y& qThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
3 l, O; t: h" Z8 uschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
. x4 K: k! q; P8 ]( B' estudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
& S, c8 C7 w! E. v+ I4 O- q( Z; e- e; oproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the! X+ [3 _- w! T+ u
competition. 0 p, T9 E( J9 m* f$ c$ g
: S+ X: M8 P$ v: c6 p N"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
! Y1 Z0 ~1 m4 n3 l( F+ Ysaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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* }5 N4 O. B- Q9 M7 C. nFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly+ O. ^. y' |3 _" O5 R
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
9 x$ E2 m; N; P, s- G" Dschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from' \) F9 x) u, k. D4 N
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
, L/ e7 d3 h8 vwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to9 Y% m% u$ {% S, c
the school system last year./ n# X7 y6 C! J( i
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
8 d! g6 U8 @6 I3 Myear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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1 Q( B7 k! H; c"They have a great international experience right in their own
( W2 B0 a) Z+ K" S2 j2 Z- lclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago; ^& X# V1 X1 q U/ ]! n6 X- e
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
9 C* ^' G2 b! v. B) lhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
& W) Q2 J* M+ Hon an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
, M" }9 N& Z jclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
% M( j. I7 N. T; V# y& tService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks6 C" L& K" @$ j1 o1 z
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An( \/ d/ t0 y) h" R& c6 u+ y' A
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in0 l' b$ h4 L, q; }
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
+ y* [# B* r/ h/ [$ oinstitute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth" @9 n9 H! n. i& s* O9 |3 w
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before! D' ^$ k/ S- b. w
deciding whether to take the class.% H! E1 w( b6 m4 a3 |
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
# v- y; @2 T$ Ltold her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite* [# a4 ?) R' l4 u
class.. }: D5 o4 V6 y4 Z' H- M, e1 I
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
4 ]+ C5 L( t. L" j. f ]studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
7 f3 d- W/ {8 |- noccasional frustration.
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' F* [: ]) \9 d" H$ m"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a* K% k! K" _$ A5 m" V$ b
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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r! U" v }0 V, c! eRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
6 e; t! n! A2 z! I6 Xtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with w& G9 h% N# m8 \1 o7 W
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.2 B# U: X4 A0 |6 z3 k
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul. A* _% h @. m2 [; A: b
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn! s' f% e( ^" P% J: K4 f# u6 J0 Y
as many languages as I can."4 i8 S/ H9 Y ^: w" P; D+ d. V/ O& f: a
1 M0 c4 ]: E" R0 w `Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
, K- g+ M3 U% s; B4 i G/ V- Vskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
& q3 Z/ N' l! H9 s5 a: \: omarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like" K: @1 k! ^- p! n5 |) K. a
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
/ X9 h* v/ U q* c* there offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
}& Z/ _; i! I3 [# ?school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
0 O3 C) C' F. `3 Atime from classes like physical education, music and art to make7 M, N& e8 n( T; ~/ c4 `
room.) Z; S$ \( v+ b: k3 C c* A! g; c
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer3 [1 E( K. G$ l* b, j" a4 [# K) ~
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American9 K6 R0 f* O) w% f0 r( [3 C! h
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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2 R: D% Z3 ^" |& M"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified0 m3 ~3 k# h+ L" a
because of that missing certification," he said.
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: r( i5 v! \5 W# bThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
* r( r5 Q l) g- r4 @, e& b1 } Asaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
! Q& o( r5 j, ` c0 u+ l4 qSociety in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
0 G; ^/ e- B! H1 NChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from8 s/ ]. ]: _9 b4 \- a. O
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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/ g# A5 e3 G! j/ N% H' O/ y* j" b"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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+ E; B. G% `: |: WCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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