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October 15, 20052 t( l: M& z+ B6 m, w
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity( S M9 [0 ^! j
. g+ Q, V1 b/ k1 J0 {. L7 e" z% oBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING( F: x. i9 Q- X# J8 |
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CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the( T" J* y$ j' |: v/ R5 F" S3 R
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
' S& I8 m" n7 E. ~' a( jSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
J+ L! v- m& rdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
0 }5 a! e4 t' `; |$ Kflag hang from the wall.! j+ o. m) }, z9 K
- X N) H7 g% {One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one( ^% C' y4 s1 t4 W
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders! n% ]' C2 ~! ?$ j% F, i; h3 A
practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
6 l/ b) M0 z. C% H ]boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students9 X9 E' |, D$ _! V' }# ^
are already choosing it over Spanish./ P8 M$ V( |5 m' v
8 @. ?( G1 y3 U2 K$ V"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
- K: m. c# @" z/ zat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city5 J5 G2 f3 g; F2 A% h
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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8 }& W r) d" \With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,# b- V H. o2 y0 v9 b l
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
3 o' ~% L) M j! n$ ^ i0 Y9 zto include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention* V# W: S& j; r$ b' }9 J
one of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to, M& b [6 c7 m& W$ M5 O/ v
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students1 W9 j3 m6 `# ]0 m3 L7 Q8 l" L
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
7 a2 M8 I2 C3 ]Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of! d& {0 ^: r. W- x8 d
Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on! j% e$ J9 r4 J& k, \+ S' }
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
6 ]9 b0 J$ |5 a5 ^- e( K* `0 Rimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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* E* N" _" ]( a4 u5 }* v$ t) X6 SAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement7 B9 g( X6 ` \& U/ ?
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country- X8 _' [8 |! o/ d7 W# U1 b
starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to1 U! Q X' D$ o$ e6 n& M5 {
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing3 H# l2 W, O' W, h0 w
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
1 P0 j9 s" C1 {of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
- C1 J n) r0 ~7 I/ f v# Espeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education2 _% W" w3 [& F5 i& ?+ l
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we0 G+ {- I; c( j& g; O2 i# f# u5 t
can." - J( w$ U8 Z% M: X c
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from' a% N7 c9 w7 }
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10( m4 C* l6 s' n. T9 W
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
5 h f- J2 G% D9 hInstitute in Washington.: X8 `' c% A& f7 _- L6 |) u
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
& W" [5 O; e! G+ \6 K$ q' uaren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
* t8 a! U7 G& E; }% \$ i$ A: A4 tMcGinnis said.
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
) {$ x8 ]- g7 o1 t- G& u8 g$ Clongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be, w( W1 Z/ N: U
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
, C" w5 t4 V; d1 `( x( Bchallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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! i0 T" a4 V' H3 M# E4 u* QUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
; I- x5 f$ R- _- Csecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in" H! o( w* o/ I
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
: k& y; S- ]; |9 C" @$ kChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
) q. i6 j* k4 mon weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public' z: d: n* S/ z$ o, I h
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves' e" D( m" |) P1 L) w( _$ ^
students who are not of Chinese descent.; M% U8 F$ `! R# ^0 v! x
, t% n+ v/ C5 k2 T. M* f8 D+ DMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
/ s: H# j2 T5 t( {' dproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the* [! W7 C3 W* \' S$ N
competition. + J! o! F r9 u1 \2 p5 c* O
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley4 M( A, r+ z( o* o) s
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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5 _3 d3 o- ?" l4 iFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly# G9 n- K; A( ]: z
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse/ r7 Z/ K/ o* O3 m
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from( l7 ~) P6 ]" o' B
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students! I% a u3 t, A6 B' y- ^: D
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
$ Q$ N2 J: Q2 Hthe school system last year.9 ?3 ^! u6 g5 [
9 R, I" |0 z. B1 TThe program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this0 f+ E5 b* }- R6 T" g
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
* q1 G* B% i: k8 C8 Cclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
- ]; c0 e9 ^' Q6 H" l: TChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to3 V3 c* b7 H" H* l" N7 S
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet4 Q, ]. Q) x6 ~. d: h+ B5 W
on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
, Q) v S% x' L. Dclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign2 J# R1 k5 E; w g. H& C
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks C7 P, g+ p D. v/ Z% a
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
V( Q5 O9 P2 m; W \average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in% `( o: O" {/ z: X: B
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the4 J, m3 i/ [& U+ ]
institute says.
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth! Q+ i; B7 H) x* M2 C% O
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before) Z* n2 _# X6 I( |7 U( X
deciding whether to take the class.5 j8 A. j" Q. d( ~( }6 H4 J( w
9 b' ?$ N5 N& u"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she* {) ]. f6 D0 h; v% P; L
told her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite! ]8 `. [# Z2 Z6 B" ?6 r8 e
class.2 z# w" l1 D* x! D9 ^
$ d0 R, L i7 Z4 O! ~1 aAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are4 ?6 O5 e* T$ v& y* a
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without# [2 P+ L j# }; C
occasional frustration.9 x( }8 \/ p+ J0 U9 ?
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
* _0 j2 K. J3 f, U* srecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.: r W# a$ Y0 c; P
4 Z6 T- N9 v# ~3 tRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he% x& J/ p2 F$ K7 @0 I
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with' z) W. @0 M/ V# v2 T0 a c
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works./ M7 I! E# `" B& X# E
4 b: v1 m( J- y+ \9 d) z"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
/ h g( |/ c3 r# [said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn5 K1 k U3 a6 \/ M
as many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
0 r7 b6 D) h7 X8 t/ eskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
* K* |8 x9 Q; E% e. G1 J# tmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
+ K, _+ b6 p9 c% K2 nthat," Ms. Freire said.( s/ C* H9 L! f6 u
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
* [) \0 F. R& i8 ohere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
6 h" v* |: q6 L0 {school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
2 }. c3 S$ \7 a/ k. f' K5 H' ttime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
+ ?3 X8 U+ \/ m- {1 ^room.
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8 L: e+ F' y; U$ k: @ IChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer4 ]8 o6 W: ~1 H
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
& N$ k4 |8 d- @+ rcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said., ~+ X6 g4 K0 U' ?, D/ `9 p
& K) d. F' t) e5 I; J"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
+ q9 c2 A- C- P& S8 Z+ Tbecause of that missing certification," he said.: H$ x! |- @4 f, D" k% M0 ] j/ E9 ^
+ [- f& x1 A0 @5 ^9 i2 i2 c
The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
: y* o# j2 j O Fsaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
, ~: H" m; o2 u0 ESociety in New York.
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& g% O0 y, v$ M/ m* e3 `Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the1 N/ j# n5 l& c9 S
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
; N( `0 f- x+ Y5 y* O5 F3 Y- ethe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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" |" X& {* p) B5 M( }"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
' R1 J) H0 h) V% n: H9 \own."& X5 G6 k* J- M" `
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Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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