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October 15, 2005' H$ L% x) z( d
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity+ z! e1 o/ }* U8 t
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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6 b- \) \& F; dCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the5 k8 A2 y) }5 T! t: U
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary; s4 I, r9 y; l2 X
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas F! |7 r" l& s; S
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
Q b, F$ b5 Y. T+ \) O! zflag hang from the wall.
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" I* W0 p; N) _+ @7 p, ZOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
9 q7 q2 p% b8 S* Y2 e! lanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
* P' ^. t( L5 ?% c8 @8 Hpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
9 O ~* v1 [' _2 P0 O& Sboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students, W& v/ n) \9 k: R! p4 W3 \
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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" P- h h& p |& E4 y7 `"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
7 B% P, R5 b$ ^8 P$ Oat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city2 M1 N, |* Q2 i: D
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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; y+ D# d. P0 d3 `) D5 E3 PWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
! L; n( ^# u7 m @$ Aschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings& i. o9 {. t3 p, ]0 P9 h- z
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
6 ?; z9 C0 t7 aone of its most difficult to learn.
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Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to7 X. \+ Z. R9 X' T
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students
$ I$ C' p' H& ]' x; Q/ u* dstudying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
* G' W! N2 y# @! h$ e4 hLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
9 ?/ I% P% z5 A, _/ ITennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
0 [/ _8 L7 D5 q+ `& v) _( VChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
# ]2 G% l% X# D5 g9 X* _improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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, R g# k( f* X- UAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement* L* M0 D0 j8 ]" M% N5 G& n" @- d
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
. ^1 a) N9 j( W. pstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to F. p/ E( ]8 s/ C' f: t
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing3 J: i3 C( N, N! C9 f7 C" Y
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
0 Q3 Q- `1 W: I8 @9 s: gof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of2 N6 d8 t/ m, Y& H- `
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education z' m: ?6 D5 p( i, `) f
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
; d: b1 ]7 y6 j2 _/ Ucan."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from% u$ r: |1 ^% j/ Z) w
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
: n8 F" L) j. Q l" X6 uyears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language% e# G; a9 p0 D3 @
Institute in Washington.+ w; H; ?1 b' y* r
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages* Q+ [% {& E( g; S
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.# o* V* e# @" j2 {* E9 y
McGinnis said.: X) Z5 \! n( M4 ^
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical3 m" _3 O+ y6 {
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
, F r8 T( g0 m* K' w6 o6 B( eready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
( z0 a: J7 R8 d7 m0 \challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do.", p1 |5 b4 S7 c# N
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and8 H6 T4 w3 l) o3 B* t. p
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in4 r( ?0 }* G3 w \5 v
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of' B# c& }4 K. \6 c" b5 N9 t
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or. q6 ]. O( G% \* P* E1 ?
on weekends. d3 W0 `) L& f* m. |' u
7 I F6 r2 `) n* a- YThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public5 U& |, _7 _; O2 J# p
schools during the regular school day and primarily serves
3 J( G0 G, I# Wstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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- }- W% |! ]+ F {, @/ VMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said0 U }% T2 I' |' H# z5 s2 w0 n
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
5 j J6 ^7 V+ f% `competition.
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\8 m: x- a2 s, B"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley S6 u1 n0 @+ P2 ^) u) @( T
said. "There will be Chinese and English."9 Q0 S9 L! B+ Q1 o N# b) ` p$ n
% l- |4 K, j: ?! TFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
$ V* t! t8 r. \9 ]. z4 S! L6 o/ f- rall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse& M3 |, f6 ~4 q, K
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from. m3 x8 I. o* J' c+ d" Q
kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students3 W0 U8 X- H q3 i
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
' _, I9 P3 b3 W0 vthe school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this% G/ N9 L, u( f" l1 K! g
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.1 t) B0 B+ ~6 p2 E0 L
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"They have a great international experience right in their own! }. b: P# b# e- C6 r( j
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago3 |7 V* W1 |( p0 f
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
3 S$ q1 g/ ^2 k8 c- A. @ uhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet; q6 ]* l4 x2 B1 @- N) U A' s& }9 I
on an equal playing field."# u/ M) o7 V4 p" `7 J
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese8 O4 U) R8 W l, B1 q; j/ Q
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign0 c7 v% N0 W8 y, u, c: f
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
! a }. B% W; j" q2 U" R* J/ FChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An1 Z: h ]5 B6 C# [
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in2 u! E. y: x# K! \+ f
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the6 [/ C( h- c' M: T3 K2 f; b
institute says.6 r7 @* `; Q$ g0 Y
# {% @# M# A% u. `/ G h0 a3 pSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth2 x. r8 G& `& f% ?( |; S
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before W' s& F( M% U6 p; Z
deciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
0 b9 W* |0 f2 D) b4 }( h3 M+ Atold her daughter.2 J! G4 [6 N d/ G3 U$ o
$ G) c. @& R+ O' ]$ u5 E; x6 Q2 T8 O4 w1 \Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
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1 v/ b* A7 O( PAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are/ b; j# y% ~# S5 D- b8 d1 [
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without' O7 V, E7 d4 C/ C* l2 T: T
occasional frustration.% Y* u) C% S- V' | k0 A% @3 v8 i
5 q. I2 m C, R: n( j"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a. ]' Z: v0 b6 S7 l0 ]
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he" u6 O. z+ t3 D" S( d, t8 E
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
( A* ]# b: E4 w, i6 FChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.5 Q! q+ R: U4 d6 k
* f+ Q6 h* f% X) Y E7 M"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
$ v: k- V5 o# Z4 lsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn) \5 I! D: k4 N) w1 C0 j
as many languages as I can."5 {/ S' T7 }7 F8 s8 w
/ }4 M+ J! V/ y# pAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the; `2 o% \& L' C. B
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job% r s; M) _. r- [! H) x! D# w }
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
1 k( E3 f# w x: ^- |' `5 k1 I6 L# hthat," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program, g* a! b6 p A% m/ [: n4 J
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each9 O% G+ h, a D5 Q, M& @# ^* ?
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
/ P2 M: B, j* T, n1 o& ntime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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7 f( x) f# T) H9 Y1 h, H" hChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer" T. t6 l' k2 m8 ^
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American
1 I# E- U1 `, w" P7 q% h; Tcollege, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.) W8 s4 A2 E- F, e2 h
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified+ g( X% c3 c7 O. j( M! M6 e3 O
because of that missing certification," he said.4 T) j1 T, m% }/ B1 c. @ {
/ Y. }. A0 F; c$ \! ~& P5 Z5 p8 EThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,% g1 k* O& E. u9 @
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia6 W: t- a+ o$ z+ _
Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the/ ~ g7 n/ @% ^ F$ R
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from I. E$ F: U+ u# g6 i/ f
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.( `( _ U" p X2 l$ ?
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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2 C6 |9 b2 i% S1 s2 N; v. YCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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