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October 15, 2005+ t' W" \% @( X5 Z# u& N% x
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity; p5 A- T- v" k8 d2 C
' z# q( f3 v5 M& E+ TBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING+ E: U: ]* T2 e1 @/ }) I5 {$ ?3 y
& m/ o9 v( C' U7 ~9 H3 cCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
9 f0 J4 @: t" t9 E! y3 v$ G' _United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
; l3 T# a) D z9 XSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas+ J8 _0 j/ P1 m' w0 B
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese& O& U4 I/ R/ [- `8 L1 y- P
flag hang from the wall.' ?& G! E9 X% J: m
& H' R$ g% C. H+ ]- K! }+ oOne recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one+ ]) _, x) E8 o5 J5 m$ Z
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
& J U! O2 N! D# p' Npracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker
" x$ y$ _ E7 M- L4 M8 Lboards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students. L! c( w. J! |7 y, Y6 H6 g
are already choosing it over Spanish.) w% K5 X3 l# T+ ]3 J; {; C8 F
8 _, X h- S8 D"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
6 l% T( V. }' @7 j& F5 Xat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city' x, k, m7 e8 Q' \# g2 X' n
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."% p, Y& M$ C6 Y/ T- B% c* @
m& f/ R# C! J& K" @With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
2 m1 G3 p& S% m) ^; e. } A6 eschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings- q0 Y' C: ^5 A- z" Y
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention: p* M* B! @+ B& W
one of its most difficult to learn.
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& Q# f Z4 ` X) l+ g. R, ELast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
# l! I/ i+ P1 t, O/ m* R1 Npublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students( P; {8 z# @$ |# H9 y0 T
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I./ x8 j! |( w1 D7 u1 Y1 i- e9 K
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
( N+ Q/ Z& F5 J* x' [' I" K0 NTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on* A7 E* L- w* O4 z4 ]) O1 `
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to. C' S; `; _7 X; A
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
) _" D4 r2 t( F/ pChinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
; {" w1 D% T5 U( nstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to! n& ]8 V& L& V* a( M* k5 r: E
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
" w; m6 Q. I( V# {curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
/ z- `3 e- }; Y5 f) q2 iof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.( \) m, T; {5 L! k8 w5 a
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
: j9 m' Q0 r" N; O4 i0 Zspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
' c! A' H6 d. B9 y; ~% d% _6 Y# |6 AConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
+ _+ Z. q6 {$ f' g" l0 Gcan."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
" \. J3 j V/ D0 o: p' s( G, Eelementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10) L- D1 L/ h" \' f' s7 D) |" o
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language. m) f3 |; d) u* y/ z s* a9 `
Institute in Washington.5 r" z4 a P' N/ q* ]( z
5 \) l4 p: G4 j- I# m: E"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages9 K: C& g# R. d
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.: w' O5 H+ v& _3 J& b4 Q
McGinnis said.1 Y! K+ U& z0 I* \" q
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical5 u" u" y+ l) T; O* |$ V) ~/ U' d
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be0 W/ X# V8 M4 W8 |+ X
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a* q& D/ G i1 _- J' r
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."+ w3 j! w) x: ^
, R: @1 E; | LUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and2 ]9 {7 Z7 E. L2 E1 I$ s
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in/ \. D: ~1 j; O+ @& T- T2 o
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
% D9 P/ k i* c7 Y% j7 @9 XChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
% a7 C$ d, N' q8 [, A3 }3 o$ \on weekends.& W! e4 i6 J6 |2 H# {
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
% r, \' s# S: r/ ?3 _# |- vschools during the regular school day and primarily serves. a7 [1 b' W( V1 O. M( u% I
students who are not of Chinese descent.% F& t* h: o" n V+ T" ~
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
4 |. m( X8 L! k( q; C* \. e4 a- @ eproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the4 ^' }7 v$ m( t# _- P
competition.
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9 o6 I' {' v8 d9 T- U"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
1 V$ F* z" I+ Z9 \) _. zsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."0 e# X% r9 n3 I- g' x! ?4 j* q9 ]
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly# |( m" h" X0 [0 K9 Y @/ X
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
9 l+ o( g. {; K/ [2 s# s0 C4 N+ jschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
& g# }' e6 m" B$ Wkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
( z% \; x+ W2 e& H, bwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
( B, ~3 I/ k { y* Fthe school system last year.
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this2 Z! _7 w8 I. T
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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5 K- P9 s) I# q& n% } l+ ?"They have a great international experience right in their own
1 D! h& Y% `5 F3 A; M7 Tclassroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago$ {0 D% D; f3 o) D+ V
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to: H8 |3 e4 O$ f
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
/ Q: s* p$ ]/ G$ M7 {on an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
+ h; M& q% r& I: Cclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign% e1 V& a8 Q& {) M* p
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
. f. M% b# w% f0 E# r' q" f V. c! {Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An/ |4 y0 c5 D9 Q
average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in6 u- v$ b3 ] K$ s1 v( w; I
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the. r5 A: a9 x J( X; L7 F% v
institute says.7 Z( h6 j( b% [
" t- z0 f, X; _4 {" {) G- p8 KSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
" M; D" V9 t6 Lgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
' T' T9 r, W6 _6 e4 @deciding whether to take the class.' r H# A1 }9 W
0 P" `" g2 U5 F7 a"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she; n3 J, o9 _% x2 b/ P
told her daughter.- n$ `; j5 @4 J, n6 x" x& K
; a- Y, L# M: o0 }Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite9 |6 K3 A1 F$ {
class.& v; F9 `% }) H; ?# w! i
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
) i/ m. d1 _4 O+ {& U2 m6 rstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without+ p$ j3 T9 N) h! s2 y- H& ~2 Z
occasional frustration.& Y, I( l5 C- Q; O6 u/ m$ B
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a9 j1 P3 x; g x& }% W
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.# d, w9 L: y6 A2 b
1 l) ?2 p) ^: IRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
& p/ ~! E/ o) ?1 x9 jtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with i% z# I- D- `1 n' A
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
# o) V1 j, b! X. C7 Ssaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn* T5 \5 C6 D5 W L
as many languages as I can."3 z6 f) C/ j, n4 D6 Q4 n
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the r$ L( v" d0 T0 h1 N: G; L' l! H
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
3 L. f! A& a3 r; _8 X8 P5 lmarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like3 r8 r+ u2 v! s& Y
that," Ms. Freire said.+ T4 O" R# _" A2 K. W9 m! \
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
$ p$ h; w9 x+ Dhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
8 Q3 o1 W' s8 m! c6 Zschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking. s$ w3 E! i- b r3 {
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
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! F. l& y' f# `( n @& EChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer. w( V, m* d" Y0 v' H; [$ W; I5 w
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American7 x) E+ b' X4 S4 X: J4 W
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
: }! |4 M8 i/ ^ M3 P) Qbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
- K4 i: \& J B$ n N, ~" Psaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia# @4 T4 _6 T" @. w* I( y# ^ m
Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
6 M2 ~8 {! W% _* M- k4 ]Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
7 f- N: `5 J8 _! ~the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our9 p. W: ^/ F- G4 n$ G
own."
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4 p* T8 Q1 ^" L, J* N+ i. {6 M7 CCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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