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October 15, 2005, C* h3 j7 e- h
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity3 { t8 a" m+ h6 J% {% Y! K( E
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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* `6 e) ^+ L& i2 N/ tCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the
1 V4 m, y. G) u* iUnited States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary3 V0 j7 O" I' T. U. |" R
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas5 b5 o! M0 O0 l* i
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
- C6 |9 m6 i9 _' Z( o% k6 O5 T5 Aflag hang from the wall.. c- O4 ^" ^* s" T; K! \8 v! ^/ K/ E
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one5 a. U! p: E" {: I+ H
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
9 N# ~; r" Y: y' V% K6 u! O7 v7 Fpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker0 F' h* Q- c& j; M2 m. O5 `
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students3 m P, j# T- `
are already choosing it over Spanish.) l9 |8 t! D4 ^4 f0 l
2 V) m: `: F. _8 M. I8 I7 X"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal9 U: R2 Q$ A- e# x# O' j5 n& H3 o I
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
; v x& a; w7 c9 e% s( yoffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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m( J9 w+ s7 m6 y+ t+ _With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments, Z( G/ S/ F7 L' S! ~* i3 y/ G
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings
8 l5 v; T5 S5 `$ a# ^to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
% z# x4 p/ I$ E! h! Kone of its most difficult to learn.* }# U5 B8 T0 N# s0 z
9 W/ @, l: ^( \2 C* oLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
; m$ r" S# S2 D- K0 Y! Q7 G+ upublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students- K4 P6 W' t k2 \! p1 B5 m R3 Q
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
6 {/ j) {! `; P/ j5 eLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
7 P6 l# _, B* l( sTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on
; h2 g) W5 n' Z% y9 RChinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
# v! O8 K/ Z) B" N( u v; ~! Dimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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5 q0 ]# l, [5 }) xAfter 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement
6 @8 ^- c/ I* b* G% B' u5 ~' r5 ~Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
_! h8 _- H3 g* u3 @/ x$ mstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to4 D2 H/ p* S3 j# ^/ ~
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing
1 c9 H# b) _# o3 j! `/ gcurriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director9 u3 C7 y; [. N5 ]
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.6 c! {. D- G7 r. t: \. u3 S9 F
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of
/ L7 q/ {- m* e3 l# hspeaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education: l/ ^+ @6 u7 V! v9 D
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we! `1 h3 e8 {3 B" B2 K% H# Y6 ]: G
can." : C2 U; T% C. D# A, h3 D8 k
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
9 b; p# M. k1 r+ Belementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
" P! @$ g3 d! Y. k' ]years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language- d3 N" g; C' p V- u0 P8 r
Institute in Washington.
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7 {5 H. m! T7 K" J, H"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages4 x6 B) u7 r2 {) [
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
+ O( E( L5 j0 RMcGinnis said.* I4 f0 n6 |; J# L6 d6 ^+ T
2 N8 R9 {( D( K! K' L" k"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
1 J X6 D1 Y% T$ Y1 S/ L' m1 @- Hlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be: ?# `, x. y# F4 X. S
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a% C4 f5 l/ ]* [5 r4 y2 q& x! H
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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, C; K2 m8 v5 A7 O4 g4 ^! _Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
3 M0 }9 _. r8 V6 |secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
m! H7 p3 A: V& I* p0 \$ Xcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
! o z# _5 s. A9 e) wChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
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7 d* j7 }0 e5 H! j* G, s5 kThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
- [% T9 [! |% u7 t% D; hschools during the regular school day and primarily serves0 b8 C; M0 i2 ]' B/ G
students who are not of Chinese descent.
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! L5 _3 \9 ]* C+ M; |$ q+ q3 pMayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
) ]; }% P6 q7 s! c' A2 h% Uproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the% X: h) |" {; d2 ]
competition. % ?6 H/ `, r' c/ A' ~
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
# V3 I) N: Q- v1 k3 Bsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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) c5 ?8 j# N/ E9 p7 `& n$ Q0 \ T PFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly! a$ W9 O, W6 z4 ~7 i
all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
/ t* k, i, Q& s0 I, o4 x+ Fschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
2 O) J+ ~: Z+ Nkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
$ [) o8 f! j( a" Hwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to. S$ D$ T. d8 j- D% F+ `
the school system last year.5 c. i- \1 T m: B, m8 ^! N( k7 [
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this# r# m' s* Y, k. C* m7 q i
year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year." r, H5 S0 r0 W; t M9 d0 w
F7 R+ m$ ~& a6 M"They have a great international experience right in their own
3 b" d1 A( ?. ?classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
( F: Q' J& i+ F9 w: Q9 h; y2 Y! wChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to5 S& `+ i& L" ?: B0 [
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
; t/ |3 b9 J6 mon an equal playing field."2 ^- W; T" M6 l
3 k4 e6 l2 ~7 x. b' C* V# uSome parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
! p9 v0 N9 j: m& H- m7 c. @classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
( x7 R/ w- d# |) u3 E; WService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks8 j$ b) v5 ~" b3 _! u* Z* k
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
. u1 ^) H2 L2 a; k9 p" Uaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in4 ?, J) E* d) _, t# C
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the# f# f- ~& h3 _! m# L4 d$ J Q8 j
institute says.8 M+ G {, J' x! I- ?) C
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
/ J; U! ]9 T y/ H/ _3 D" Cgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
@( H; e* C( \7 k# w9 v, Odeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she. B' R& v$ `/ j4 g: j
told her daughter.
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) @+ g* n! I- a* ^Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite* K) e% l+ d, A! }
class.) `& h3 b6 N) `" u: _% u
$ }+ [" e. X3 _! m5 C, L( [, nAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are- z4 u$ f5 \; ^0 _1 p
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
/ q3 C0 F8 u: U. E5 }+ q' W9 {occasional frustration.
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4 d4 Z& T9 M5 \4 i"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
3 c2 ~' U" J; R* |9 {6 X3 M( \3 qrecent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.; L3 ?! Z0 I7 I( y8 f
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
: ^6 X) |2 d7 g5 l# i) Z0 `taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with5 h1 x7 q! J5 v6 s
Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
1 @. R4 x, J: k1 asaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn( b8 h- u. A9 N$ S+ q+ B7 L; P
as many languages as I can." R; I& z" u, S% a
2 Q1 Q& a& `: r8 u ^Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the& e* ?6 T9 Z( x, y( O
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job6 g% x, D4 X3 A
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like X$ {9 N) M% \0 c2 e5 H; W
that," Ms. Freire said.
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6 h5 `4 ? s2 \" [Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program3 y9 t' j. V) F' J3 |
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each3 q+ f g& _6 g
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking+ i, {( I C% J% I- X
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
+ V8 a2 W4 C+ k, _room.$ g- {8 M, P7 k5 U4 A
' f) `' H6 O6 DChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
) K. g# v& \. ]2 Q. x# r7 gChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American1 W9 O! w6 I$ {1 t9 u& D
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.9 e8 c2 m0 n' z9 l/ ~* b
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"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
3 J* X' R9 _5 ~. d6 V6 e& w; _because of that missing certification," he said.
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0 O# s' u0 f# }: ~9 JThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,1 p; b4 D* K* R* {/ J- h
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia. x! M0 Z. q% G5 G. A
Society in New York.4 | h$ A( w% b1 P- ^- n7 {* O
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the
7 ~ o. }& T& ~5 I$ [; TChinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from8 H. u: p( ]" ^9 v5 a
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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