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October 15, 2005* c2 ?" U/ p5 j6 m; t+ u
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity, s' O" y" `$ I
6 d) o+ H2 J" C# `% J6 UBy GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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$ v: b6 d5 b5 z4 t; ], f/ gCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the$ n7 ?) f* i: U
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
: y+ d9 \ P! Z2 J' X4 L6 QSchool, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas; ]5 [* e/ g0 ~9 w& C7 ]
dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese; @, X% N, B$ |4 [9 c! x; q6 S4 i5 m
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one4 ? p- g* W- F# [6 u
another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
2 M: |% Q' u& t0 `' m) Kpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker8 b9 G# k8 c& s* L( h2 X5 J- {( f/ s
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students$ o3 Q/ T. J1 o, j! e- w+ S4 y# [ ]
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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; [0 q4 E* Q. C% t/ N"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal, g7 B7 X4 E. P
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city) g4 q8 J/ Q& L' \/ u
offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments, T: u% J& S5 ?; G. x
schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings( ?4 O8 _1 S9 J' N9 l
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention; k- ~& _: @9 @5 i) f! v
one of its most difficult to learn.
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" _& P, y3 R/ K& M: CLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to9 N( i8 }# S- u, w: E
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students% D+ A' _% c) s; Q- I! l3 k
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I., V6 o: f& ]3 U. e C0 u/ O F: f
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
3 I$ z# b0 A1 f" w# j1 GTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on4 k& X, w8 [- N7 y
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
) h7 Q9 S; W( X* vimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.% \' H, Q' I8 W4 p# n
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement8 }6 s% a/ k Y( e) q: r3 J
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
# B3 X( J$ L( ^% D8 cstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to) i& ?2 I# x6 M- q2 t
develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing2 n, T( G9 U) O0 S3 G
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director; X2 |& J3 [! ?+ q% U" }
of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.2 K" ^# A) m3 s0 h! o$ T" }7 _; i/ M# w
/ F( P+ P( G9 }4 Q- M6 l; {( s"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of# n3 |2 {3 C9 k- c) i
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education( D5 |6 g. ]: w0 a |
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we
2 ?, V9 p" F/ I) M- p9 lcan." ' ^% t3 @4 {" V! T, T/ U6 A% G
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from5 \+ U4 m0 [& D" q8 h0 H
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10* j8 ^( N+ p- V+ s! F% |9 n6 W, p
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language }- [* P! r( A' R) z0 c: s+ q( Z
Institute in Washington.! c" v* Z3 q/ X' O; M3 R% \
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages' y4 T5 v5 O b+ h
aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.' t8 D6 J2 H* H. x4 I! E) i8 A/ c3 @
McGinnis said.3 s% t- j# b4 e1 g! ~" ^, e' H! M
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"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical1 h3 X' @4 f: E0 ]
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be+ F3 j }. G# A8 b
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a6 Y! U0 I2 k6 T1 s" a. w f9 G3 S
challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."5 ?, `; ~" o5 s+ b$ A0 M3 w
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Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
- C) d& {. N8 h9 @2 l5 esecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in
' `* }+ P# v- b" Hcities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of1 h k9 ~; l9 ], y( }# P9 H$ U
Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or1 Z' o- c( @# e, C
on weekends.
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6 J& z' h! K0 t3 v, uThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
. Z2 D+ y* R: v' Pschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
2 d/ A3 w' Y" t. G! xstudents who are not of Chinese descent.9 {3 A" b s! b) D
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
2 @+ m+ e! L, Y% Oproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the) D3 x( C9 P0 @, J8 X
competition. . _; ~# G0 A! R5 u$ d
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
6 L0 C; e6 d5 u p2 x# W# _said. "There will be Chinese and English."1 @/ l2 P# C7 s+ X
) ]5 ]1 c- E6 [1 l$ kFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
R# L8 }5 u/ nall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse# z5 P; ?/ ]* L, T% r. j
schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
) l5 T/ t1 R; q1 u- dkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students
2 G" @% m3 \. E; xwho are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to! M8 D0 m. I; k: x) i
the school system last year.1 Z$ C% H- h8 v7 |* K2 D# Y
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
- q7 h. t! _! `" O4 cyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
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# r2 i7 K* G6 U1 m; X"They have a great international experience right in their own
3 V4 L! W( z" N8 `- p6 z$ Q$ `classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
% m1 S2 G# _ x9 c* uChinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
" W0 B+ J2 U ^. O# s0 b1 Ihelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
0 v1 z( S/ ^4 N$ E3 _on an equal playing field."% L5 ~8 q2 B7 z3 I3 B% Y
/ u$ ?, J- v4 O8 t9 w$ R- G) ~Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
- y6 C1 x/ q Q. o& I+ ]classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
3 m2 L( k4 q0 }+ u- RService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks u$ U1 O$ Z8 W/ h3 d
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
& a" b. C( [5 n9 b' t4 Paverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in
8 B) s3 k8 R4 P! u BChinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the
# B' J0 Q1 G2 w7 m4 h; e$ rinstitute says.7 n( c! Z' N' s0 |6 q9 Q+ y
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth
& I3 B/ K6 {) ?3 r4 o0 Dgrader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before1 P5 M2 l9 g7 I$ A5 W$ J6 ?' |
deciding whether to take the class.- l" X9 Y8 k- D; J! r% |) C
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
+ y: i W2 p5 Atold her daughter.+ P; w* o, r8 J3 Z0 J
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
, H) v9 a) [; B8 ^- Z( V2 xclass.$ R3 I5 A6 `* F
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At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are6 v: A5 Q. y! P) P+ D
studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
( g6 E( J9 @8 r* uoccasional frustration.# g6 M' W% |9 ^6 p. b, I4 A1 ?; C
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"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a9 {$ a' _% `+ F
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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3 D- M% |( W$ tRaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
6 A& q' H7 J" x: ]* n% Jtaught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
+ H9 A! g4 v. J$ d; A3 s5 ?Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.* _( Y9 k3 @& L* p, k* I
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
5 ~. G8 ~. _/ D3 N2 g4 L8 B ]said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn& Y* X# d" P% D" G S
as many languages as I can."5 m0 K4 R7 `( A/ {1 f& u
+ \0 e8 O2 G* ZAdriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the. a* m7 ]2 m- E" }9 H& Q$ D
skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
( w4 S/ c; K2 s, z9 s8 ~market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like3 q7 S3 G; R8 r% U% v
that," Ms. Freire said./ B6 J5 n4 ^) n
- Z4 j M! g, n4 yMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
$ u% U8 c) `, H/ T4 j2 E* Nhere offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each' m9 E# E; T0 ~3 u0 A5 z- ?
school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking+ R( h9 q; z5 L4 @
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make; O: k& z% c k) m X
room." l2 B+ q/ x& z1 o( [$ m: d7 @
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer' H/ B5 ], K1 l1 j* c
Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American8 a- b' R9 O, n' f/ _- ~
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( N6 W- L) ^6 J+ T b. p' R
because of that missing certification," he said.7 E# o# k' I6 T y9 k
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,* G+ p1 B9 R, U3 H) c5 U) |3 C9 ]: C
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia
' P9 P% b1 [& ^, j' x4 a6 ]Society in New York.
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the* u0 ?5 Z( w8 f, v/ p. l; e
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
b' r# b- |: v7 G& C9 }the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said./ F6 r; U0 E v5 [ V
1 U3 ]- d& f* D7 c% }& E- K( v: l"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
: `9 Z7 @- A4 Y8 ~& A* Zown."
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