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October 15, 2005* I- d. W+ A9 ~2 o
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity% [/ Y5 h4 c; o% K0 a/ Z
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By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
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" r+ o/ c7 t) C. cCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the' o$ t" ~( w Y* g7 F
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary
6 X7 g$ w! F2 _6 \School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
* _/ r: ~) e7 S- b/ Fdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese
2 j& y7 H6 k6 ^" S" G" qflag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
. P% [0 J. ^# c X/ x# I F. nanother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
# n: W t x( _% B0 C& e, T0 Tpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker7 c# z4 }9 `" u T3 U% S+ u
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students$ x+ N, B* K8 c# h) k1 U
are already choosing it over Spanish.
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal2 y+ s! `$ t" B3 |9 F3 C4 g) Y
at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
0 }; Y) B% {4 K/ s1 v ioffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
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5 ~- f, V7 T6 N3 y) s7 S hWith encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
2 I$ t$ ` T, Y: `1 j4 M# eschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings+ C4 @. u; R1 R: o1 U
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
* @% P9 q9 {5 l, Pone of its most difficult to learn., Q( @1 n4 \3 ^* g
0 O- G: V5 ?8 j" @1 y1 ZLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to
' E: n3 ^% j! ?2 B5 M1 B9 p# ppublic schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students F6 k6 H# G- e; M/ `
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.9 F! M/ {. d/ n. [2 n" l6 w! {5 ^
Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
( G m) `1 d! e4 ~Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on9 N. L0 p z# g- _* d# k7 |1 R. F
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to; t5 f$ S: P# ?( D$ M! F6 v
improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.3 Z, {# U$ H$ R
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After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement |' q/ q+ r0 o B
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
* b2 F0 ~! f2 T U Jstarting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
( D+ c, ~. C9 Ydevelop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing4 `# b6 p8 ~7 L
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
8 c- b" t* k ?- R# }of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board., h' _ X5 S* i: z3 s3 H* W+ v& N
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of$ N3 Q9 c: a* A2 _$ ?6 _' R
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education
6 P! B0 k* P( Z: Y' qConsulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we# F* l7 ^2 k, r
can."
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9 W. X3 K1 g/ ^* bThe number of Chinese language programs around the country, from
! m$ b2 ] Z5 _' N2 _# u! A8 `elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10
7 B4 P K' d) }" Byears, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language( m* L3 g2 f0 ~2 N& o$ l
Institute in Washington.9 @0 p/ v! {3 u6 D0 O
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"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
9 U& y0 n3 i) K5 W. ^6 |- `/ Saren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.. n2 n% P5 f1 O Y& J9 i c( r
McGinnis said.
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" p1 K) D7 M) E% v) j* m7 Q"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical" L9 P7 ~, t3 d$ i3 H1 |( q
longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be$ h, I* w( c$ S% V0 M6 T8 h+ |6 A9 K+ C+ g
ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
! O& D0 q* H2 T5 z1 _; T( achallenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
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9 L+ L1 D' n0 z( T0 hUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and7 }- ]9 }6 m: ?# }7 Y! O) y; \
secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in& @* k8 ~& y4 g, [: @5 T
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
0 N- B/ [1 y7 t7 H; CChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
( m8 o* V i& ?3 Kon weekends.
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The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
8 F% I* m2 B, rschools during the regular school day and primarily serves
% z Q* X$ A; q0 \' I) tstudents who are not of Chinese descent.
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Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said' A6 s$ x3 d, B2 B$ Q- g
proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
& q, E3 V, l4 H* h( lcompetition. / V( b& B% `$ r& i( Z4 X( j+ [+ {
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley
1 o* w0 I# B& Fsaid. "There will be Chinese and English."
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) M* W8 D; D" V) t8 q F& G4 D$ cFrom an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
5 b/ X; P& |+ [. jall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
8 |" m, O/ I0 J* }schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
, i, B2 d" ~( K Y' nkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students% g: M* ?4 O2 b; G1 j
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to
& H* R% g$ ~( ?) Zthe school system last year.4 J: d. ^6 Z) l7 T, h0 r
2 `" j& r, G6 f/ p5 X8 |The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
' T* d% O( d Uyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.! {; h: b8 M8 p) [: e8 j
) ^ I) ?/ O4 z* T) V/ \"They have a great international experience right in their own: P) A1 P9 P: ]8 w C: G: {; T
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago
, C" E+ e; q8 ]" E+ ~Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to
/ J c/ a) x0 G* s9 u$ _5 p) N7 nhelp students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet
6 l# R8 {) w$ o0 E! mon an equal playing field."
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese# J4 ^% _$ K- E! q% S3 y
classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign
! s" ~$ j- q. R* T) pService Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks
+ l e Y8 H9 f; [9 R( P3 tChinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
4 W9 U/ a2 N' `$ qaverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in( a) a6 ^. H3 L* V& O
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the! v9 i; B: r, x4 Y1 C v; i
institute says.' I H! t: c( o
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Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth2 T1 i( m3 y5 H! P- x2 S" h& t
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before
/ q" k0 K# M. C9 {- J1 W, w( Jdeciding whether to take the class.
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"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she3 b R1 l# C9 ]% W y; ]
told her daughter.. U/ [ L% P3 X$ j" A' G
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite7 c' x, [3 _/ C/ P/ N% {
class.! X( x0 v; F. w* o* r: Q- Q
5 i( G& V. O/ }& A/ b2 ~At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
j4 h/ Z" w: estudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
7 X2 A9 f- ~+ M* q: Toccasional frustration.+ _1 R/ B& p( g$ W$ Z/ O: m
+ ` d' ]1 L( _3 a"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a
" V q1 Z5 w9 J, T% Precent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
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. v: u* E* U; URaul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he' U8 E9 X7 h4 P. Z
taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
0 K9 `# C& `, S; U; DChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
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"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul( l4 }+ d+ E5 A- C
said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
. M% P# i4 \$ [0 p) ]as many languages as I can."# A8 B! `( T- B5 K5 {8 E8 g
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
3 p9 m# I. o' H+ F. h+ @, lskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job
- h7 p1 ]1 c8 ^) W% ?* Omarket. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like C- X/ x. ]& \$ ~7 l
that," Ms. Freire said.
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Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program
/ i6 N" a: p" C' @* o2 B \% I1 }here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
9 r, b* R# a0 L, J5 I5 q% e% sschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking
% n; h8 b/ P& _8 y, m% K6 gtime from classes like physical education, music and art to make
! H, Y$ r/ S% y; H3 lroom.
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Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
' b( x* e3 z8 Q4 |Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American8 y# W5 b8 O, f! L* C
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& F0 k- h* |1 Q0 F# f {
because of that missing certification," he said.% w0 g8 R5 B6 S# m9 N6 L* R
) M& Z! B6 q# J, O( A; @) nThe shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,( r& m; Q5 o* a1 P1 Y' ?' D$ l
said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia- g/ A! X+ H$ H" k0 [
Society in New York., m4 Z& L2 A/ s5 |( U, T- Q9 [4 O
* O3 ?8 v8 n* c% j+ L% b, ASix states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the) {4 x7 w8 Z, Y2 }* N
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from2 t$ f& e( z" k6 w( i# E U
the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.8 ~; A/ E% l4 h1 `% W" q/ q! u
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"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
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, f9 n3 a! E; P- nCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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