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October 15, 2005, ? U4 b {3 H
Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
" O) V: F/ |0 f) k3 B3 A% L" ?' U8 y* O! _
By GRETCHEN RUETHLING4 U5 ~! q$ K3 k0 Z# F. Y
4 b" B) d2 }" [- \6 R" J) jCHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the V( a) d. G% w$ \& W2 {( f
United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary( X' q9 x- P5 W. |* s
School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas
7 I' ^2 x5 f* O) _2 Vdangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese. o+ z6 Z/ E( d& d4 e
flag hang from the wall.
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One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one
3 J, N7 h! ^! f; L+ {& P- l" M1 canother and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders
) f7 B/ O' k+ r9 |; R! Lpracticed writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker* c5 U# ^) D2 ?3 a4 @
boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students
7 n) m0 ? {' U% w" g. z# L% Hare already choosing it over Spanish.( D) b K% ^# |6 K
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"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal
3 u0 l4 [! [3 o$ a. Pat Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city
1 j4 ?- c7 Z- L- Loffering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in.". m/ d& e9 j3 f- G- j5 ?0 _
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With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments,
2 V& Y9 q: S" |- K/ {8 ]0 _& A& wschools across the United States are expanding their language offerings4 d7 f5 q& V) @
to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention
+ _4 T* D& k; i3 p" Done of its most difficult to learn.! S/ r7 t0 v0 e0 x! d$ W) [
( ~% ]; Y4 i; L T6 E' iLast month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to8 g* ^3 W1 D7 |1 @+ Y y* B
public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students. M' \% ^8 g; e0 L& f
studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I.
8 u8 z; g; g/ U6 o/ CLieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of
9 r8 ]8 v* W8 W% R% G# NTennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on; C% _6 Z! ^& w; N! i. |# l
Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to
, I! G! k% O7 W. t1 ?3 y, _6 oimprove ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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3 s# ]4 ^- G3 J! A2 @After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement3 K% o. U+ s5 F' f- R/ l* D
Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country
; j% @2 { x" n0 J. |starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to
+ S6 t$ n# T# q- O* A" o! ?develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing! s) I% ?+ D* \1 K( {) u8 U. R
curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director
0 d( y! s2 u5 cof the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.- D7 \+ U8 e4 Y, t
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"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of E! i! e: X% ^& N
speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education! u, w. }0 e$ G4 s i$ |* w
Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we) j& Z0 Q7 k. r3 |9 n ^
can."
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The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from9 I* q! x. T( b1 \" c1 j7 H) p/ H
elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 109 A ]3 s% Y3 }0 |& G z- Q' @
years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language
( J# W. O; t }- b5 ~Institute in Washington.
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7 A) @' f/ r9 d"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages
: x: D5 v1 {1 f- I2 Qaren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr.
* f) p$ O9 e4 Q# M0 x6 J$ [; M+ c0 jMcGinnis said.( I" h/ j/ w e# q
! o, s7 O" R3 Y3 N( A! h9 T"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical
c+ z) w u0 v2 H/ T6 D5 S6 Zlongstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be
; ~& R8 _/ r7 y1 c( Cready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a
& E+ M& Y% g6 {: \challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."& z/ p! c0 {2 P6 K
P7 z4 r% g4 f- A& W/ b1 a! J& kUp to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and
2 c9 C$ E/ \9 d8 Dsecondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in5 l! d% R' b( |; t
cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of
5 A0 z+ @* N; n" V$ _. qChinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or
0 K. Q) n7 ?* c5 E- ~2 Bon weekends.2 G! _" S- H0 x9 r D2 E( `# w
" I; U+ l1 l3 x) q3 JThe Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public
% H$ x0 M% | g9 v9 }" Q# ischools during the regular school day and primarily serves, m4 S' I8 ?. Y7 k, _1 _
students who are not of Chinese descent.7 S4 U8 @! k' p( J: s* a- X4 l, T
) }/ @( k5 T. j" {0 l# y7 t2 R8 @/ Y7 \Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said
8 h: I& ?1 _; R4 z: ~; L, `* @! oproficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the
' m o8 l* W6 k( V9 z: Ucompetition. 1 p/ T5 L, U& P5 r
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"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley. M8 l; m9 |8 v5 H* q
said. "There will be Chinese and English."
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From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly
# Z: W& F8 V9 @7 _7 lall-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse
1 X* I: z- A, E nschools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from
8 ?! m0 M# j1 D8 E( I* Qkindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students8 J0 F) b0 f* P3 R. Q N: `
who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to$ k4 f; {3 y: P% h5 t
the school system last year.2 n9 A; y- H" b. B- ~
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The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this
( ]) [" A5 b" }! L; x5 Qyear and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.4 a* [+ _8 D/ U8 k% {4 l7 T
. g+ z# o0 \! ]0 T/ K R"They have a great international experience right in their own' q) c+ h0 Q4 Q& I. w
classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago+ R) I# }* Q, M0 O$ W
Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to7 A* t5 N# Q& y
help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet0 _5 W1 L% ^1 H' f; Q$ `* {
on an equal playing field."% p8 P' Y4 G9 v1 K! U6 R0 G
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Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese
8 h0 R2 ^( r5 F, r/ F p+ vclasses are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign* S2 y- }; a% I1 m# D! o$ l/ T
Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks8 o6 l+ _+ j; n7 ^$ ~6 `% |$ l
Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An
: ^: Q0 [$ c4 G( _* |) d! A/ }9 r! V# Saverage English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in$ X+ _. |, d' ^9 i7 g; i
Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the E o9 p$ x0 a1 u. @# T
institute says.( V9 a* E0 c3 Q' |1 V4 N
6 T1 ~9 b+ Z1 `" H& u, DSevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth Y3 W: \, z1 Y9 k# M) V
grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before$ k8 P8 U; @& V- v) d, y
deciding whether to take the class.
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2 w! Z K& k1 v3 ^3 `- `& R+ ^"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she
# Z/ s, g9 c- A. Etold her daughter.
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Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite
- ?& _0 }, n& q6 j7 ?class.. ^7 J6 h4 i# B- t' y7 P: ]9 ~2 n( O
8 i! s$ ^" Y5 JAt Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are
5 c6 b" y' a1 cstudying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without
" b) `3 h0 E6 ]3 roccasional frustration., p: J1 I% G7 ]" W2 M
" X4 ?0 f2 e# a6 j9 a$ M! T5 J! @% ~"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a U) ]8 e. b+ `9 a9 j9 ~
recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.3 b6 f" F1 j. ?( l0 }7 c
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Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he
: F8 i) _% W7 g, L, J$ ^taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with
6 ~: A9 n5 R+ x6 @ sChinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.' g! o- w6 Y- _6 p% k5 x
0 `% k* r8 l7 x. N5 I- P8 i* u"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul
, w5 Y8 `7 R1 wsaid. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn
1 N' L0 ^0 U' o) c6 Pas many languages as I can."
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Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the
5 F6 `/ b1 ]* I' `3 y+ Xskills would help her son be a better competitor in the job% X8 a5 R" x; z
market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like
/ O! O' J/ M" g1 F3 _that," Ms. Freire said.
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! d) u4 P8 G# h7 m" y7 iMost of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program, u6 }" b/ R; J0 L
here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each
( }9 _. K7 R4 z/ Cschool decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking- r# T. B5 `( Y) K8 u
time from classes like physical education, music and art to make
0 j7 p) k5 n& q* yroom.
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; U# u2 L; i3 y3 ^7 W( D+ J6 c" KChicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer
0 ~6 W O* _4 ~! f* }4 X7 U* H6 MChinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American5 g9 ]5 }- }1 G- {, D* N
college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
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I. f. R6 ^- z2 p6 R. S"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified
( H0 X. q8 q, H6 C r5 Xbecause of that missing certification," he said.
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The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States,
, x6 p1 L& \- R* W$ I# K% r8 Isaid Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia7 A* K3 w5 r. a
Society in New York.% X: _, `5 P2 K2 Q9 C+ Z. ]) r0 ?
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Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the; K- r4 e: a( Q7 X9 K# Q
Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from
+ _3 [) M7 l5 J" z1 hthe United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.: \! @& T& M2 Z8 E$ W2 U
, ^4 o* n7 _6 [: o }. y"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our
u$ S& n( B3 k* }/ p1 n) T# cown."
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' S4 j- m$ ~# M5 z. v7 tCopyright 2005 The New York Times Company |
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