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U.S. GOVERNMENT 1: U.S. Teaches Chinese Language

In an effort to prepare for the emergence of China as a global superpower, the U.S. government is pushing for Mandarin Chinese classes in schools across the nation. Woodstock Elementary School in Portland, Oregon, is one of the few schools that are beginning to teach the language at an elementary level. Students as young as 5-years-old are learning basic Mandarin language skills through songs, games, and classroom exercises.

The program at the Oregon elementary school is the first in the country to track students’ progress from kindergarten through college. The U.S. Defense Department granted $700,000 to the school district and University of Oregon for language programs this fall. The idea behind the program is for students to begin in the Portland school system up through the university. Scholarships will be available for students to eventually take college courses taught mostly in Chinese. There will also be an option to study abroad at Nanjing University in China during their junior year. The ultimate goal of the program is to prepare students for the workforce with a fluency in Chinese.

Currently, the number of students who take Mandarin language classes in the U.S. is small, only about 24,000, and most of them are high school students. On the other hand, the most popular language is Spanish with 3 million students, followed by French and German. Despite the statistics, several schools in urban cities, such as Chicago, Houston, and Boston, are launching Mandarin language programs.

In 2003, the College Board surveyed high schools and asked whether they would consider offering their students Advanced Placement courses in Italian, Russian, Japanese and Chinese. Approximately 50 schools replied that they would offer Russian classes, 175 for Japanese classes, and 240 for Italian classes, but the overwhelming response was for Chinese AP courses. Tom Matts, College Board initiative director, told the Associated Press, "For Chinese, it was 2,400, 10 times the number of any of the other three. We had no idea there was such an incredible interest out there. Of all the new AP courses, certainly Chinese shows the most promise for growth."

The Foreign Relations Committee in the U.S. Senate is also considering a proposal that would set aside $1.3 billion to support Chinese language and culture classes in public schools. Michael Levine, education director at The Asia Society in New York City, told the Associated Press, “There are great big multiples of kids who are studying the European languages, but when we think about our economy, and the new markets we are expanding into, it is time to recalibrate some of our attention.”

--Written by Renee Clara

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