Taking Spanish, French, or German is so 20th century: today's savvy students are all about learning Mandarin Chinese, one of the most difficult foreign languages to master. With China poised to dominate tomorrow's market (and many of Ohio's manufacturing jobs already departed for the Asian superpower), the U.S. government recently decided to sponsor a push towards learning Mandarin. Even while many Ohio students struggle to learn English and pass the state's graduation test, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has jumped on the learn-Chinese bandwagon. On Thursday, January 19th, ODE will sponsor an informational meeting for districts interested in offering Mandarin to their students.
"More students learning Mandarin Chinese," by Julia Silverman, Associated Press, January 2, 2006
"Announcing visiting teachers program from People's Republic of China," Ohio Department of Education