In the News ....................................................

East Meets West Metro
(Star Tribune (MN), November 28, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "On a recent Sunday afternoon, at a Delano property down the road from a buffalo farm, high-schooler Stephanie Kusa was showing 17-year-old Hu Xiaowei, a student from Tanggu, China, how to thread puffy white globs onto a prong and scorch them over a fire until they turned the color of charcoal. "

Chinese Language Courses Grow in U.S. Schools
(NewsMax West Palm Beach, November 27, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: ""I think we would have to characterize what’s happening with the expansion of Chinese programs right now as an explosion,” Marty Abbott, director of education at the Council, told the Los Angeles Times. "It really is unprecedented. People are looking at China as a force to be reckoned with . . . And to ensure that the U.S. has the ability to conduct trade, to sell our goods, and to work with the Chinese, certainly having an understanding of Chinese language and culture is an advantage.”"

Mandarin Speaks to a Growing Audience
(LA Times, November 26, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "English is rarely heard in Lisa Yang's class at the Chinese American International School, despite the fact that few students are native speakers of Mandarin and fewer than half come from families with Chinese ancestry. At a time when the United States is frantically trying to increase the ranks of students in "critical languages" such as Mandarin, students here are ahead of the curve — way ahead."

Bye-bye French, Hello Chinese
(Monterey County Herald, November 13, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "The trend toward offering Asian languages at the high school level is slowly picking up steam throughout Monterey County. Soledad Unified has offered Japanese in the past. Carmel Unified is considering a proposal to add Chinese to its curriculum during a board meeting today."

Word is Out: Chinese Classes Gain Popularity
(Miami Herald, November 5, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "According to the Florida Department of Education, 87 students statewide were enrolled in Chinese I and II last school year. Numbers for this year are not yet available, but there are at least three times that many in Miami-Dade and Broward alone. Sophomore Christy Neylon is taking Chinese I this year at Coral Glades High in Coral Springs.

'It was either this or weight training. I was like, `that's dumb.' I don't want a pointless class,'' said Christy, 15, who uses her newfound skills working at a Chinese restaurant. ``I wanted to choose a class that would actually benefit me in the future.''

Demand for Chinese Language Teachers Grows as More Schools Teach It
(AP, October 26, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "With a growing number of school districts in New Jersey and across the country offering Chinese language classes, Rutgers University is trying to fill the void. A university program that usually provides additional training in teaching methods for language teachers already in the classroom has started to do something entirely new — to help provide the courses needed for those fluent in Mandarin Chinese to gain a certificate to teach it."

Chinese Hear in More Classrooms
(Pioneer Press (Minnesota), October 19, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Mary Bergin was a bit skeptical when she was told another teacher would be coming to her classroom for 20 minutes a week to help her third-graders learn Chinese. Within weeks, though, her Mounds Park Academy classroom rang with students clearly singing songs in the new language, and the children could confidently call out numbers in Chinese when their teacher held up cards displaying the corresponding character."

East Meets West in U.S. Schools
(International Herald Tribune, October 16, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Paris Buedel is a typical American 8-year-old who is into basketball, piano lessons and Lego. And, oh yes, he spends half of each school day speaking Mandarin. Paris is enrolled in a "dual immersion" program at the Glenwood Elementary School here in which the pupils - half native Chinese, half English speakers - do their lessons in two languages. The program is indicative of one of the fastest-growing curriculum trends in U.S. schools: the study of Chinese."

Across Latin America, Mandarin is in the Air
(Washington Post, September 26, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Universities across Latin America, from Mexico to Buenos Aires, are founding Asian studies programs and teaching Chinese. Institutions of all kinds -- some are expensive one-on-one tutorials and others are fly-by-night language academies staffed by illegal Chinese immigrants -- are being inundated with new students. The University of Buenos Aires started its Chinese-language department in 2004 after Hu led a high-level delegation to Argentina, Brazil and other countries. "It generated so much interest, and people started to say, 'Where is there a place to learn Chinese?' " Maria Chao, the coordinator of the department, said by phone from Buenos Aires. "They see the language as a way to communicate and cut some distance between the two countries."

East Brunswick High School Looks East
(New Brunswick Home News Tribune, September 26, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Students at East Brunswick High School can now earn credits for taking Mandarin-language classes at the township's private Mid-Jersey Chinese School, an apparent first in the state. Because the high school does not offer its own Chinese-language courses, the township's Board of Education recently approved allowing students to earn between five and 10 credit for Chinese courses taken at the private school. To graduate, East Brunswick students must earn 10 foreign-language credits."

In Schools, Learning Chinese Isn't Foreign Anymore
(Seattle Times, September 12, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "As "globalization" becomes a household word, China's political and economic prowess is persuading more Americans to learn Mandarin, the most common dialect of Chinese, said Michele Anciaux Aoki, project director for the Washington State Coalition for International Education."It definitely reflects a shift from the assumption that learning a language was a formality," Aoki said. "To partner with the rest of the world, to collaborate with them, as well as to negotiate and work through conflict ... we need to know about other cultures and we need to have language experience," she said.

With a Changing World Comes an Urgency to Learn Chinese
(Washington Post, August 28, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "The U.S. government flew 10 teachers to Washington from China this month and gave them a five-day crash course in Dupont Circle on how to teach -- American-style -- before dispatching them to schools across the country. Although the number may seem small, the scramble to recruit and train these teachers for the start of this school year underscores the urgency the Bush administration is placing on establishing Chinese programs in U.S. classrooms."

City Trains U.S. Teachers
(Shanghai Daily News, July 10, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "The first batch of 16 teachers from the United States started their Chinese-language masters training program in the city yesterday. Program graduates will be eligible for 12 masters education credits recognized by the New York State Education Department. With that, they can apply for a Chinese teaching license in New York."

Mandarin Moves Into the School Curriculum
(Hudson Journal News, June 23, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Headmaster Walter Johnson said languages rise and fall in popularity. French — which he studied, but never uses — was once considered the language of diplomacy. Japanese drew interest in the 1980s, and Russian during the Cold War. Spanish has remained a practical choice because of immigration. But Chinese, Johnson said, appeals to Hackley regardless of current events. "Why people pick languages is one thing. Why schools should foster the study of the languages is not necessarily the same thing," he said. To him, Chinese and other Asian languages are a means to learn a different culture and world view."

Get Ahead, Learn Mandarin
(Time Asia, June 19, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Outside Asia, the ranks of students studying Chinese are small but growing rapidly. From 2000-2004, the number of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland doing Advanced Level exams (those normally taken at age 18) in Chinese climbed by 57%. In the U.S., Chinese still lags far behind traditional foreign languages like French and Spanish, but China is the fastest growing destination for college students studying abroad."

Hall School Official Schedules Learning Trip to China
(Gainesville Times, June 13, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: " Hall County School System's director of high schools plans to travel to China this month to meet with elementary and higher education officials. Hanban, China's National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, is paying for some 300 U.S. educators, including Cindy Blakley, to visit the country.Hanban coordinated the effort through The College Board, which administers the SAT, Advanced Placement and other academic programs."

Parlez Vous Mandarin?
(Buffalo News, June 10, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: ""People here think: "Why do we have to learn their language? They can learn ours,' " said Charles E.M. Kolb, president of the national Committee for Economic Development. "That's an insular and arrogant attitude that has to change." "The United States is one of the few industrialized nations in the world where large numbers of students leave high school conversant only in their native language," said Martha Abbott, director of education for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages."

China Promotes Its Culture Overseas to Dissolve "China Threat"
(People's Daily Online, May 28, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "China is striving to dissolve the misconception of its development as the "China threat" in the wake of its rapid economic growth, by making its traditional value systems known to the world.....In an effort to promote Chinese language and culture abroad, China plans to set up 100 "Confucius Institutes" around the world to help foreigners learn Chinese."

Schools Find ChineseTeachers in Short Supply
(NPR, Morning Edition, May 17, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Everyone suddenly wants to learn Mandarin Chinese. The problem is that there are few credentialed teachers. Now the Chinese government is making plans to develop teaching partnerships with U.S. public school districts. Marjorie Sun reports."

Chinese Language Teaching Heats Up in U.S.
(People's Daily Online, May 12, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "The Sino-American Education Consortium (SAEC) plans to recruit about 20 Chinese-language teachers in southwest China to meet the US increasing demand for Chinese courses, said Song Zhihui, vice chairman of the southwest branch of the SAEC...Lately, China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language signed a five-year agreement of cooperation in promoting Chinese language and culture programs in the United States with the US College Board. According to the agreement, some 150 guest teachers will be sent to the US to teach Chinese in the next three years."

For Students of Chinese, Politics Fill the Characters
(San Francisco Gate, May 8, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "As China rises in geopolitical importance, the number of Chinese language classes and schools in other countries also has grown. Not only are children of Chinese immigrants studying the language, more and more non-Asians are learning it for work and travel. Yet as long as there are two systems, the way that many people read and write often reflects their values and loyalties. And indeed, both Beijing and Taipei are fighting for their system's dominance by providing subsidized teacher training trips and free books for language schools."

Chinese, Not Spanish, is Language of Future
(University Daily Kansan, April 27, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Looking further down the line, however, there’s another language that will be taking over as the one to learn: Mandarin Chinese. Just to give you some idea of the importance China has even within our own local community, the country bought more than $300 million in Kansas goods and services last year — making it the third leading buyer — according to the state Department of Commerce. Luckily, if you have contemplated learning the most widely spoken language in the world in anticipation of the growing financial and cultural exchange between the United States and China, the University of Kansas is already way ahead of you."

Chinese Ministry Signs Pact with College Board To Build Up Teachers
(Education Week, April 27, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "In a week marked by a high-profile meeting between President Bush and China’s President Hu Jintao, the College Board signed an agreement with the government of China intended to boost the numbers of Chinese-language teachers in American public schools through teaching exchanges, professional-development programs, and new instructional materials. The agreement, announced April 19, is expected to help build Chinese-language programs in some 2,000 public schools over the next five years. Currently, only a few hundred schools in the K-12 sector offer instruction in the language."

Wisconsin Schools Offer Chinese Language Instruction
(Duluth Tribune, April 21, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Wisconsin already has a pilot program in place to encourage schools to offer classes in Chinese Mandarin. Five public districts participated this school year, and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction hopes to bring that number up to 10 in the next school year."

Chinese Language Blossoms in US Schools
(Washington Post, April 20, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "In a sign of China's growing influence, the notoriously tongue-twisting Chinese language is now among the fastest-growing foreign languages studied in U.S. schools. The trend has been spurred by China's growing global influence, and the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the United States this week has highlighted booming trade ties."

China to Train U.S. Teachers in Chinese
(Washington Post, April 19, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Calling Chinese "an important tool for the rest of the world," China's education minister announced a plan Wednesday to help train hundreds of U.S. educators in the language.

The initiative will bring more than 150 guest teachers to U.S. high schools from China and immerse nearly 600 American teachers of the language in Chinese culture through summer institutes there, organizers said. It will also provide financial aid to nearly 300 American teachers seeking state certification in Chinese."

Studying Native Language Allows Students of Chinese Descent to Understand, Preserve Heritage
(Daily Bruin (UCLA), April 12, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Amid the buzz surrounding the supposed economic advantage of having more Americans able to speak Chinese, a number of students at UCLA are studying the language for a different reason. These students said they are studying Chinese language and culture in order to gain a better understanding of their roots – not simply to gain an upper hand in the business world."

Chinese a Siren Song For Those Watching Global Growth
(The Morning Call (PA), March 30, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "In the past year, politicians and policy experts also have fallen in line like Chinese dominoes, realizing the education system isn't keeping up with the world because there aren't enough U.S. students studying Chinese and enough teachers to teach it. Business is driving the demand. Lehigh Valley companies that deal with China — like their counterparts around the world — see a mounting need for employees who speak Mandarin to help them connect with the country that has the fastest-growing economy on the planet."

Next Big Thing for These Pupils Is Chinese Language Schooling
(New York Sun, March 20, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "What do a growing number of grade school students have in common with Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs? They all realize that China is the next big thing. Just blocks from Wall Street, students at Manhattan's newest private school, Claremont Preparatory, are busy sharpening their Chinese language skills."

British School Requires Students to Study Chinese
(NPR, March 13, 2006) | full story
From NPR: "A British public school now requires that all students study the Mandarin Chinese language. A well-known British headmaster argues that the teaching of Mandarin is essential in any country that wants to stay competitive in the 21st century."

Chinese Immersion Program Targets Preschoolers
(AP, March 12, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Bay City Public Schools plan to begin teaching some 3- and 4-year-olds in Mandarin Chinese as part of an immersion program that officials hope will help them become more competitive in the global economy.

The idea is that young children are like sponges, making it easier for them to learn a foreign language than for an older person, said Suzanne Murphy, the school district's director of the gifted and talented program and special projects."

America in 'critical need' of Mandarin
(The Guardian (UK), March 10, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "As the US wakes up to China's emerging status as an economic and strategic competitor, US parents - and the Pentagon - are urging their children to learn the Chinese language, reports Julian Borger "

Schools Miss Chance For Teaching Chinese
(Ann Arbor News, February 23, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "The world is shrinking. And in some ways, Michigan hasn't been paying attention. Michigan Virtual University started a pilot project in January to offer Chinese language instruction at 21 high schools statewide. Howell High School is the only local school participating."

High Schools Can Offer Chinese Via the Internet This Fall
(Everything Michigan, February 17, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Chinese language instruction in Michigan is such a new field that the state Department of Education only recently established an endorsement to teach the language. So far, no teacher candidates have applied.

But with China a growing economic powerhouse and future jobs at stake, Michigan Virtual University, a nonprofit corporation providing online instruction, hopes to add Chinese to the more common high school language options of French, Spanish and German."

U.S. Firms Becoming Tongue-tied
(USA Today, February 9, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "As the Bush administration promotes its new initative to keep the United States competitive in a globalized world, it's worth noting this fact: Only one of the men running the five largest U.S. corporations is fluent in any language other than English.

Thanks to his time helming General Motors' Brazilian operations, GM's Rick Wagoner speaks Portuguese. But he's a corner office exception: Wal-Mart's H. Lee Scott, ExxonMobil's Rex Tillerson, Ford Motor's Bill Ford and Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric — none of these highly paid executives can make a contact or negotiate a deal in another language."

Teaching Mandarin for a 'Chinese Century'
(NPR, February 7, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "It's estimated that 100 million Chinese are indeed learning English, and critics say American schools should focus on teaching math and science. Languages come and languages go, but those basic skills are always needed, they say. But Chicago's Davis counters that China is simply too big to ignore. "We want our students, even if they don't go to work for Motorola in China, to understand that is going on in China. If nothing else, this is just going to expand horizons for them.""

Chinese Visitors, Iowans Discuss Teaching Methods
(Des Moines Register, February 6, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Justin Guan knows the differences between education in China and the United States — the Valley High School senior has attended school in both countries.

His native China is competitive, strict and focused on basics such as math and science, at least in developed areas. He remembers having homework as a kindergartner. The United States, by contrast, encourages creativity and innovation but focuses little on international skills — languages, math and science. He didn't see multiplication here until about the fourth grade, he said."

Commentary: U.S. Students Need More Math Not Mandarin
(International Herald Tribune, January 23, 2006) | full story
Op-ed by Andy Mukherjee, Bloomberg News.
Excerpt: "Fear of China is making Americans so nervous that some of them have stopped thinking rationally. At least that is the impression I draw from the whole craze in the United States about learning Chinese... It is no doubt valuable to learn Mandarin, or any other language, for cultural enrichment. If, however, the language is to be drilled into one in 20 high school students, hard economic costs and benefits must be considered alongside the intangibles.

Creativity Can't be Taught, but it Can be Killed
(Detroit Free Press, January 16, 2006) | full story
Op-Ed by Yong Zhao, university distinguished professor and director of the U.S.-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence at the Michigan State University College of Education.
Excerpt: "My concern is that the likely responses to rhetoric like this -- centralized curriculum, standardized testing, accountability, required courses of study -- could burden or kill outright the creativity of American schoolchildren. Worse, the reforms neglect the real problems in U.S. education, namely, how to work with our neighbors in the global village and how to really help the poor schools and poor children."

UK School Makes Mandarin Mandatory
(CNN International, January 17, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "A school in England has decided to make Mandarin Chinese a compulsory subject for all students to better prepare them for the challenges they will face from the world's fastest growing economy. The decision by Richard Cairns, headmaster of Brighton College in southern England, a private school for students aged three to 18, is unprecedented in Britain."

Chinese Nanny State Takes Root in US
(BBC News, January 16, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "An increasing number of families in the United States is looking to employ Chinese nannies - not so much for their child-rearing abilities, but more for their language skills. Parents always want to give their children a good head start in life to prepare them for the future. It seems that families in the United States with a lot of disposable income believe that helping their children master the intricacies of Mandarin at an early age is one way to do that."

Tech Fosters Chinese Language Learning in U.S.
(eSchool News, January 13, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "As China continues to develop into a global economic superpower, the number of U.S. schools that now offer Mandarin Chinese language instruction is on the rise, as educators seek to prepare students for the new global economy. Because qualified instructors for these programs are hard to find, many schools are turning to technology and distance education to fill their needs."

In Our View: Schools' Time Warp
(The Columbian (WA), January 4, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Here are three things that seem never to change in public schools: Spanish, German and French. But is that good enough these days? The Bellevue School District, for one, doesn't think so. One of its six middle schools and two of its five high schools offer several years, overall, of Mandarin Chinese instruction."

Mandarin Makes Inroads in U.S. Schools
(Washington Post/AP, January 3, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "The Oregon [Chinese language pipeline] program is the first in the country to track students from kindergarten to college. The school district and the University of Oregon won a $700,000 grant from the Defense Department for the program this fall. The idea is for students to move from the Portland school system to the university, where scholarships will be offered to students who will take a standard college curriculum taught largely in Chinese. Students can also opt to spend their junior year abroad, studying at Nanjing University in China. The goal, organizers say, is for the program to be a model that other schools and universities can duplicate, and for students to emerge ready for the workforce, with a native fluency in Chinese."

Chinese Instruction Gains Traction
(Chicago Sun Times, January 2, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "In most school systems, Chinese language instruction targets Chinese Americans. Not so in Chicago.

Over the last six years, Chicago Public Schools has built the country's largest Chinese language program. And among the 20 elementary and high schools offering Chinese to about 3,000 students, just one is in a Chinese-American neighborhood. The student populations at these schools run the gamut, from virtually all Hispanic Juarez High School to Owens Scholastic Elementary, which is 81 percent black."

State Schools look to add Chinese Class
(Oklahoman, January 2, 2006) | full story
Article on Oklahoma's efforts to add Chinese language classes in their schools.

Chinese Language Study Catching on in U.S. Classrooms
(Seattle Times (AP), January 1, 2006) | full story
Excerpt: "Twenty-four young faces in the kindergarten class at Woodstock Elementary School watch intently as their teacher holds up a construction paper cut-out of a large red circle, and waits for them to identify the shape.

Piece of cake for a roomful of savvy 5-year-olds, except that teacher Shin Yen is looking for the shape's name in Mandarin Chinese. It's the world's most widely-spoken language, but one that's only just beginning to surface in U.S. classrooms, especially at the elementary level."

Learning the Language: Mandarin Spoken Here
(Patriot Ledger (Boston), December 13, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "Some economists predict that China, already the globe’s fastest-growing economy, is poised to become the world’s biggest exporter within five years and the largest consumer of luxury goods within 10 years.

To that end, Judy Rielly, Hingham’s director of foreign language, views offering Mandarin part of the town’s responsibility to prepare students for an ever-changing world. ‘‘We can no longer isolate ourselves,’’ she said. ‘‘We’re a mosaic. We’re part of the global community. That’s our obligation to prepare our students to function in it.’’"

Crece interés por aprender mandarín en Estados Unidos
(El Universal (Caracas, Venezuela), November 28, 2005) | full story
Spanish language article on the growth of Mandarin classes in the United States.

Mastering Mandarin: In A Changing Landscape, Difficult Language Gains A Foothold In State
(Hartford Courant, November 28, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "Sounding much like a music instructor, Anping Zhang recited a series of strange but delightful sounds as her class full of seventh-graders listened intently. Zhang is a rarity - a Mandarin Chinese teacher working in an American public school. A Beijing resident, she has been at Northwest Regional Middle School in Winsted since mid-September as part of a pilot program that officials in both China and the United States hope will lead to a dramatic expansion of Chinese language instruction in this country."

Chinese Language Instruction Getting More Popular in Public Schools
(National School Board Association, November 8, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "Relatively few public students are currently learning the Chinese language, but experts predict the number of K-12 schools offering such instruction will soon soar. With China poised to become the next global economic superpower, policymakers say it’s essential that American schools expand their Chinese studies. Worldwide, 1.4 billion people speak Chinese. An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 K-12 students are now studying Chinese in U.S. schools, but that includes students who are taking private lessons after school or on weekends."

Chinese Language Teaching Takes Off
(UPI, November 8, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "All across U.S. schools, Chinese is slowly becoming the hot new language as government officials seek more focus on security-useful languages like Chinese.

Proponents see knowledge of the Chinese language and culture as a leg up in a global economy where China is growing in importance. In Chicago, the program has grown to include 3,000 students in 20 schools, with more schools on a waiting list."

Next Hot Language to Study: Chinese
(Christian Science Monitor, November 8, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "Chicago itself is home to the largest effort to include Chinese in US public schools. The program here has grown to include 3,000 students in 20 schools, with more schools on a waiting list. Programs have also spread to places like Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and North Carolina.

Finding teachers "is the challenge," says Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser for the Defense Language Institute's Washington office and a Chinese teacher for 15 years at the collegiate level. "Materials are easy in comparison. Or getting schools funded.""

Schools See a Demand for Chinese
(Dallas Morning News, November 7, 2005) | full story (Registration may be required)
Excerpt: "You could write a fair history of late 20th-century America just by tracking the languages high school students learned in school. At the height of the Cold War, Russian was hot, spasibo very much. Japanese boomed in the late 1980s, when it seemed the rising sun would eclipse America's economy. And by the morning of Sept. 12, 2001, Arabic was getting more attention than ever. But say "ni hao" – "hello," that is – to the newest language to push its way to the forefront: Chinese."

China's Clout Echoes in Classes
(Philadelphia Inquirer, October 31, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "In a push to prepare students for the ever-changing global marketplace, the Philadelphia School District is expanding classes in Mandarin Chinese - the most prevalent language in the world, yet largely neglected by the nation's schools until the last few years. More than 1,700 students are taking Chinese this year at six district high schools and three elementary schools - up from 900 two years ago."

Red Hot China
(Inside Higher Ed, October 28, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "At Northwestern University this fall, there are two sections of third-year Chinese, the first time ever that a second section has been needed. At Yale University, enrollment in introductory Chinese is up 68 percent from last year, and for the first time professors can remember, significant numbers of freshmen are arriving with enough Chinese to start in second- or third-year Chinese."

Language Teachers 'Need Training'
(BBC News Online, October 26, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "A scheme enabling all children to learn a foreign language is to be extended to all primary schools in England. Ministers are publishing funding plans and guidance for teachers, with the aim of making language lessons available to all seven to 11-year-olds by 2010."

Greenwich Schools Join Growing List Offering Mandarin Chinese
(Boston Globe, October 16, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "Mandarin Chinese could be taught at Greenwich High School next fall, adding the town to a growing number of school districts in the United States that offer one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. If accepted by the Board of Education, the plan to teach Chinese would place the language with Spanish, French, German, Italian and Latin among others taught at the 2,700-student high school."

Classes in Chinese Grow as the Language Rides a Wave of Popularity
(New York Times, October 15, 2005) | full story (subscription may be required)
Excerpt: "Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said...The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States, said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia Society in New York.

Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said."

Chinese Makes Inroads at GHS
(Greenwich Time, October 16, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "So far, five districts in Connecticut offer Chinese, including schools in East Hartford, Bloomfield, Norwalk, Bridgeport and New Haven, according to state Department of Education World Languages Consultant Mary Ann Hanson. The teaching of Chinese still lags far behind other languages. In Connecticut, about 70,000 students are learning Spanish, while only about 300 are learning Mandarin Chinese, Hanson said."

Asian Languages Inspiring Interest in School Districts
(Washington Times, October 9, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "While most everybody from school administrators to Sesame Street producers was busy in the late 1980s reinforcing the importance of teaching Spanish to children, Fairfax County educators were reaching a different conclusion: The next generation needed to know Japanese."

To Strengthen Ties with China, Speak the Language First
(Christian Science Monitor, September 30, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "Congress and the public must not let terrorism abroad and political controversy at home blind them from the long-term implications of this legislation. More than 30 years after opening diplomatic contacts with the People's Republic, we are still woefully unprepared to work with a China whose rise increasingly laps onto our shores. Our government leaders have been too slow to acknowledge that mutual understanding grows out of classrooms, not just trade volume, and their complacency has kept the most significant bilateral relationship of this century in a retarded state."

Why Teach Chinese?
(Charlotte Observer, September 29, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "Nurturing existing language immersion programs and starting new ones should be a national education priority. Only 9 percent of Americans speak a second language fluently, compared to 53 percent of Europeans. We are woefully unprepared for a new global order that demands bilingual or multilingual workers, not just to do business with emerging economic powers like China, but to do business right here in Charlotte."

The 'IT' Language:China's Growing Influence Drives Demand for Classes
(Chicago Tribune, September 27, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "Mandarin Chinese, the most widely spoken form of the language, has become the new "it" language among students, business executives and others trying to gain increasingly useful career and life skills, experts say....

That such a challenging language has become all the rage speaks to the global influence of China's rapidly expanding economy. Locally, 2,500 students are learning Chinese in 20 Chicago Public Schools. Those numbers are dwarfed by the thousands of children learning Spanish in more than 100 city schools, but administrators say the Chinese program is growing dramatically: Before the end of this school year, they will offer Mandarin in 10 more schools."

China Trip Gives Educator New Perspective
(The News Journal (DE), September 25, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: Appoquinimink School District Superintendent Tony Marchio learned about China's rosy economic outlook through a 10-day trip he took there this summer. "It really caused me to think what we were doing in our school system and what we needed to do," he said.

"Can we, as Americans, afford to ignore what is happening in China and the rest of the world?" Marchio said. "Are we, as educators, preparing ... students for the world they are about to enter?"

Grant Will Boost Teaching of Chinese
(The Oregonian, September 20, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "Portland Public Schools will become a national flagship for the study of Mandarin Chinese, more than doubling the number of students immersed in the language from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Additionally, as part of a national security-based initiative, Portland students who promise to continue studying the language in college will be eligible for 12 full-ride scholarships to the University of Oregon, worth $15,000 a year, and a free year of study in China."

Foreign Languages in Schools
(All Things Considered, KPLU Seattle/Tacoma, September 12, 2005) | full story
From the KPLU website: "The mastery of foreign languages has never been one of this country's strengths. Only 9 percent of Americans are fluent in a second language, compared with more than 50 percent of Europeans. There is a campaign now underway to make foreign language learning more mainstream. Congress has declared 2005 the year of language learning. In the first segment of a three-part series on foreign languages in the schools, Deborah Wang spoke with Michele Anciaux Aoki, a long-time foreign language advocate and leads the Washington State Coalition for International Education."

How to Learn Chinese in 2,200 Not-So-Easy Lessons
(Washington Post, August 9, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "I spent several years, and some of your tax dollars, trying to learn Chinese, so I need to say something about a new campaign to get that language into U.S. schools and colleges.

Asia Society just put out a report (see the InternationalEd.org website ) on how more Americans can learn Chinese. There was a world conference on the subject last month in Beijing. Chinese language instruction is, obviously, a good idea. China is our biggest trading partner, after Canada and Mexico. The country reminds me in some ways of America in the 1870s. It is recovering from horrid domestic events, getting stronger, with the potential to be the most important nation in the world. Chinese, along with Arabic, should be among our top foreign language priorities."

Growth of Chinese Language in a Multicultural World
(CCTV, July 23, 2005) | view entire piece (You may have to click "Reload" to view page)
View an episode of the English-language CCTV show Dialogue featuring a panel discussion on the growth of Chinese languages in a multicultural world. The panel includes: Michael Levine, Executive Director, Education, Asia Society; Brigitte Kuela, University of Zurich; and Qiguang Zilao,Chairman of the Department of Asian Languages, Carlton College. (You may have to click "Reload" to view the interview link.)

China's rapid rise spurs Americans to learn Chinese
(AFP, July 31, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "From kindergartens to high schools, studies by the Asia Society show, there is a "rapid rise" in interest among pupils to study the Chinese language. This is despite the fact that most of the schools lack qualified teachers or do not currently offer the language in their curriculum.

"The Chinese rich cultural traditions and blossoming economy mean that is now essential for all of our students to be better prepared to engage them and seize opportunities together," said Michael Levine, Asia Society's executive director of education."

Global markets sound call for language study
(Chicago Tribune, July 17, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "But though the spread of anglophiles may be convenient for Americans, the pressure to learn foreign languages is only heightening--so much so that Harvard University recently modified the arts and sciences curriculum to include an "expectation" that students pursue an international experience.

"To be globally competitive and sell into other markets, we will need to know those markets better than our competitors," says Vivien Stewart, vice president of education for the Asia Society, a non-profit group that promotes communication between the U.S. and Asia."

U.S. schools lack adequate Chinese language skills
(Reuters, July 12, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "U.S. schools lack resources and teachers to meet the demand for Chinese language and culture studies, despite the growing importance of China's economic and political relationship with the United States, according to a study released by the Asia Society on Tuesday."

Schools Embrace the World
(The News & Observer (NC), July 16, 2005) | full story (Free Registration Required) | press release
Excerpt: "Gov. Mike Easley announced Friday the creation of four international studies high schools that will open in fall 2006. One will operate in Research Triangle Park and serve students from the Durham, Wake, Orange, Johnston and Chapel Hill-Carrboro school systems. The others will serve the Alamance-Burlington, Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Onslow County systems.

"The growth of international business and research across North Carolina and the nation demands a work force that is aware of and connected to other regions of the world," Easley said in a news release."

Schools Focus: Foreign Studies
(The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC), July 9, 2005) | full story | press release
Excerpt: "Administrators from school districts in Wake County, Durham, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Orange County and Johnston County are in the initial stages of planning an international studies high school, to be run as a joint project among all five school districts and have a campus based in the Research Triangle Park.

The high school would be organized as a small learning community for students from international backgrounds, as well as for local students with a desire to take advanced languages or increase their knowledge of foreign cultures."

Class of '05 - And 9/11
(Hartford Courant, June 8, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "While 9/11 prompted some college graduates to think about careers in the military, national security or international affairs, the terrorist attacks also influenced the nation's high school students - renewing interest in world events and giving new urgency to the study of international politics and culture, educators say......

Michael Levine, an official with the Asia Society, a New York City-based group promoting cultural exchanges between America and Asia, said: "Since 9/11, schools have begun to increasingly look at their curriculum, but the progress has been uneven. ... There is clearly a growing cry for more emphasis on international education.""

Along with ABCs, some learn Chinese
(Boston Globe, June 8, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "Chinese, a language most school systems don't offer until high school, if at all, is becoming popular in elementary classrooms around Greater Boston, as well as elsewhere in the nation. Spanish still reigns as the most popular language, but parents and lawmakers hope that Chinese soon will become commonly taught. School systems are starting the lessons with the youngest students in hope they learn the language well enough to compete in the new world economy, as China becomes an economic and political superpower."

U.S. bill would encourage language classes to foster US-China ties
(AFP, May 26, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "A pair of prominent US senators proposed legislation that would encourage Chinese and American citizens to learn each others' languages, in an effort to improve bilateral cultural and business ties. "The rise of China comes with a whole set of challenges. But the ability to talk to and understand each other should not be among them," said Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman."

A Classroom as Big as the World
(Christian Science Monitor, May 10, 2005) | full story
Excerpt: "In the eyes of some, Evanston - winner of a 2003 prize for excellence in international education awarded by the Asia Society and the Goldman Sachs Foundation - is a model.

Evanston makes learning about the world a requirement, not an elective. Sophomores take a full year of "global perspectives" courses, with offerings that include semester-long classes on Asia, Africa, Russia, Latin America, and the Middle East - or a year-long humanities course taught by history and English teachers that covers multiple continents."

Chinese Classes Grow in Popularity with U.S. Students
(NPR, May 3, 2005) | listen to full story
NPR featured a story on the growth in popularity of Chinese in the U.S. Asia Society's Vivien Stewart is interviewed.

The Future Doesn't Speak French
(Newsweek, May 9, 2005) | read full article
Excerpt: "Earlier this year Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey introduced legislation calling for increased funding of programs for less commonly taught languages. "For reasons of economics, culture and security we should have much better facility with Chinese languages and dialects," he says. The State Department has designated Chinese a "critical language," but the most recent data show that only 24,000 students in grades 7 to 12 study Chinese, a language spoken by 1.3 billion people worldwide. (More than 1 million students learn French, a language spoken by 75 million people.)"

More Young Americans Take Chinese Language Challenge
(Reuters, April 27, 2005) | read full article
Excerpt: "The United States has declared 2005 the "year of languages" although few Americans are aware of the designation. According to a 2002 Modern Language Association survey, more college students are studying foreign languages than ever before. Enrollment in Chinese rose 20 percent over 1998.

The 1.4 million students learning 15 leading languages represented a 17 percent increase over 1998. But only 9.3 percent of Americans are able to speak both their native language and a second tongue, compared to 52.7 percent of Europeans, according to the Census Bureau."

International Studies a Hard Sell in U.S.
(Education Week, April 20, 2005) | read full article
Excerpt: "Proponents of international studies elsewhere in the United States have also broached the subject delicately, choosing to build grassroots support before pushing state-level initiatives. As in North Carolina, activists in other states have taken care to frame their arguments in ways that will attract the most support. Beyond the expanded economy, advocates argue that building students’ world knowledge would enrich the curriculum, engage students, improve school performance, and help children deal with the increasingly diverse communities in which they live.

Students’ “success requires an understanding of how culture, religion, politics, and history influence the world’s social and economic well-being,” the task force’s report, “North Carolina in the World: Increasing Student Knowledge and Skills About the World,” says. “Improving international education is about providing students the best opportunity for success in the emerging workforce.”"

Great Toddle Forward
(New York Magazine, April 4, 2005) | read full article
Excerpt: "In an age when even a venerable New York institution like IBM has sold its most visible element to the Chinese, the city's mandarins have realized, for class-preservation reasons, their children must adapt. Which is why Hilton Augusta knows more Mandarin than English: She has a Mandarin-speaking nanny. The lycée is passé (old Europe has no trade surplus), and some parents are scouring Craigslist and placing ads in the China Press for sitters who speak Mandarin, China's official language."

Cultural Exchange: Via the Web, Students Talk About the Tsunami
(Education Week, March 16, 2005) | read full article (free registration may be required)
This article from Education Week details the recent Asia Society, Global Nomads Group, and Quarters from Kids videoconference between New York City High School students and Sri Lankan students affected by the tsunami.

Building a Diverse Student Body From the Ground Up
(International Educator, March/April, 2005) | read full article
International Educator, published by NAFSA: the Association of International Educators, features an interview with Stephanie Bell-Rose, the President of the Goldman Sachs Foundation.

Group Promotes Global Studies in Classroom
(Education Week, March 2, 2005) | read full article
Excerpt: "While policymakers and business leaders have lamented American students inadequate knowledge about the world, a growing number of schools around the United States are beginning to infuse a global perspective into the curriculum and classroom activities.

Some 300 educators committed to such an approach gathered here Feb. 17-20 at the International Studies Schools Association conference. They shared ideas and resources for teaching children about other regions and countries, including their geography, history, politics, and culture."

American Students Brush Up on Their Chinese
(NPR, All Things Considered, February 12, 2005) | listen
Americans are aware of China's rising strength in the world economy and are studying Chinese. We hear from several Chinese language students at Livingston High School in Livingston, N.J.

U.S. Interest Grows in Chinese classes
(San Jose Mercury News, February 11, 2005) | read full article (subscription may be required)
Excerpt: "Much as Japanese classes began popping up in the nation's high schools in the late '80s, Chinese courses are starting to catch on now. And given Silicon Valley's web of connections to the Pacific Rim, it's no surprise that students here are out in front on this trend....``It's definitely taking off,'' said Vivien Stewart, vice president for education for the New York-based Asia Society."

U.S. Bringing Iraqi Students and Educators to America
(Education Week, January 12, 2005) | read full article (subscription may be required)
Excerpt: "Eleven teenagers from Iraq have been living with American families and going to school in the United States this school year as part of the U.S. government’s resumption of education and cultural ties with that country."

Elementary youngsters immersed in Russian Classes in Alaska School
(Education Week, January 12, 2005) | read full article (subscription may be required)
Anchorage’s Turnagain Elementary School has one of the only Russian-immersion programs at a public elementary school in the United States. Excerpt: "The initiative, which began in the fall, is run through two classes in 1st grade and two in kindergarten, where children spend half the day learning entirely in Russian and half in English. Over the coming years, the 49,000-student Anchorage district plans to expand the program to higher grades, year by year, so that students can continue to build on that early language base."

Bay state students get grim lessons on death, destruction
(Boston Globe, January 4, 2005) | read full article
This article describes the ways classrooms in the Boston area are dealing with and teaching about the recent tsunami in Asia.

A Nation Apart?
(California School Board Association, Winter 2004) | read full article
Excerpt: "We all got a geography lesson in the fall of 2001 as the U.S. turned its attention to Afghanistan. For many Americans — especially younger ones — the nightly news was an abrupt introduction to the relevance of Asian cartography. The need to understand the history and culture of places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran became strikingly clear.

In the wake of Sept. 11, schools across the country seized the opportunity to explore the beliefs and values of inhabitants of the Middle East and beyond. Indeed, the whole Asian continent — from Turkey to Russia to Indonesia — has become a vital cog in the world’s economic, security and social machinery. Sixty percent of the world’s population lives there."