I found the article here by going through my Digital Writing, Digital Teaching feeder. The article which can be found through this link, http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-11-19-mandarin-cover_N.htm, boasts that while China is booming tenfold so is the interest in the United States in the study of its language. I find it very cool that students have far more choices to choose from in order to complete their foreign language requirement. In high school, I remember my peers and I not having a choice. The only language that was offered was French and I hated it. Granted, I attended a small Catholic High School but a choice in what I was offered would have really been appreciated on my part. I also find it interesting that students now are being offered the opportunity to take a foreign language beginning in elementary school. My niece and my little cousins have been taking Chinese since first grade and they both love it. They also had a chance to choose between Chinese and Spanish, so they were allowed to study the language that they each felt most comfortable in. I hated French and because of how I felt about the language in itself I did not apply myself as much as I could have. Giving students a chance to choose to study a language in which they feel most comfortable in could allow for better grades when they get on the secondary level as these students have learned the basics.

According to the article, the study of Chinese is not only appreciated by the students but by the parents as well. The article states that many parents, those in the Chicago area in particular “the push for Mandarin has come from non-Chinese families who wanted their kids to learn a “world language,” Davis says. The study of this language is also appreciated by teachers because it is a language in which the students have to actually do the work. This ensures that the students actually know the language that they are studying and aren’t just getting by. I find this very interesting that Chinese is now becoming the “world language”. I find it interesting that this article boasts that Chinese is becoming the new English.

While many are showing appreciation for the implementation of this language, there are problems that are coming with it. According to the article, the main problem that the schools are facing is finding qualified teachers. The article states that “there are only 10 university programs nationwide that offer teaching credentials for Mandarin at the grade-school levels, and most of the programs are new.”

There are new programs that are being offered that will help with the training of teachers in the language although along with these programs will also come the costs of training materials, textbooks, and other instructional materials. A good thing though is that there is great support for its success.

I for one am behind it all the way, times and conventions are changing and the students of our futures need to be as best prepared for these changes as possible.