More US schools teach mandarin
(ABC News)
Updated: 2005-11-22 15:59

Next fall the College Board will offer Chinese advanced placement tests for the first time. Employment agencies report a surge in demand for Mandarin speaking babysitters from parents who want their children to start learning young.

The Driscoll teachers like to tell their students that if they learn Chinese, they will be able to communicate with nearly a third of the world's population — the seven percent who speak English, and the 18 percent who speak Mandarin.

Huajing Maske, a teacher in the Driscoll school system, says for students who learn the language, "the younger the better because they are not intimidated by it."

Second grader Hannah McGan agrees.

"Is Chinese hard? Sort of," she said. "Once you start and then it's easier and easier."

The challenge for schools now is to find good instructors. Until more Americans master Mandarin, there will not be many people who are qualified to teach it.