Blog 3 Making Mandarin Mandatory — in U.S. Kindergartens

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This article is written by Mark McDonald. “Bibb County sits smack-dab in the center of Georgia, and 150 years ago it was at the very center of the Confederacy. Its foundries supplied weapons and ammunition to the rebel army, and no county supplied a larger percentage of its men to the cause.” (McDonald, “Mandarin”). Basically, Georgia is typical southern Republican state that does not want a lot of change because Southerners like things the way they are. “Times are still tough in Bibb County. Some 20 percent of the residents live below the poverty line, and its public schools are among the lowest performing in the state. About half the kids don’t graduate from high school. But the county has just embarked on a bold plan to have all its children fully bilingual — in English and Mandarin — by the time they graduate from high school. In recent weeks, children from pre-kindergarten through third grade began mandatory Mandarin classes, part of a curriculum that in three years will include middle school and high school students.” (McDonald, “Mandarin”). Why students are now taking Mandarin Chinese is because by the time 2050 rolls around, jobs will be requiring it because “They will live in a world where China and India will have 50 percent of the world GDP. They will live in a world where, if they cannot function successfully in the Asian culture, they will pay a heavy price.” (McDonald, “Mandarin”).

           

            I know this article is local, instead of global, but I chose this because I do believe that China will one day be the GDP of the entire world. I think it’s a great idea to start hiring teachers from China and teach children, teens, and young adults on how to speak Mandarin Chinese. It would be very useful if you wanted to major in international business, and besides just that, when you are getting manicures and pedicures done at the local salon, you can understand what the Asian women are saying. This article relates to education because schools are now going to start offering it next to Spanish, French, Latin, and German. It would be a lot more useful than French and German personally, but that is just my opinion. I think that this is a great idea, but I do not know if parents are really going to go for it, but it is always a good idea to at least try.

http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/making-mandarin-mandatory-in-u-s-kindergartens/