Mandarin, the official language of China, is suddenly hot in American schools. With the rapid development of China’s economy in the 21th century,both public and private schools in America are scrambling to add Mandarin to their curricula of foreign languages or expandingChinese language programs already in place. By some estimates, as many as 50 000 children nationwide are taking Mandarinin American schools. To develop Chinese-language programs has met some difficulties. A shortage of professionally trained teachers with certificates has madeit difficult for some schools to join the competition. When schools need to employ teachers, they often recruit them fromChina directly, which is a hidden trouble for culture clash.
