Most fourth-graders In Chicago's McCormick Elementary School speak Spanish at home. Chinese becomes their third language. Reports Amanda Paulson, the classroom scene at McCormick is unusual, but it may soon be a common fixture in American schools, where Chinese is rapidly becoming the hot new language. 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. Chinese language programs have also spread to places like Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and North Carolina.
One report shows that precollegiate enrollment in Chinese nearly quadrupled between 1992 and 2002, from 6,000 to 24,000. Chinese is considered one of the most time-intensive languages to learn. For a typical person, it takes nearly three times the amount needed for a similar proficiency in Spanish or German.
The program began six years ago and got a big boost when Mayor Richard Daley visited China. Chicago schools are leading the way as they try to prepare students for an increasingly globalized world (Source: Amanda Paulson, The Christian Science, Nov. 8, 2005