Panama makes Mandarin compulsory in all schools
June 7, 2010
From the BBC
Panama is moving to make the teaching of Mandarin compulsory in all schools, in recognition of China’s growing importance in the world economy.
The Panamanian National Assembly has given conditional approval to the bill in the first of three debates.
The bill’s supporters say boosting the number of Chinese speakers will help increase Panama’s competitiveness.
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Mandarin Immersion Parents Council 
This is an interested piece of news from Latin America.
A few months ago I ran into a Chinese sailor in the Panama airport. He was waiting for a homeward flight after disembarked in Panama. He would like to order some food, but was having trouble due to language barrier. I’m pretty much the only Chinese around. So I helped him out to find something to eat. It was not exactly the kind of home cooking he was longing for from what I can tell.
Anyway, in the future, maybe he will be surprised to find Mandarin speaking people to serve him in Panama.