Mandarin immersion programmes persist in American schools despite high-level US-China tensions

• From Utah to Michigan, half-day programmes in which regular classes are taught entirely in Chinese find fervent support among parents
• Desire for children to get global perspective and life opportunities drives demand

Bochen Han in Washington

South China Morning Post 27 Dec, 2023

What does Washington, DC, have in common with Provo, Utah? Or Greenville, Michigan? Or Overland Park, Kansas?

All are home to publicly funded Mandarin immersion programmes, where kids as young as three years old spend half of each school day taking their regular classes – like math, science or physical education – entirely in Chinese.

Most of the programmes began during a period of American engagement with China under the administration of Barack Obama, when Mandarin was increasingly seen as a language of global business, optimism for bilateral cooperation was the norm and federal grants for Chinese language learning were more abundant.

In 2015, Obama pledged that by 2020, 1 million American students would be learning Mandarin.

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