By Bonnie Chan

Spanish, French, and the occasionalGerman, Italian, or Japanese class — onlya few years ago, these offerings made upthe main landscape of foreign languageeducation in American schools. Studentswould choose French for its beautiful, ro-mantic sounds or Spanish for its compar-ative ease and popular usage. Today, anew, highly useful but notoriously diffi-cult language is quickly making itself athome within schools: China’s main di-alect, Mandarin.

According to the Global LanguageMonitor, a Texas-based global media ana-lytics organization which tracks languagetrends all over the world, the rapid socialand economic rise of China is the newsstory of the decade, topping coverage ofthe Iraq War, Obama’s election to presi-dency, and even the 9/11 terrorist attacks.In light of this fact, it comes as no surpriseto hear that learning Mandarin is one ofthe savviest moves one can currentlymake in response to surrounding politicalrealities — and China knows this.

In fact, the country is actively pro-moting its culture and language all overthe world by providing schools with sub-sidized teachers, free curriculum materi-

als andgene rousg r a n t s .Many ofthese activ-ities aree n a c t e dthrough theConfuciusInstitute, anonprofi teducationorganiza-

tion established in 2004 and operatingunder the Office of Chinese LanguageCouncil International, which is referred toas Hanban.

Confucius Institutes currently flourishin a smattering of highly diverse locations,from Asian countries, such as Korea andJapan, toAfrican countries, such as Mada-gascar and Sudan. In the United Statesalone, there are currently 87 operatingConfucius Institutes at various universitysites, including Rutgers, Purdue, and Uni-versity of Michigan. Every establishedConfucius Institute operates in conjunc-tion with a Chinese university partnerabroad, from which they can requestteachers. For example, Rutgers is affili-ated with Jilin University, located inChangchun, China. In the United States,the Confucius Institute also works closelywith College Board and Asia Society, thelatter of which is a nonprofit pan-Asianeducational organization.

No two models of the Confucius In-

stitute are exactly the same. China has alight presence beyond the provision offunds and the obligatory annual report,thus allowing every university to tailor thebasic blueprint of the program as they seefit. At Rutgers specifically, the programconsists of lively cultural activities, pro-fessional development for Chinese teach-ers, language instruction for aspiringstudents from the public community, andlecture series featuring prestigious Amer-ican speakers on various China-related is-sues.

According to Dr. Dietrich Tschanz, theprogram’s curriculum advisor, Rutgers’Confucius Institute’s most active aspect offoreign language education involves thetraining of Chinese teachers. For teacherswho, just a few years ago, only had accessto generalized professional developmentin education, the Confucius Institute wasa welcome boon. On the other hand, en-rollment in the nighttime Chinese instruc-tion classes has been limited. Apparently,as Tschanz explains, this isn’t due to thelack of interest, which has skyrocketedduring the past decade at the university,but due to the inconvenience of commut-ing for many community members. Ten-tative plans may include holding classesin more accessible public locations, anddeveloping distance learning optionsthrough the Internet.

In 2009, Asia Society, one of Han-ban’s most active affiliates, turned its at-tention to one of China’s related ambitiousinitiatives: the Confucius Classroom. Thisinitiative follows the same general outlineas the Confucius Institute, only it’s gearedtowards establishing lasting, high-qualityChinese language programs in K-12schools.

Asia Society’s goal is to ultimately es-tablish a network of 100 of these Confu-cius Classrooms over the upcoming threeyears. The first pioneer Confucius Class-rooms were recently installed in twentyhand-selected schools, and intended toserve as models for future programs.These twenty Confucius Classrooms rep-resent 14 states, along with the District ofColumbia, and include urban, rural, andsuburban schools alike. Starting lateMarch 2010, the second round of the ap-plication process will begin for interestedschools across the United States.

Over the past decade, drastic changeshave occurred to the landscape of foreignlanguage education in the United States,along with global shifts in political andeconomic realities.

Whatever the future will bring, it isclear that the public — educators, parents,and students alike — are fast recognizingthe importance of being fluent in Chinese.Before long, one will need to continue therest of the conversation after being offeredthe requisite greeting, “ni hao.”

American universities incorporateMandarin into curriculum

Scholarships cont. from pg 2week of language instruc-tion at university- or col-lege-affiliated Mandarintraining centers. In thescholarship moneyawarded, airfare, tuition,accommodation, insurance,and miscellaneous fees areall included. To be eligible,you must be a resident ofConnecticut, New Jersey,New York, and Pennsylva-nia and meet seven otherrequirements.

Language(s) offered: Chi-neseWebsite:http://www.studyintai-wan.org/index.php?id=mand

*MonbukagakushoScholarship* – Establishin 1954 by the Ministry ofEducation, Culture, Sports,Science and Technology,the MonbukagakushoScholarship enable foreignstudents from 160 countriesto study Japanese languageand culture at the under-graduate level. The under-graduate Japanese studiesscholarship is available tostudents who wish to studyJapanese language and cul-ture.

Recipients will beawarded an allowance ofabout $1,400 (125,000 yen)per month for one year.Airfare, tuition, and hous-ing will be paid for by thescholarship. Applicantswho wish to apply for thescholarship must be willing

to study in Japan at a uni-versity selected by thescholarship program andmust be enrolled as aJapanese major or minorstudent in their current uni-versity.

http://www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/h/02.html

Taiwan-United StatesSister Relations Alliance(TUSA) – To promotepeace in the world by cre-ating closer friendships andunderstanding between thepeople of the United Statesand the people of Taiwan,TUSA sponsors a summerscholarship program de-signed for students to rep-resent their state as well asthe United States and act asambassadors to Taiwan.

Students will study at anational Taiwanese univer-sity and six academic cred-its will be award upon thesuccessful completion ofthe program. To each schol-arship recipient, a stipendof approximately $750(NT$25,000) per month fortwo months will beawarded to cover tuition,housing, four excursions,and incidental insurance.The recipient must providethe airfare to and from Tai-wan.

Language(s) offered: Chi-neseWebsite: http://www.tai-wanusalliance.com/schol-arship.htm

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Confucius Institute

A statue ofConfucius

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