Mandarin Required in Sydney

Posted by Barbara Pytel Dec 7, 2007

Australia is a neighbor to China. A private school, Saint Ignatious' College Riverview, has a Jesuit heritage. And, Saint Ignatius sent missionaries to China so that makes the connection even stronger. Riverview is introducing Chinese to students in grades 5, 6, and 7.

John Della Bosca, NSW Minister for Education, is encouraging students to learn Chinese. Bosca recently said, "Mandarin is a good choice, but so too would be Japanese, Korean or Bahasa Indonesian." [Anna Patty, smh.com.au, September 21, 2007]

Australia will be providing $112 million to states over the next four years for language programs. The United States would like to offer more Chinese classes but teachers are not available. Some states are recruiting teachers from China to come and teach in high schools but there are strict limitations. China is becoming an economic power and it will be a disadvantage to not know the language.

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Copyright article 2007 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.