Au revoir, French. Ni hao, Chinese.In other words, goodbye, French; hello, Chinese.
Its not quite that final, so far, but French language classes, long a staple in American schools, are losing ground as the rapidly growing Chinese economy drives the introduction of Mandarin Chinese classes in private and public U.S. schools.
In Memphis, adding Chinese classes at the private Hutchison School will mean phasing out French classes during the next four years. At St. Marys Episcopal School, French is being phased out of middle school, with students instead taking Chinese beginning in the sixth grade.
The wave of Chinese language offerings includes introductory classes in three city schools beginning in the fall. (Source: Michael Lollar, Tennessean, com, Jun 14, 2010).