Etowah To Continue Mandarin Chinese Classes

Staff Report

Etowah High School for the second year will offer Mandarin Chinese language classes through a U.S. State Department-sponsored program, the Cherokee County School District announced on Thursday. 

Last year, Etowah offered the first-ever Mandarin classes in the Cherokee County School District after winning the competitive grant program.

The State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs through its Teachers of Critical Languages Program offers U.S. schools and districts grants to expand specific foreign language education including Mandarin Chinese.

The classes are taught by an exchange teacher provided through the State Department. This year’s teacher for the Etowah program is Wang Haiyan of China.

Etowah has shared the opportunity for students to learn the Chinese language and culture with neighboring schools. Students from Woodstock High School were invited to enroll in the Chinese I classes, and video-conferencing technology allowed students at elementary schools to regularly interact with the teacher and learn about Chinese culture and language.

The TCLP is designed to increase the study and acquisition of important world languages in U.S. schools, according to the U.S. State Department’s press release. This program enables primary and secondary schools to strengthen their teaching of critical languages by bringing Egyptian and Chinese teachers to the U.S. to teach Arabic and Chinese language for an academic year.

Launched in 2006, TCLP has provided fellowships to over 190 primary and secondary school teachers of English from Egypt and China to teach in K-12 schools throughout the United States. It is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which promotes international mutual understanding through a wide range of academic, cultural, private-sector, professional and sports exchange programs, the state department said.