How do you feel about the government of China paying for American public schools to teach our kids Mandarin? And sending teachers from China to the U.S. to assist in this venture?
Though one tiny corner of my conscience says sure, the more the Chinese spend IN the United States the less they’ll have left to compete with and undermine us. But most of me is outraged–and a little bit alarmed.
It’s not unusual for countries to propagate their language (as well as their literature, their culture, etc.) among the heathen and unwashed of other lands. The Alliance Francais does this for French, the Goethe Institute for German, the British Council for English. To my knowledge, however, they do these things after school, on weekends, at night, and usually for adults, not “compulsory” students. Nor do they subsidize language instruction in the public schools themselves. And I don’t think they should, even though they are (most of the time) allies.
