Last week I had the pleasure of talking with a retired French teacher here in the Villages. She told me that where she was from some of the French and German teachers were having trouble getting jobs because of a mandate that Chinese be taught at these schools.

In my own educational history, I tried studying Mandarin Chinese for a month or so at the University of Minnesota but could not get the tones which are a very important part to communicating in the Chinese language. Check the 4 tones for the Chinese word(s) ma. http://mandarin.about.com/od/pronunciation/a/tones.htm These 4 tones with ma could mean-- mother, hemp, scold, or horse.

So, you could have your horse scolding you rather than your mother if you do not get the Mandarin tones for ma right.

I can see the value of kids learning Chinese but unlike say French or Spanish it is very difficult to learn because of just how different it is from English. German is more difficult but still seems very relevant in certain parts of the country.

This is the first I have heard about this problem so I do not know very much about it. I do not know, for instance, if French and German teachers are having problems getting jobs in other parts of the country.