From the Mercury News:
Move over French and Spanish. Chinese is emerging as a popular high school course offering.
And if you want to know what’s driving the demand, ask Jason Lee, a Korean-American sophomore at Cupertino’s Monta Vista High School.
“Later on, China will have a good business potential — it will help me if I can actually speak with Chinese people,” said Jason, a second-year Chinese student.
Much as Japanese classes began popping up in the nation’s high schools in the late ’80s, Chinese courses are starting to catch on now. And given Silicon Valley’s web of connections to the Pacific Rim, it’s no surprise that students here are out in front on this trend.