Deseret News – Derek B. Miller
“Utah boasts a robust and expanding K-12 dual-immersion program. Every day, children in over 130 schools across the state spend part of the day learning subjects in English and part of the day learning in another language. The benefit of this language training to Utah’s position as the nation’s fastest growing economy cannot be overstated. Utah is part of the global economy, and the language ability of our workforce gives Utah a tremendous competitive advantage. Beyond the basic linguistics, understanding the world’s cultures helps Utah to be an outward focused, internationally minded state…many other states across the country are initiating and expanding their own dual immersion programs. To whit, President Obama recently announced, in partnership with China President Xi Jinping, a goal for the U.S. to have 1 million K-12 students studying Mandarin by 2020…The benefits of this effort go well beyond having more U.S. students speaking Chinese.”(more)