CHINA CHINA EVERYWHERE, NOT A DROP TO DRINK

I don't think I am obsessed with either China or the Chinese. That notwithstanding two out of three posts being about China. That being said, I am fascinated by this Christian Science Monitor article about the efforts of the Chinese to spread Mandarin in the world. Taking a cue from the Goethe Institut and the Instituto Cervantes, the Chinese are calling the centers for teaching Mandarin the Confucius Institutes and have opened them in 20 countries. At the same time that they are trying to instill Mandarin on the hundreds of millions at home, they are trying to train 100 million foreigners to speak it.

One hundred million, plus the 1.3 billion in China would make it pretty worthwhile to learn Mandarin...