Hewlett-Woodmere to Teach Mandarin

The Hewlett-Woodmere School District will begin teaching Mandarin as a second language come next school year.

The school board approved the addition of Mandarin at its Feb. 27 meeting. The district will hire a part-time instructor to teach the expected one-section class.

“The addition of a non-Western language to our current course offerings will better prepare students for an increasingly global society,” said Dr. Laura Seinfeld, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, in a release. “Instruction in Mandarin Chinese will challenge students to think differently and learn a language that is vastly different from English or any of the Romance languages such as Spanish or French.”

The Mandarin class will first be offered to seventh graders in Woodmere Middle School, the first year foreign languages are offered. Classes will continue to be offered to those students over the years as long as enrollment allows it, according to the district.

Mandarin is one of the most spoken languages and is rapidly growing due to China’s increased presence in the world. It’s also considered difficult to learn, as its alphabet is symbol based.

“The study of world languages is a vehicle for students to build 21st century competencies and to prepare themselves as informed citizens in a globally connected world,” Superintendent Dr. Joyce Bisso said.