Name: University: Course: Instructor: Date: American Students Should Be Offered Chinese as a Second LanguageIntroduction Over the years, the mobility of human beings from one region to another has increased the need for people to well-versed with the usage of different languages. Knowledge about different languages increases the level of interaction between individuals who do not share a common mother-tongue language. The early entrance of Spaniards into America appreciably pushed up the need for Americans to learn how to communicate in Spanish. Spanish as a language found its way into school syllabuses (Santiestevan, paras. 6-8). The level of early interactions between the Americas and Spain are now largely comparable to the levels of interaction between America and China. It is important that the Americans are also equipped with skills in the usage of Chinese language in order to be in a position to benefit more from Chinese people whom they interact with on a daily basis. Since the mid-20th century, China has emerged to be an important player in the global economy, politics, and educational resources and in military circles. It is economic strength is arguably only second to that of the US (US-China Business Council 2). Within the same duration of time, the interdependence between the US and China has grown across various fields. The increasing level of interactions between Americans and Chinese has seen more and more Chinese people learning American English (Dyer 207-210; US-China Business Council 2).Tapping into the Expanding Reach of the Chinese Economy The US-China Business Council pointed that America stood to gain a lot from forging closer ties between her and China. The council indicated that the ties should initially be hinged economic partnerships and other strategic areas, especially cultural exchanges. The means to modeling closer ties is certainly through shared meanings in the written as well as the spoken word. Whilst the US had managed to model partnerships with most of the other countries, the council pointed out that further US-permeation into the Chinese economy was still an enduring challenge facing the US (US-China Business Council 2). The rapidity with which the Chinese economy has risen over the years to become one of the leading global players is reason enough for the US to start viewing China as an equal player in the international relations. It is not strategically beneficial to continue with a conceding look of the rising Chinese power, as America now stands to gain more from the China, compared to the other way round. In future, America will need to do more of the reaching out to China, than has been the case before (US-China Business Council 2). For instance, when the Chinese appreciated that it had a lot to gain from US, it encouraged its young people to gain skills in communicating in the language of Americans, English. With the economic tide now turning in favor of China, American young people should be required...