If you haven't made a point of watching Firefly, you should. This will be brilliant once you do. And maybe even if you don't.

Chinese language catching on in U.S. classrooms

Monday, January 2, 2006; Posted: 1:17 p.m. EST (18:17 GMT)


PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- Twenty-four young faces in the kindergarten class at Woodstock Elementary School watch intently as their teacher holds up a construction paper cut-out of a large red circle, and waits for them to identify the shape.

Piece of cake for a roomful of savvy 5-year-olds, except that teacher Shin Yen is looking for the shape's name in Mandarin Chinese. It's the world's most widely-spoken language, but one that's only just beginning to surface in U.S. classrooms, especially at the elementary level.