I have mixed feelings about the rise and perhaps inevitable dominance of Mandarin Chinese in the North American context.   My parents and I speak Toisan, a dialect of Chinese closely related to Cantonese.  On the one hand, I would love to learn Mandarin myself.  (A summer of study gave a taste for the beautiful tones of the language spoken by over a billion people.)  On the other hand, I'm afraid that the history of Chinese immigration to the U.S. and Canada will be rewritten to neglect the fundamental early contributions of Toisan and Cantonese speaking Chinese immigrants, the ones who help build the railways and slaved in these countries before it became easier to be Chinese in North America.

BAY AREA / Mandarin speaks to growing class / Immigration, business spur Chinese classes:

Much as Japanese was the language of aspiring capitalists and cultural adventurers in the 1980s, Mandarin Chinese is attracting more students at all levels and ethnicities, in part because of mounting recognition of the importance of the language, and the growing number of Chinese American students enrolled throughout the Bay Area.


Mandarin, the national language of China, is one of many dialects. Cantonese, the main dialect of southern China, once predominated in the Bay Area. But immigration from Taiwan and elsewhere in mainland China boosted the number of Mandarin speakers here -- and has now pulled ahead of Cantonese, community observers say.

Chasing Mandarin dreams in S.F. schools:

Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said she realizes the demand and is incorporating some immersion programs into her "Dream Schools" initiative, which involves adding academic rigor and longer hours to low-performing schools.


"I'm looking at what are going to be the languages that are widely spoken in the future, in these young people's adult lives," she said. "Mandarin and Spanish -- those two are certainly world languages. ... Those are the ones we want to make sure they have access to."