Home pagePress CenterIn the Media Charles Freeman, the CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies, was quoted by the Pittsburg Tribune-Review, "'Critical Foreign Languages' Taught in More Schools."
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Charles Freeman, the CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies, was quoted by the Pittsburg Tribune-Review, "'Critical Foreign Languages' Taught in More Schools."
Sierra Sailor greeted the guests in her classroom with a soft-spoken "Ni hao."
She forgot the plural and tried again, "Nimen hao." But the guests in her classroom were older, so Sailor, 14, needed a third try to get it right, remembering the respectful Chinese greeting, "Nin hao."
But several educators and policy experts said there is no reason to be skeptical of China's motives in the language programs. China is behind other countries that long ago started using public relations agencies and cultural programs to spread goodwill, said Charles Freeman, the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Freeman Chair in China Studies.
"The opportunities being afforded to children around Pittsburgh and elsewhere in the country are great for them," Freeman said. "Sometimes in these situations the prudent reaction is not to look a gift horse in the mouth."
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions; accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in these publications should be understood to be solely those of the authors.
