Mandarin classes should be offered in schools with the rising tide of Chinese tourist
With the rising tide of Chinese tourist arrivals and investors, it is time the CNMI offered Chinese classes.
Retired educator, writer, and political scientist Samuel F. McPhetres told Variety that the CNMI schools should consider offering Chinese language classes in the wake of the increasing interest among Chinese travelers and investors in the commonwealth.
“There are no Chinese classes in public schools or at Northern Marianas College,” said McPhetres.For McPhetres, it is time to consider including the teaching Mandarin in the curriculum.“Right now we should be encouraging people to take Chinese lessons,” he said.He added that there are people available to teach this in the CNMI.
This year, the number of Chinese visitors to the CNMI has surpassed that of the Japanese and the Koreans.
As of October, there were a total of 143,361 Chinese visitors, followed by 106,369 Koreans and 92,761 Japanese.The year 2014 also saw a rapid increase in Chinese investments with Best Sunshine International taking the lead with its $7.1 billion integrated resort proposal for Saipan.
As the CNMI makes plans to tap the projected 200 million outbound Chinese market, it is essential that the CNMI have Chinese-speaking tour guides, operators and hotel workers to make the islands a Chinese-friendly destination.
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