Sponsored by the U.S. College Board and Asia Society,and hosted by the Chicago Public Schools, America's Second National Chinese Language Conference opened on April 30 and continued through May 2 in Chicago, the city that now leads the United States in Chinese language teaching.

More than 800 educators throughout the country took part in the conference under the theme of "Making Connections and Building Partnerships." The National Chinese Language Conference is dedicated to building high-quality programs, strengthening teacher development, and ensuring wide-scale success in Chinese language teaching.

During the three-day event, attendees participated in some 60 workshops and seminars where they learned about such subjects as "strengthening Chinese language learning through educational exchange" and "developing students' global competence and building partnerships."

Participants at the National Chinese Language Conference.

In the conference, Madame Xu Lin, director general of Hanban (the executive body of the Chinese Language Council International) announced over 2,000 new scholarships for teachers and students to study Chinese and participate in study trips to China. She also announced that resources for Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms, and the number of visiting teachers from China would be increased.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley issued a call to action for other communities to invest in their rising generation and to provide opportunities for all students to acquire a lingua franca of the future. Utah Governor Jon Huntsman gave an insightful profile of how his state is working to offer every student opportunities to master Chinese. Furthermore, in the conference, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Evan Osnos gave a compelling glimpse into a new China of the 21st century.

The increased attendance at the Conference reveals a growing awareness of the importance of Chinese in fostering one’s global competence by parents, students, educators, political and business leaders. In recent years, Chinese language and culture programs are expanding quickly across the U.S., and indeed the world.