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Only a trace of English is evident in Room 101S at Vistamar School --a bright green bottle of Trader Joe's Multi-Purpose Cleaner and the black Streamline stapler on the teacher's desk.
For as little as the language is seen here, it's spoken even less. From the artwork on the walls to the notes written on multiple whiteboards and even the constant conversation among students, it's all Chinese, all the time in Mercy Chen's class.
Chen, Taipei-born and U.S.-raised, teaches Mandarin at Vistamar, an El Segundo private school that is among the growing number of institutions offering instruction in the most widely spoken language in the world.
"China's rising prominence demands U.S. engagement on every level," Chen said in between sessions. "For our students to be immersed in the world's most enduring culture ... it opens them up to meet that demand."
As China's superpower status is ever-more cemented, so too is the recognition that an understanding of that country -- its language and...