In Colorado, some public schools teach languages (including Chinese) in kindergarten. Language acquisition is a lot easier for young children than it is for adults, so it makes sense to start teaching them when they're young.
My husband speaks three languages besides English and I speak one other. He started earlier than I did which is probably why he learned so much more.
Right now, we are weighing whether or not we'd like to learn Mandarin or Japanese as a family project. I grew up knowing a few words of Japanese, but according to a friend who speaks both, Mandarin is easier to learn.
I agree. It is a GOOD thing for children to learn foreign languages, as many as possible. I don’t speak any foreign language fluently; I wish that had been offered in my elementary school (they didn’t do that, back in those days). And Chinese is very difficult. I’m impressed.
Chow. Au revoir. (that’s about the extent of my foreign language expertise.)