WASHINGTON, July 20 (KUNA) -- Twenty-four teachers from China and Egypt have arrived in the United States to teach Mandarin and Arabic in US elementary and secondary schools, the US State Department announced on Friday.
They are participating in the department's Teachers of Critical Languages Program. Their program, sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, begins in Washington on Monday with a two-week orientation session introducing the teachers to US educational issues and teaching practices.
Launched in 2006, the Teachers of Critical Languages Program has brought more than 150 international teachers to more than 85 US host schools in 33 US states.
The program brings teachers from China and Egypt to eligible US elementary and secondary schools to teach Chinese and Arabic for an academic year.
American students benefit from having native Chinese and Arabic speakers in the classroom and from a broadened curriculum in these critical foreign languages, the announcement said. The international teachers experience American society and return to their home countries with a better understanding of American culture and values, it said. (end) rm.bs KUNA 202150 Jul 12NNNN