Why a growing number of students are learning Mandarin at school

Mandarin is the most popular language at Victorian government schools, with one-in-five students who study a second language choosing the Chinese dialect.

Dr Yvette Slaughter, Senior Lecturer at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, said it didn’t come as a surprise.

Dr Slaughter pointed out that Mandarin was now the secondly most commonly spoken language in Australia behind English.

“I think it’s a reflection of that, too,” she said.

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