HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 1 Million Strong Initiative was announced by Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping during the Chinese leader’s official state visit last year, and is a commitment to strengthening US-China relations by teaching 1 million US K-12 students Mandarin Chinese by 2020.
The initiative calls for a five-fold increase from the current 200,000 students and the program will be led by the US-China Strong Foundation, along with key implementation partners covering the Curriculum, Teacher Training and Technology platforms.
Mandarin Matrix has been chosen as a Technology platform implementation partner, along with Tencent’s VIPKID and the University of Oregon’s Center for Applied Second Language Studies. These partners will develop and leverage technology to improve and increase access to Mandarin language classes, particularly in underserved communities.
“We’re proud to collaborate with these distinguished institutions and organizations as they help us expand 1 Million Strong across the country,” said Carola McGiffert, CEO of the US-China Strong Foundation. “With their expertise, we’ll be even better equipped to foster a greater understanding of Chinese culture, language and history – and of the US-China relationship – among American students.”
Mandarin Matrix’s CEO, David Tait, also welcomed the initiative, “We are delighted to have been chosen to be a part of this important project and look forward to working with our partners to provide so many young people with a potentially life-changing opportunity to learn Mandarin.”
Hong Kong-based Mandarin Matrix specialises in publishing teaching materials to help K-12 students learning Chinese as a foreign language. Mandarin Matrix has been building a global presence supporting schools in the Asia Pacific region and, most recently, in the larger US market. Key to its success has been its award-winning Mandarin Matrix Online Classroom, which in addition to providing an engaging and fun way to learn for students, gives support to teachers and parents. The Mandarin Matrix Online Classroom allows users to choose either simplified or traditional characters, and also provides the opportunity for students to learn Mandarin from languages other than English, including Spanish, French and Bahasa.
About US-China Strong
The US-China Strong Foundation is a global non-profit that leads a national movement to ensure the next generation of US leaders is equipped to engage effectively with China: a global strategic power, the second largest economy in the world and America’s fastest growing trade partner. Please visit www.uschinastrong.org
About Mandarin Matrix Ltd.
Mandarin Matrix (MMX) is an integrated online classroom designed for children learning Chinese as a foreign language. The platform is built around the four key aspects of reading, writing, speaking and comprehension using a fun and highly interactive interface, proven to be compelling and engaging for students. MMX is a scalable turnkey solution already supporting K-12 Chinese language teaching in US public schools.
Please visit www.mandarinmatrix.org