ABSTRACT
The Shansi program, which was founded in mainland China in 1908, was originally affiliated with a middle school in Shansi Province until the Communist takeover of China in 1949. By the mid-1950s Shansi had re-established institutional ties with several alternative sites in Asia, including the newly founded Tunghai University in Taiwan. Much effort was spent creating an effective Chinese language program for the volunteers, for which the authors depended heavily on the language teachers available at Sichuan Normal University where the Peace Corps office and operations were initially housed. The debate about learning foreign languages has been going on for decades in the US Today many say it is not necessary for Americans to learn foreign languages as more and more people around the world learn English. The use of interpreters is a regular practice, and, as technology continues to improve, computerized translation programs are becoming easier to use.
