Schools in the state of Utah have been actively integrating foreign languages into their curriculum to prepare students for a competitive world economy, although ironically, it was only in 2000 that Utah had passed an English-only law, and, according to United States Census figures, spends the least on education, out of all the states.

Now, however, dual language classes are growing faster than ever. Advocates of these programmes argue that such students are better developed academically, and make for stronger candidates in the global labour force. Studies also show that these students fare just as well, if not better, than students from English-only classrooms.

Languages offered include French, Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin, with German likely being next, but discussions are also underway to include Arabic. The programme will extend from the first grade to high school, where students will then study at a college level. Regular subjects like mathematics are also taught exclusively in a foreign language, although teachers are careful to ensure students recognise special terms like "photosynthesis" and "chlorophyll" in both languages.

For more information, please visit https://cn.nytimes.com/education/20130508/c08utah/en-us/