Wayland Town Crier 7/30/09: Efforts under way to add Mandarin to Wayland Public Schools. While Spanish and French are still the most commonly taught foreign languages in American secondary and post-secondary schools, the interest in Mandarin has been growing exponentially over the past two decades, reflecting the rapidly growing influence of China in the global economy. According to a recent survey by the Modern Language Association, 51,000 students were enrolled in Chinese language classes in American institutions of higher education as of the fall of 2006, up from 19,000 in 1990, 26,000 in 1995, 28,000 in 1998, and 34,000 in 2002. Two years ago, the Wayland Public Schools began exploring the introduction of a fourth foreign language (in addition to Spanish, French and Latin).