Patricia Gartland, director of international education for Coquitlam School District, said the program was the only one of its kinds in British Columbia. Launched in February 2009, the Confucius Classroom came about through a connection with Guangzhou's South China Normal University who applied to Hanban on their behalf.

About 80 countries currently offer the program.

"As soon as we heard about the program, we wanted to offer it right away," said Gartland who also acts as the Confucius Classroom chairman of the board and principal. "The reception (to offering the program) is tremendous."

"We know that in the new global reality it's extremely important for everyone to acquire additional languages. The more additional languages (spoken), the better in terms of participating actively in the world and understanding the world and our own local community as well as the world communities."

With the success of the initial classes, starting in September the Coquitlam School Board will begin a grassroots program where two elementary schools will offer Chinese classes, one to a kindergarten class, and the other to a grade one class. The students will study Mandarin and English for a half day each.

"In terms of any additional language acquisition it is always better to commence studies at a younger age. This is in terms of speed of acquisition and ultimate language fluency and pronunciation. So the younger a person is when they learn a language the more fluent they will be in that language. Their brain will also be more flexible in terms of acquiring that language and other languages," Gartland said.