It is my pleasure to write a foreword for the book Chinese Language Education in the United States： With a Curriculum for Elementary and Secondary Schools by Dr. Janice Dowd. This book is a publication that traces the history of the study of Chinese and concentrates on what has transpired in language education over the past 20 years in the United States.
　　In Chapter One， Dr. Dowd traces the recent history of language education in America by discussing the Common Core curriculum that began in 2009 in many states in the United States. From there， she discusses the Standards Movement that began in all subjects in the 1990s and continues to this day. Dr. Dowd focuses on the most upto-date standards in language education entitled the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. She gives a thorough description of the standards with examples of Performance Indicators and Can-Do Statements that pertain to each standard. Dr. Dowd also reviews the Core Practices of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and relates them to the Six STARTALK Principles. Finally， she explains how Backward Design （by Wiggins and McTighe） relates to foreign language practices and how language learning is an important skill for the 21st century.