Around the world, more than 1.1 billion people speak Mandarin Chinese.

That number could grow by 25 in September, when Moon Area High School juniors start learning the district's newest language offering.

Through computer screens and under the tutelage of a Hanban and Wuhan University professor, the students will learn the basics of the formal, traditional dialect, said Jeff Zollars, Moon curriculum director.

"We were trying to think forward and what would be useful to high school students making a connection to post secondary education or the work world."

Mandarin Chinese I will be a one credit, year-long course offered through the University of Pittsburgh's Confucius Institute and their partnership with A.W. Beattie Career Center in the North Hills.

This school year was the first year for the high school program at the technical school that serves nine northern Allegheny County schools and for Pitt's Confucius Institute -- the first in Pennsylvania.

The Chinese Ministry of Education awards the institutes to universities worldwide, including 22 in the United States.

A total of 28 middle and high school students from three school districts and the career center have attempted to expand their Chinese lexicon and culture knowledge beyond the country's Great Wall.

To learn the official modern spoken language of mainland China and Taiwan, students assume spots at computer monitors at the career center or screens in their regular school, said Matt Roberts, Beattie curriculum coordinator.

A Chinese instructor broadcasting live from the McCandless technical school appears onscreen and teaches a 45-minute lesson.

"All they have to do is turn on video conferencing equipment. The instructor is visible and he or she can put up on screen whatever they are working on that day," Roberts said.

Like traditional classes, students learn from textbooks, compact discs and workbooks and have homework and exams. A messenger will retrieve the homework at the end of the school day and return it corrected by the instructor within two days.

The program, with its resident instructor, is unlike any other offered to middle and high school students in western Pennsylvania, said Roberts.

"We've looked at what else is out there as a comparison. There really isn't a lot out there like this, certainly not in Pennsylvania. There are things at the college level, but no one is doing it at the high school level."

And like any fledgling effort, the program endured a few issues before finding its zen path.

"It's a little difficult to get past the accent, but his English has gotten a lot better and the students have gotten used to it. We do a student survey on what is working, what's not working and everything is coming back very good now."

The career center last week decided to approve a second year of the program with the same instructor teaching Mandarin Chinese II, but has yet to set a price tag, said Roberts.

This year, participating schools -- Avonworth, Upper St. Clair and Pine-Richland -- paid nothing.

"They took the risk of trying something so radically new and different, we couldn't charge them," Roberts said.

"We are not sure on costs. We need to look at market value to determine what we would be charging."

Moon officials estimate the course to cost $1,000 per student and the board authorized payment up to $30,000 last Monday.ǃ