Hmm. I'm not sure. Here, in Canada they prefer that we learn "French" because French is out second language. It depends on the country and who the people are that live there :) i suppose an English-speaking country with alot of Chinese people would prefer Chinese.

In the UK we learn French, German and Spanish. Very few people here learn or speak Chinese, except people with a Chinese background or those who are in some way connected to Chinese culture

The American education system doesn't really emphasize being bilingual or any sort of language program. For all practical purposes, Spanish is the most likely language an American student will learn...if anything at all.

is that a controversy?... just kidding! here, preferably english are taught among the students. other foreign languages are taught only to those who prefer to learn it... I'm learning chinese anyway. :)

In Australia it depends on which school you attend and what languages they offer there. There are also Saturday schools where you can learn languages that aren't taught in high schools like Turkish and Lithuanian for example.