Enthusiasm for learning Chinese by American high school students has increased dramatically, according to international learning experts in Washington.

Over the past two months, American high school students have been going on summer exchange programs to immerse themselves in the language. Such programs are designed to complement the increasing numbers of young Americans choosing to study Chinese at school.

Washington Dulles Airport. Parents are greeting their sixteen year old sons and daughters who have shown enthusiasm and aptitude for learning Chinese in different schools within the nation’s capital.

Stephanie Guzman, a student, says, "There’s so much. I learned a lot about Chinese culture. I was immersed in it every day, had classes every day with it. I learned a ton about the language, lots of slang phrases. But I also learned a lot about myself and how I operate in a new environment."

For many of these Washington DC students, this six week trip to Beijing was their first taste of foreign travel.Students have been learning Kung Fu, Tai Chi, traditional calligraphy and other cultural pursuits.Language immersion classes were complemented with real-world challenges.

Andrew Berry says he found the spoken language part quite challenging, but says his strength was in reading the signs to help them navigate around the city. Andrew Berry, a student, says, "It is very difficult for me, speaking is one of my weakest parts for me, but writing, not reading it is my strength."

This trip is also part of a much bigger push by the US government.

Daniel Ryntjes, CCTV Washington Correspondent, says, "In 2009 President Obama announced the creation of the "100,000 Strong Initiative" during his trip to China, to get 100,000 American students to study in China over a four year time frame."

And back at the airport students like Dayna Hayman say the trip opened her eyes to possible job opportunities there.

Dayna Haymen, a student, says, "I got so accustomed to it, I feel like I was bound to be there. I just connected to everything there. After a while I was just getting used to it, so I got connected to the metro rail system. We went to a couple of businesses and I realized that there are American businesses in China that I could work for also."

Her father, a Washington DC firefighter, Sergeant John Hayman, says his daughter’s passion for the language has changed his thinking.

Sergeant John Hayman says, "My thing was actually her learning Spanish, since it’s the second language in the United States. But I didn’t realize the impact that China has on the United States and everything. So my thing now is, hey, if she can thrive here and go over to China and thrive, it’s an excellent thing all the way around."

While many US students who travel to China do so through private means, this trip has been funded through the US State Department and organized by Americans Promoting Study Abroad.

Sally Schwartz, from Americans Promoting Study Abroad, sasy, "They’ve been able to see that their careers can be global. That they may have the opportunity to work in China, this is one of the really special things about this program. They just really see that there’s a big world out there, and they don’t see that necessarily in their local schools and this part of what’s so valuable about this program. They will never be the same."

Experts say there are currently more than 120,000 students of Chinese in the US and that the uptake of new learners is increasingly rapidly.