WASHINGTON — Discussions about where to go and which route to take were lively on one recent day in a classroom of Phelps High School in Washington.

In pairs, the 16 students pointed at different spots on a map in front of them and talked about going to a restaurant, a library, a park.

The topics seemed easy, but discussing them was not. In this Chinese language class, expanded for a press group visit, the students had to fumble for the right Chinese vocabulary, the sounds and the tones.

"Ni qu tu shu guan gan shen me? (What are you going to do in a library?)" B. Rose Hansen, their Chinese language teacher, asked one student.

He paused, then answered, "Du shu (Read a book)."

Sometimes, a pair started in English and turned to Chinese once they felt more comfortable with the sentences they needed to practice.

Phelps High added a Chinese language course three years ago to its curriculum of academic courses and vocational training in carpentry, plumbing, electrical and civil engineering, interior design and architecture design.

Three students from Phelps High are now in Beijing, immersing themselves with dozens of other American high school students in the Chinese language for six weeks. Before she left for Beijing, Chanel Sarter, 16, said she wanted to find out how China is different from the United States.

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