Immersion programs often raise eyebrows among parents who think their kids should concentrate on learning their native tongue, but for the Knudsens, an intensive regimen of Japanese seemed the perfect way to begin their daughter's education.

In 1989, when Tena Knudsen and her husband, Eric, heard their school district in Fairfax County, Va., was introducing a partial language immersion program for first- and second-graders, they immediately enrolled their daughter, Devon, in the Japanese program at Great Falls Elementary School.

"Japanese is so different," Tena said. "We wanted her to see the world differently. I was also charmed by Japanese culture."

Devon stayed with the program all the way through high school and is now a freshman at the University of Virginia majoring in international relations.