Abstract “Chinese is in. Latin and French, it seems, is out.” (Robelen, Education Week). According to the U.S. Department of State, Foreign Service Institute (FSI), and ACTFL, Chinese is one of the most critical and difficult languages to teach and learn. Yet, despite the difficulty, learning Mandarin Chinese as a second language continues to grow. A comparison of the 2004-2005 enrollments with 2007-2008 by the Education Week site shows that Chinese increased 195 percent to 60,000 learners, which is a substantial increase from previous decades. Even though the Chinese language is one of the oldest in the world, about 5000 years, only recently has China emerged as a world economic power, and it is not surprising that little research and few studies have been done on how to teach and prepare our students with the linguistic skills and cultural understanding necessary to interact with people who speak Mandarin Chinese. Having personally taught the language to American students in both public and private schools, this researcher often struggles with how to actively engage students in learning and in constructing meaning in real-world contexts in a way that will enhance the motivation to learn the language. The National Standards feature five Goal Areas, known as the “Five Cs,” which provide a rationale for language education: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. Each goal area delineates two to three content standards that describe the knowledge and skills that learners should demonstrate as a result of their language study. Communication is depicted in terms of three modes – interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational – and it places primary emphasis on the content and purpose of meaningful communication. This study is focused on how interpersonal activities affect student motivation in learning Mandarin Chinese. Interpersonal activities were implemented in Mandarin 2 & 3 in 10-12 grade classes in a private catholic high school in a suburban area. The study employed a quantitative and qualitative (Mixed Method) design in looking at how the class engagement affected students’ motivation. The data were collected using a Likert scale survey and open-ended questions. Results indicated that interpersonal activities provide unique opportunities to motivate students to learn Chinese. The study provides specific examples of how effective use of interpersonal activities affects student motivation and lists recommendations for teachers and further research. Introduction: The Many Obstacles in Studying Mandarin Chinese Mandarin Chinese is definitely not among the easiest languages to learn – it belongs to a different (Sino-Tibetan) language family and presupposes that, unless a learner has had any previous experience with the language and its use, they have to start from scratch. As a result, the students learning Mandarin as their second language bump into a range of obstacles, which often leaves them disappointed about their own abilities and unwilling to continue studying Mandarin. However, students’ motivation can be enhanced once the reasons for the learners’ passionless attitude towards the process of learning Mandarin Chin