All over Utah, elementary-school students are joking and studying and singing and reading and fluently speaking languages not their own: French, Spanish, Chinese, and, soon, Portuguese. They are part of one of the most ambitious total-immersion language-education programs ever attempted in the U.S. It kicked off in the 2009 school year with 1,400 students in 25 schools and by this fall will include 20,000 kids in 100 schools—or 20% of all the elementary schools in the state, with nearly 95% of school districts participating up through grade 12. Competition for spots in the program is keen: families apply online before kids enter kindergarten or first grade—depending on the school district—and the ones who will participate are picked by lottery. Those who are chosen take half their subjects each day in the new language and the other half in English.