No More French: Everyone Is Learning Chinese?
by James Na ~ August 30th, 2006. Filed under: China, Miscellaneous. And while I am on the subject of rising Chinese politico-economic influence, the new “in” language at American schools is apparently Chinese:
“China is being mentioned everywhere in relation to everything from business, international affairs — even the war on terror,” said Kenneth Lieberthal, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan. “You buy things in the store — they’re made in China. . . . No one is hearing about France as the way of the future.”“People are finally beginning to pay attention to Mandarin as a major cultural and economic prospect for students,” said Michael H. Levine, executive director of education for the Asia Society. “The push is coming from the defense [community] and government and grass-roots interest from parents.” [Bold face mine.]
Well, I don’t speak Mandarin, but there is a glimmer of hope for me still:
In January, President Bush unveiled a $114 million initiative aimed at increasing the number of so-called critical languages, such as Chinese and Arabic, taught in U.S. schools. The 10 Chinese teachers are the first recruits in a program the Bush administration hopes to expand to include teachers of Russian, Korean, Farsi and other critical languages. [Boldface mine].
Now that I am no longer affiliated with Discovery Institute, does this mean a government position is in the offing due to my native-level fluency in this “critical” language of Korean?
In all seriousness, I am all for learning as many languages as possible, but I think there are some inflated expectations:
“I think Americans who used to feel other people needed to learn [English] now realize that the time has come when that doesn’t work anymore,” Groth said. “I’ve heard from people who say: ‘Forget the engineering. Learn the foreign language. If you want a job, the foreign language is going to sell your engineering.’ “
Contrary to this assertion, in the private sector, the general trend is still that those with linguistic skills are often sent to foreign offices and have trouble returning to the corporate headquarters later if they stay overseas too long. They are also often shut out of higher level managerial positions for this reason.
Things are different in government, especially the defense and intelligence-related jobs, of course. But in the corporate sector, having that foreign language ability can — counter-intuitive, I know — harm one’s long-term career prospects.
[Cross-posted in Guns and Butter Blog]
August 30th, 2006 at 11:00 pm
I dont knock anybody who wants to learn Chinese, for godsake 1.3 billion people speak it, but I cant help be somewhat of a cynic cause this sounds just like the rush to learn Japanese in the 80’s and Russian in the 60’s & 70’s. This nation has a tendency to glorify certain languages during different periods of time. The “gotta learn this language” hype shows just how this nation can be just like John Kerry and flip flop all the damn time. Me personally, I am taking Spanish just for a foreign language requirement while teaching myself Korean cause unfortunately my school doesnt offer Korean as a language. I love Korean food, have Korean friends, and just in general love Korean culture and would love to visit the country someday. I feel that no matter what langauge you learn, it is good to at least be fluent in another language whether it be Chinese, Korean, or Spanish but at least make the effort to learn one language. In my case I’m forced to learn one language for academic reasons while my heart wants to learn another. Regardless, you should learn a language that interest you and is able to keep your interest as you learn it, not because it is the new and hip language to learn.
August 30th, 2006 at 11:07 pm
My thoughts exactly, especially the Japanese in the 80’s part.
Again, I too believe that learning another language is great. But I sense some inflated expectations of jobs raining down like so much manna from the heavens.
August 30th, 2006 at 11:15 pm
Exactly. While I’m too young to be involved in the Japanese rush, when I was in school everyone was talking about how we must learn Spanish because Mexico and South America as a whole is going to become an ever increasing trade partner and economic power… but it all seemed to fall through. SA is still growing in economic power like everyone said it would, but not at the same rate it was before.
I imagine the same with China. The growth can’t continue at this rate forever. Look at America, Russia, Japan, Korea before it. This stuff peaks.
August 30th, 2006 at 11:36 pm
Although Spanish… is different, largely because the great bulk of the immigrants (especially illegal immigrants) coming to the U.S. are Spanish-speakers.
Maybe we should learn Portuguese since Brazil’s economy just surpassed Korea’s.
August 30th, 2006 at 11:58 pm
LOLOL, I was thinking the same thing James. After US & Canada, Brazil is the largest economy in the western hemisphere so why is there no rush to push Portugeuse as a “critical” language. Everytime I think of Spanish I think of what a friend told me when I asked why he was learning Japanese instead of something easier like Spanish. He said “Spanish is just…..ghetto.”