I remember awhile back when Japanese translator were desperate
needed. Pretty much all of the software that were written would be localized to
Japanese. Japanese translator, teacher and engineers were definite on demand. I
even managed to learn Japanese but sadly I have given them back to my teacher
and friends. But now …
With China has captured majority of the market shares, what do you think the next must language would be? What would us, the parents, do to prepare our next generation for this new wave?
You have probably guessed it by now ...
In fact, ,I just read an article on The Wall Street Journal—“To improve
Kids’ Chinese, parents Head to Asia.” And we are talking about Western parents
with no Chinese ancestors in their bloodline—Chinese has becoming a MUST learn
language!
| Property of telegraph.co.uk |
Able to speak Chinese would give one an ability to
communicate with roughly 14-15 percents of the world population. And from the economic stand
point, it would definitely enable someone's wing to spread much wider than you could imagine --think 1.3 billion!
An immersion Mandarin language has been slowly capturing
parents in the US --and we are talking about Chinese parents and beyond. I personally have met many non Chinese descendants kids and adults who are pretty fluent with Chinese and they are amazingly good!
Chinese language is definitely a different animal to tackle, with its thousands of characters to learn and not to mention its five tones that one has to master. According to The Wall Street Journal, "But this time, after-school classes aren't enough for some people.
Families are enrolling their children in Mandarin-immersion programs
that are springing up from California to Maine. They are hiring tutors,
Skyping with teachers in Beijing and recruiting Chinese-speaking
nannies. Some are stocking their playrooms with Disney videos in
Mandarin—not to mention the iPhone apps aimed at making kids into
Mandarin speakers."
Now the question is Are you keeping up with the wave yet?
Be thinking about that question and I hope you enjoy this little journey with me visiting the "Next Must Learn Language!"
Until next stop,
Angela
I remember a time when Japanese was the must-learn language. However, when the Japanese market crashed, so did the need to learn the language. As I understand, the Chinese language has so many dialects, it's often possible for them to have miscommunication among themselves. I wonder if there is a Standard Chinese language for international speakers? Strangely the Chinese are trying hard to catch up with learning English!
ReplyDeleteThere is a standard Chinese language, called "Mandarin." And at the same time, English is *still* the dominated language so probably that was the reasons, Chinese are learning English.
DeleteInteresting facts!
ReplyDelete:-)
DeleteEither language seems overwhelming to learn to me! All I know is English. :D
ReplyDeleteKathy
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com
I know exactly what you meant!
DeleteI saw a documentary a while back about immersion schools. One of them was Mandarin and there were a ton of non-Chinese students in the school. One of the ones they highlighted even went there as an exchange student. I love it!
ReplyDeleteYes. I know couple of Indian descendants who are fluent in Chinese and I am impressed!
DeleteMy brother speaks fluent Japanese as he married a woman from Japan and lived there when they got married and even taught English. He has more issues with the "writing" of it. My brother and wife used to have the girls speaking the language and it went well until they went to school. Now, they forgot a lot of it. My other brother in law is Chinese, and he speaks Cantonese, but doesn't speak it with his family. They speak Spanish, as they left china and went to Hondouras. My sister and the kids only speak english, but they do celebrate holidays, and traditions to learn a bit of the culture. I took highschool French, and boy, it is pathetic..I tried using it in Paris, oh boy..But since I tried, I got by.. I wish I learned a second language young. I am not sure I can do it now.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely have a lot of diversity in your family. That is amazing!
DeleteI heard those who have learned second/third languages somehow exercise certain part of their brains and they are proven quite fascinating.
I was quite exposed to many different languages/dialects which i think somehow benefit me in someways.
I wish I could speak Japanese. My sister is Japanese. She speaks English I would love to speak Japanese too. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop Linky Party. I hope you have a wonderful weekend xo P.S. I'm having a party at Katherines Corner today and you are invited!
ReplyDeleteYeah ... I would say, Japanese is the language that I always like. Somehow it sounds so pleasant in my ears.
Deleteoh I should probably mention that I wrote a post titled a sister for Katie a long time ago if you would like to read it xo
ReplyDeleteNow, you've gotten me curious ... I am going to look for that post. Thank you Katherine.
Delete