A sign of the times?

[stargalaxy]

What's this about?
"An independent college is becoming the first in Britain to make Mandarin Chinese a compulsory subject. The move at Brighton College, in East Sussex, was said to reflect China's position as the fastest-growing economy in the world. Mandarin Chinese will join French, Spanish and Latin as a core language for 13 to 18-year-old pupils." Click here for story. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/4616640.stm)

I'm not sure what to make of this. As the article points out, China has replaced Britain as the 4th largest economy in the world late last year. Perhaps this move is an attempt to reflect that, to try and equip future students with skills they may need in the future.

But on a wider level, I'm worried. I believe the increasing power of this communist state is a danger to the world. Let us not forget that China is one of few countries that is against bringing in sanctions for Iran as it attempts to produce its first nuclear bomb. The rise of a country like China, a country that pays slave wages to its workers, that has no respect for human rights, is a worrying sign.

What do you think?

[Fiend_85]

Why are they still learning latin?

[stargalaxy]

Why are they still learning latin? I've no idea. I can't think of any business situation in which you might need to speak to a client in Latin, for instance.

[budda]

But on a wider level, I'm worried. I believe the increasing power of this communist state is a danger to the world. Let us not forget that China is one of few countries that is against bringing in sanctions for Iran as it attempts to produce its first nuclear bomb. The rise of a country like China, a country that pays slave wages to its workers, that has no respect for human rights, is a worrying sign.

I think its an interesting and a good move, it will be good to know in the future.

As to China not wanting us to bring sanctions, thats not such an 'out there' idea, I dont think they would work either.

As for wages, they are (in large parts of the country) no longer at 'slave labour' rates. Much like any country where the economy is growing, people are getting richer and demanding higher wages.

Yep, its human rights record is fairly nasty, but again, this is improving.

We shouldn't fear The Red Tide, its the greatest opportunity for growth the World has ever seen. (and of course when people get rich they stop having kids, which will help with over crowding)

[budda]

Why are they still learning latin?

Why is Latin not a good idea?

[_guest]

I learned Latin at school and while it doesn't come in useful conversationally, it's incredibly interesting in a lot of other respects such as origins of language, botany (woo) and the part I find most interesting (and relevant)...the origins of medical terminology.

It's hardly redundant.

[_guest]

Double post :blush:

[wheresmyplacebo]

I've no idea. I can't think of any business situation in which you might need to speak to a client in Latin, for instance.

my grandad knew latin, because of that he was almost able to chat to any european person even if badly simply because its the basis of many languages


i dont use maths day to day, however it still teaches skills in thinking


and china isnt communist as such, they have walmart there etc

[snapping_crocodile]

It's hardly redundant.

I wouldn't say that Latin was redundant, but i can see why they have chose to introduce Mandarin...as it is the number 1 language in the world, in that it is spoken by the most people, and more and more people are learning it. How useful is it in the UK right now...i'm not sure, but in the future with zChina's growing prominence...who knows? :yeees:

[Toadborg]

and china isnt communist as such, they have walmart there etc

Yes but they are communist in the importance sense of being undemocratic and authoritarian.

The rise of Chinas is positive in the sense that it has been the largest reducytion in poverty in human history and is also good for the economic prosepcts of the rest of the world.

it is bad in that the environmental impacts are potentially devastating and also in the fact that having an authoritarian dictatorship as one of the most powerful nations in the world is not good by any means to world peace and cooperation.......

[katralla]

I started Latin at six, it's really useful for learning languages. Spanish seems more useful than french these days, manderin though, hmmmn, I'll have to think about it.

[Walkindude]

I was learning Chinese Manderin in the latter years of primary school, but then again I wa sin Australia, alot closer to China.

You'd think if it was all about business, we;d all be learning Japanese.

maybe it is a sign of china's growth if they are making people here learn it.

[Nikki*]

Personally, I love learning languages, so if my school had of offered all those, I'd be all for it. Unfortunetly, we only had French and German and we even had to drop one of them after the first year (which they've now changed so you can drop BOTH which is terrible), so I learnt (and remember) very little German now.

The use of them? I thik that everyone should be able to speak other languages, people learn English so they can speak to us in our country. Fair enough, theres alot to learn, but even the basics help - I studied French for 12 years through school, and although I only had basic conversation, when we went to Switzerland, I was the only one in my family who could order anything, ask for directions or anything similar in the French towns there. (When we visited the German sector however, we were stuffed. Especially when my sister was given a fork to eat her soup with and we couldn't explain why we were puzzled)

[Disillusioned]

Mandarin Chinese will join French, Spanish and Latin as a core language for 13 to 18-year-old pupils.

- Meanwhile under Labour, in state schools a single foreign language GCSE is not even compulsory anymore.

Hmm I wonder what happened to ‘Education, education, education’ - while a headteacher in the private sector wants to ‘hand his pupils an advantage in a changing world’ plenty of state school pupils won’t study a foreign language at all.

I’m useless at foreign languages and so generally wish that French GCSE hadn’t been compulsory for me because I hated it and didn’t do very well in it. Although when there are private schools like Brighton taking this approach which contrasts pretty starkly with that of state schools I think it’s a bad sign. With universities and employers private schools will have a distinct advantage over state pupils in terms of foreign language abilities – actually they already do and the gap should not be allowed to get bigger.

[Fiend_85]

Why is Latin not a good idea?
Latin is interesting, expecially in routes of words and development of european languages. I see no reason why it should be a compulsory language though, it is the official language of zero countries.

I'm more surprised that latin is as compulsory as french (v widely spoken), spanish (third most spoken language on the planet) and chinese mandarin (most spoken language on the planet) and yet other european (german, italian) and business languages (japanese) are neglected.

[Disillusioned]

I see no reason why it should be a compulsory language though, it is the official language of zero countries.

You’re taking a very simplistic view. Essentially the implication of what you’re saying is that we should only study something if it’s practically useful. And while at a basic level that makes sense it shouldn't form the basis of what we study.

I'm more surprised that latin is as compulsory as french (v widely spoken), spanish (third most spoken language on the planet) and chinese mandarin (most spoken language on the planet) and yet other european (german, italian) and business languages (japanese) are neglected.

Er yes I think people are aware that French and Spanish are widely spoken languages – although thanks for pointing it out for everyone anyway.

However the merits of Latin shouldn’t be seen in that way and shouldn’t be compared to other foreign languages. Latin is different, it gives a basis for studying those languages through it’s influence and helps people understand better word formulation/vocabulary – and I believe there’s been a correlation between students studying Latin doing better in their other subjects than students who don’t study Latin. Although I’m not sure if those figures took all the factors into account or not. (I btw have never studied Latin although would have liked to had I been able to).

[Fiend_85]

That's not what I said at all. I fully support someone, anyone, studying anything if it's something they enjoy and appreciate. I fail to see why anyone should be surprised at the existance of a practical subject being compulsory when an arguably impractical subject already is.

I would also argue that learning latin doesn't give you linguistic skills. I learned french and german quite happily without latin. And queenmab_roo speaks five languages, and none of them are latin.

No, as I understand it, the implication of the thread was that Mandarin as a compulsory subject is somehow surprising. I don't think it is, I fail to see why it would be.

Now I remember why I don't like P&D.

[morrocan roll]

why on earth would china suppotrt sanctions against iran when they are busy building oil and gas pipelines from there to china?

[Disillusioned]

I would also argue that learning latin doesn't give you linguistic skills. I learned french and german quite happily without latin. And queenmab_roo speaks five languages, and none of them are latin.

I’m rubbish at foreign languages so I wouldn’t know, although my brother who did Latin and is studying French & Spanish finds his knowledge of Latin very useful. I don’t know if that’s typical or not.

No, as I understand it, the implication of the thread was that Mandarin as a compulsory subject is somehow surprising. I don't think it is, I fail to see why it would be.

Given where we are geographically and given that we are a major EU player I’d assume European languages should be the priority. I personally find it surprising that Mandarin could be compulsory when German isn’t. And given that there’s a limit on how many languages can be learned I find it surprising to put Mandarin above German. After all, Germany is our biggest trading partner in Europe and if we’re looking at ‘business languages’ German is the third largest economy I think.

Would you be unsurprised if Japanese was compulsory as well? Being another business language that is?

Now I remember why I don't like P&D.

Ahh sorry for being snappy..But I betchya missed P&D really..
;)

[purplebutterfly]

Brighton College, is a private girls-only school (I think), therefore it is quite likely that they will still teach Latin. Not sure about Madarin, though, finding FL teachers is hard enough as it is, never mind those who teach the more unusual langauages.

[Knee High Stripy Socks]

I'm doing Latin at uni, as an introductory course (Metella est mater!) and so far it has helped a lot with my linguistics course. I understand case and tense so much better in English now.

I was thinking the other day how much better English Language could be taught in schools, the stuff I learnt in college (really quite basic stuff!) would have helped me so much more in my French lessons at school. For example, I didn't know what things like infinitives were until I went to college, and things like case and aspect meant nothing. If I'd known these things at school, I think I would have passed French with more than a C grade.

[Spliffie]

What's this about?
"An independent college is becoming the first in Britain to make Mandarin Chinese a compulsory subject. The move at Brighton College, in East Sussex, was said to reflect China's position as the fastest-growing economy in the world. Mandarin Chinese will join French, Spanish and Latin as a core language for 13 to 18-year-old pupils." Click here for story. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/4616640.stm)

I'm not sure what to make of this. As the article points out, China has replaced Britain as the 4th largest economy in the world late last year. Perhaps this move is an attempt to reflect that, to try and equip future students with skills they may need in the future.

But on a wider level, I'm worried. I believe the increasing power of this communist state is a danger to the world. Let us not forget that China is one of few countries that is against bringing in sanctions for Iran as it attempts to produce its first nuclear bomb. The rise of a country like China, a country that pays slave wages to its workers, that has no respect for human rights, is a worrying sign.

What do you think?

You're definitely onto something.

The West is effete and decadent - China is hard and driven. Certainly one of several worrying developments from a Western perspective.

[morrocan roll]

[B]
, China has replaced Britain as the 4th largest economy in the world late last year.
Let us not forget that China is one of few countries that is against bringing in sanctions for Iran as it attempts to produce its first nuclear bomb. The rise of a country like China, a country that pays slave wages to its workers, that has no respect for human rights, is a worrying sign.

What do you think?
i think the only country to compare it with regarding the way it deals with human rights at the moment is america ...and the way it deals with its poor.
before you slag me as an anti american i can assure you i have never been but ...as china lifts itself into an american kind of dream ...more and more consumerism ...more and more flash cars and fast highways ...are you up to date with their highway building? ...more and more private ownership and wealth ...america is increasingly ...ignoring human rights ...its poor are getting more and more desperately poor ...its government become more corrupt and violent ...wouldn't you say that china is coming up ...and america is sinking down?

[Disillusioned]

i think the only country to compare it with regarding the way it deals with human rights at the moment is america ...and the way it deals with its poor.

You cannot seriously compare China and America on human rights. America isn’t perfect but anyone who compares it to China has to be pretty ignorant.

America is a democracy with free and fair elections, an independent judiciary, a free press, a Bill of Rights and a Constitution. China is a totalitarian regime with strictly enforced press censorship, a closed judiciary and severe human rights abuses.

I’m assuming that you’ve never looked at Amnesty International’s website. Yes, America like Britain, France and many other democracies does not have an unblemished human rights record. America is not perfect. But if you’ve ever taken a look at AI you’d be aware that as flawed as America is it cannot be compared to China.

Oh and MR, if America and China are comparable on human rights would you please tell me where the American asylum seekers are?

[Clandestine]

with free and fair elections

This is patently false Dis. I suggest you bother reading the GAO's (internal Federal Watchdog Agency) own report on the rigging of the 2004 election.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_16.shtml

Working back from there, one can also easily raise the Supreme Court-intervened fraud that was the 2000 election.

You obviously are unaware of the fact that for some time now election tabulations and results have become the exclusive domain of corporate entities rather than transparent and independent public groups in each respective state.

Free and fair, especially when the only viable contestants are routinely only those endorsed and funded by big money vested interests and only those from the Democratic and Republican Parties (two sides of the same corporate owned coin), my nation's election are not nor have been in my lifetime and well before.

[morrocan roll]

You cannot seriously compare China and America on human rights. America isn’t perfect but anyone who compares it to China has to be pretty ignorant.

America is a democracy with free and fair elections, an independent judiciary, a free press, a Bill of Rights and a Constitution. China is a totalitarian regime with strictly enforced press censorship, a closed judiciary and severe human rights abuses.

I’m assuming that you’ve never looked at Amnesty International’s website. Yes, America like Britain, France and many other democracies does not have an unblemished human rights record. America is not perfect. But if you’ve ever taken a look at AI you’d be aware that as flawed as America is it cannot be compared to China.

Oh and MR, if America and China are comparable on human rights would you please tell me where the American asylum seekers are?i think you missed my point.
america is going down the totalitarian route ...thats where it's heading.
its recent human rights abuses and the instigation of homeland security and ...the fixing of elections ...which i pressume is now largely accepted means ...iut is heading downhill toward where china used to be ...and still largely are but ...china now has an amazing economic boom like never before seen on this earth.
meaning ...the ammount of educated people who are experiencing wealth and comfort is rocketing meaning ...the government will have to give more and more to keep the process going.
while the american industrial and manufacturing base diminishes ...it heads more toward where china is lifting itself from.
or don't you see that?
one nation rising ...as the other descends.
moraly and economicaly.,

[Teh_Gerbil]

"China Will Grow Larger!" (Quote from a game, ten points to anyone who gets it.)

Anyway, back to serious points. Compulsory here? I disagree. But who am I, a mere citizen to judge?

As for China being Communist? Once it was. It isn't now, it's like a benign evil regeime. The people can live quite easily and well as long as they follow rules, a big infrastructure to cater and care for their needs as they work for the Government and Country. Except now, it's not just that - you know some of hte WORST wages paid to Chinese workers are by foreign, western, companies making their stuff there? It is under the Chinese Government minimum wage! State workers get paid more! At least they still have a welfare system to fall back too. But, if you break any of the states rules... WHAM! An angry fist gets you. Dead. You don't step out of line in China and get off lightly.

China... is the growing power as the west receeds. We've had our boom and we've prospered. Now, like any empire, we must die away to make way for the new blood. This centrury will be that, of the Dragon. All the strongest and most wise leaders in History realise no empire lasts forever. They saw their own grow, or die, depending on the time they ruled. Only the stupid or ignorant think their way can rule forever.

Why put up a futile fight? It's time for a new power to rule the world. Why is it bad? This is the most interesting phase of history for us to view! We should feel good we can observe it. Some generations were stuck with the same old crap for ages. They were born and died into it... no change. We get change. Change is nothing if not interesting. We can't stop it... let's just sit back and observe the passage of History.

[achinese]

hi, there, I think we are just trying to live a good life. :hyper:

[Carriage Return]

I've no idea. I can't think of any business situation in which you might need to speak to a client in Latin, for instance.
Law and lawyerese

[morrocan roll]

hi, there, I think we are just trying to live a good life. :hyper:
hello and welcome.

[my name]

I think learnign other languages is grand. I wish I had. Foreigh languages were never offerd to children in my town unti you reached highschool. THen, when I was that age, you could choose from French and Spanish. After budget cuts Spanish was the only option. You only needed one semester (1/2 a school year) I think thats wrong and unfair.

[stargalaxy]

i think the only country to compare it with regarding the way it deals with human rights at the moment is america ...and the way it deals with its poor.
before you slag me as an anti american i can assure you i have never been but ...as china lifts itself into an american kind of dream ...more and more consumerism ...more and more flash cars and fast highways ...are you up to date with their highway building? ...more and more private ownership and wealth ...america is increasingly ...ignoring human rights ...its poor are getting more and more desperately poor ...its government become more corrupt and violent ...wouldn't you say that china is coming up ...and america is sinking down?I never thought you were an anti-American, that's a simplistic label used by people who have lost the argument.

I'm well-aware that the USA doesn't respect human rights. Well, not abroad anyway. Nor do they pay much attention to international law or other sovereign nations. I fear much the same is happening here. Right now, we have a government that is trying to impose ID cards, so the state can spy on us. Nothing to do with preventing terrorism, all to do with taking away our right to privacy.

If countries could be rated on how they treat their poor, most would do very badly. Britain has a welfare state which helps spongers, not those who actually need help, for instance. More than ever in this world, money talks. :(

[Teh_Gerbil]

I am NOT Anti-American. It's fun to slag off the Yanks, French, Japanese, Chinese... but im not ANTI-them in anyway.

But the Americans (Or rather, their government) piss me off latley for ONE REASON - You CLAIM to be spreading all this freedom, and great stuff to others - yet you aren't even doing it at home! And neither are WE, the Brits, anymore! WTF is going on!

Oh, and plus you never DID spread democracy abroad. Or Human Rights. Or Freedom. So stop lying and be honest.

[Clandestine]

But it's good PR for newspaper and television advertising sales, Gerb.

[Teh_Gerbil]

But it's good PR for newspaper and television advertising sales, Gerb.

Until they start to go wrong... like Vietnam. Like Iraq.

[queenmab_roo]

China isn't at the moment communist, it's turning towards capitalism everyday- a bad thing for a country where every store has 10 times the worker it needs simply because if they didnt work there, what would they do?

As for an example about minimum wages: i don't know exactly how much the chinese minimum wage is, but workers in tescos and KFC get the equivalent of under 50p an hour. So after a days work they can come home with roughly £4, save some, and still live on the rest. it is that dirt cheap out there.

As for politics, as you'll see from the comment from the chinese person above, the chinese people as a whole ACTUALLY believe that their current government is the best thing for them. And they really do believe it, it's not a false pretense of a belief induced by being scared of the state. They are such state-proud people- if you see an essay written by a chinese person that involves them mentioning their country, it doesn't just come out as "China" but "the glorious state of China" etc.

And what most chinese people currently believe about their government is that their country needs a strong guiding hand, which i can kind of agree with, otherwise that country would not get anything done at all. Yet talking to them, i cannot get one of them to agree that the lack of a voting system is a negative thing. They don't see the need for them to be able to change things because they have full faith in their government and its plans. In the words of my friend "our government made one big mistake already, now we are just planning on improving our economy, our economy is our only focus."

And lastly from a language point of view: China is quickly becoming one of the most influential players in the world economy, perhaps even overtaking Japan. And to start studying Mandarin- or, to be honest, any of the similar non-alphabetically based languages- from a younger age will be more beneficial and certainly a lot easier than starting it at an old fuddy duddy age of 18 when it becomes available at uni.

I don't agree that any particular language should be compulsory, but i think a wider choice would be amazing. Would anyone ever consider learning korean? or vietnamese? these languages are a lot different to the regular european ones and may encourage the current students who, in my experience, tend to hate learning languages.

[achinese]

[QUOTE=queenmab_roo] "the glorious state of China" etc.
[QUOTE]

hihi, im not sure, i think there must be some thing wrong with your englsh translation :hyper: . can you tell me what's the original text in chinese character.

[QUOTE=queenmab_roo] So after a days work they can come home with roughly £4.[QUOTE]

i had a question, if the chinese live on less than £4 a day like you said , how could they afford their meal, cloth, or even a car. I think the news (http://www.channel4.com/4car/news/news-story.jsp?news_id=13744) must be lying when they told us that china is the second biggest market for auto-mobile or oil.

im sory for my poor english, i have try my best to make it more understandable. :hyper: by the way, how long have you been living in china. can you read chinese, maybe i can write to you in chinese next time.

[Namaste]

But on a wider level, I'm worried. I believe the increasing power of this communist state is a danger to the world. Let us not forget that China is one of few countries that is against bringing in sanctions for Iran as it attempts to produce its first nuclear bomb. The rise of a country like China, a country that pays slave wages to its workers, that has no respect for human rights, is a worrying sign.

What do you think?
Well Spanish is another big one, at least in human rights and there are a lot of human rights violaters in Latin America...

I think it's good that we learn Mandarin, if they ever do become our enemy a least we may know them a little better.

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

[queenmab_roo]

"the glorious state of China" etc.


hihi, im not sure, i think there must be some thing wrong with your englsh translation :hyper: . can you tell me what's the original text in chinese character.

well i don't have the original Chinese characters cos it was an essay she was writing in English, i'll have a look and see if i still have her original document and get her exact wording. it isn't saying anything is wrong in saying that- it's great to be so proud of your country- but people in england just wouldn't say that.

i had a question, if the chinese live on less than £4 a day like you said , how could they afford their meal, cloth, or even a car. I think the news must be lying when they told us that china is the second biggest market for auto-mobile or oil.

im sory for my poor english, i have try my best to make it more understandable. by the way, how long have you been living in china. can you read chinese, maybe i can write to you in chinese next time.

I'm not saying that the chinese live on less a day- I don't actually know proper salaries in China, I was just giving an example from an international corporation exploiting the people in china, as if KFC tried to pay any of their workers the equivalent of that in a western country they'd be crucified!

So can you tell me from a Chinese Point of view, is 40kuai a day a reasonable wage to live on? cos i'm pretty sure (although i can't tell chinese people's ages at all) that a lot of the people i see working in KFC are working there as a career and not just as a saturday job.

As for being a large market for automobiles and oil...well you do have a lot of people... certainly in beijing i can't move for the cars!

I've been living in China for 5 months, on holiday in england at the moment then i'm back over for another 5 months, i'm studying Chinese in Beijing so yes i can read some chinese. If you want to message me in Chinese, that'd be great but you'd be better off Private Messaging me rather than putting it as a message on the boards, as the boards tend to be English only.

i notice you're from Shenzhen, my best English friend in China is currently living down there with her boyfriend and his family, who are chinese.

[wheresmyplacebo]

You cannot seriously compare China and America on human rights. America isn’t perfect but anyone who compares it to China has to be pretty ignorant.

America is a democracy with free and fair elections, an independent judiciary, a free press, a Bill of Rights and a Constitution. China is a totalitarian regime with strictly enforced press censorship, a closed judiciary and severe human rights abuses.

I’m assuming that you’ve never looked at Amnesty International’s website. Yes, America like Britain, France and many other democracies does not have an unblemished human rights record. America is not perfect. But if you’ve ever taken a look at AI you’d be aware that as flawed as America is it cannot be compared to China.

Oh and MR, if America and China are comparable on human rights would you please tell me where the American asylum seekers are?

sadly the current US government as a whole tends to ignore the constitution, their elections are extremely questionable in methods employed, their judiciary in a mess at the moment, and their press is arsekissing the government

[achinese]

I'm not saying that the chinese live on less a day- I don't actually know proper salaries in China, I was just giving an example from an international corporation exploiting the people in china, as if KFC tried to pay any of their workers the equivalent of that in a western country they'd be crucified!

So can you tell me from a Chinese Point of view, is 40kuai a day a reasonable wage to live on?

i think it depends on the price of the chinese domestic product, it sounds reasonable when they can feed the entire family with one penny and with the rest spent on lurxury, :hyper:. otherwise, not reasonable.

i think this question has lot to do with economy which i am not very good at it. so it's better to take everything into consideration instead just arriving at a conclusion simply from "other country's point of view"(slave wage). after all, we use kuai(yuan) in china instead of the "dollar($)".

[Toadborg]

I think you will find that people in the cities will be working on wages that are considerably better than those in the countryside, which is where many have come from.

The migration from rural to urban areas in recent years in China is the biggest migration in human history and it is driven by the fact that there are far more opportunities to earn a decent living in the urban areas. KFC is only a bad job by western standards, compared to being a subsistence peasent it is probably quite good for a lot of people......

[queenmab_roo]

i think it depends on the price of the chinese domestic product, it sounds reasonable when they can feed the entire family with one penny and with the rest spent on lurxury, :hyper:. otherwise, not reasonable.

i think this question has lot to do with economy which i am not very good at it. so it's better to take everything into consideration instead just arriving at a conclusion simply from "other country's point of view"(slave wage). after all, we use kuai(yuan) in china instead of the "dollar($)".

lol i don't agree that a reasonable wage is when the majority is spent on luxury... i think in general that a reasonable liveable wage should be 50% living expenses, 25% savings and 25% social... which of course will be totally not inline with current living expenses and salaries but that may be ideal (don't shoot me if it's totally out!!)

so a KFC worker doing 5-6 shifts a week would get 200/240kuai a week. so they could support themselves and maybe one other person for food, allowing 20kuai a day, (which yes i realise is overestimating) and have maybe 70kuai over a week for other expenses- which I really don't think is enough to live on. Cos in that i've not counted travel, rent, let alone luxuries to wash or social lives.

And a lot of the posters on this board are english and therefore use pounds, not dollars.

[achinese]

if that's really so, the problem may be "too little job for too many people" in this area. it was like when too many people were chasing too few good, the price of the goods will go up. same applys to the wage, when too many company were chasing behind relative less workers, which will leads to the shortage of worker, so the their salaries will go up as well. i guess this is probably the reason why it remain the government's priority to create more jobs.

by the way, do they let you to sit with chinese student side by side in the class, when you first came to china to study. i mean you might not be able to catch up with the rest of the class without taking any additional language class first. there's a lot student from s. korean, japan or the rest of asian, they need to take some sort of language test before they can get into the class with us. so i think you may need to spend sometime with them first. the essay she wrote sounds like a translation from some dictionary. i guess original chinese meaning should be "big" instead of the "groliarous". this is only my guess, because i don't know what she is really trying to say.


i came across a news article today about this topic. i don't know why people are so crazy about the language considering how difficult is to learn it.


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/11/international/asia/11china.html?ex=1137733200&en=ad5787105c581071&ei=5070

"language among students.

"Chinese is as popular in Korea today as English is in China," Ms. Xu said enthusiastically.

Although Chinese language studies may be most advanced in neighboring countries, where the ability to understand the Mandarin dialect has traditionally been considered a mark of cultivation, they are making huge strides farther afield. Eleven Confucius Institutes are up and running, in Europe and Africa as well as Asia.

One center is already operating in the United States, at the University of Maryland, and five others are expected to open soon in Honolulu, Kansas City, Mo., San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Twelve more are under discussion.

Even before that first center opened, the College Board, the body that administers advanced placement exams, added Chinese to its list of foreign language tests, the first time an East Asian language has been included in its testing.

In a 2003 survey of American high schools, the College Board found that 50 said they would like to add advanced placement courses in Russian, about 175 said Japanese and 240 said Italian - and 2,400 said they would prefer Chinese. "We had no idea there was such an incredible interest out there," Tom Matts, a College Board official, told CNN. "

[queenmab_roo]

if that's really so, the problem may be "too little job for too many people" in this area. it was like when too many people were chasing too few good, the price of the goods will go up. same applys to the wage, when too many company were chasing behind relative less workers, which will leads to the shortage of worker, so the their salaries will go up as well. i guess this is probably the reason why it remain the government's priority to create more jobs.

by the way, do they let you to sit with chinese student side by side in the class, when you first came to china to study. i mean you might not be able to catch up with the rest of the class without taking any additional language class first. there's a lot student from s. korean, japan or the rest of asian, they need to take some sort of language test before they can get into the class with us. so i think you may need to spend sometime with them first. the essay she wrote sounds like a translation from some dictionary. i guess original chinese meaning should be "big" instead of the "groliarous". this is only my guess, because i don't know what she is really trying to say.


i came across a news article today about this topic. i don't know why people are so crazy about the language considering how difficult is to learn it.


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/11/international/asia/11china.html?ex=1137733200&en=ad5787105c581071&ei=5070

"language among students.

"Chinese is as popular in Korea today as English is in China," Ms. Xu said enthusiastically.

Although Chinese language studies may be most advanced in neighboring countries, where the ability to understand the Mandarin dialect has traditionally been considered a mark of cultivation, they are making huge strides farther afield. Eleven Confucius Institutes are up and running, in Europe and Africa as well as Asia.

One center is already operating in the United States, at the University of Maryland, and five others are expected to open soon in Honolulu, Kansas City, Mo., San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Twelve more are under discussion.

Even before that first center opened, the College Board, the body that administers advanced placement exams, added Chinese to its list of foreign language tests, the first time an East Asian language has been included in its testing.

In a 2003 survey of American high schools, the College Board found that 50 said they would like to add advanced placement courses in Russian, about 175 said Japanese and 240 said Italian - and 2,400 said they would prefer Chinese. "We had no idea there was such an incredible interest out there," Tom Matts, a College Board official, told CNN. "

It certainly is a problem with overpopulation, hence the single offspring policy. although i have heard that if you are a maths or science graduate you are allowed two children...

I'm in a class studying with other foreigners- mainly Koreans- and what i'm actually studying is Chinese language. I have the option to do the HSK test that you mentioned but as i'm going back to England to continue my university studies there after this year, i've not taken that up. plus i'm not as hardworking as the chinese or korean students for that matter :)

The essay she wrote wasn't actually a mistranslation, she really did mean that. she was writing a short essay for an application to become a french au pair, which she had to do in english, and she asked me to correct it and help her write it. When i saw what she had written, i questioned her about it, to which she replied that yes she did want to say that, because she wanted to give the impression of how much she felt china was good for her, and how great it was, as she felt that would give the french people a good indication of her character. When i re-wrote her essay for her, i did take it out, because it just isn't the way westerners would say things.

我给你消息，在这个webpage的上面有一个button叫"user cp",还有"private messages"用这个，去看我的消息。