Americans learning Chinese

[bhchao]

The Chinese language is growing in popularity in the US due to China's growing influence. I don't recall hearing Russian being a popular language in American schools during the Cold War years.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050731/lf_afp/uschinaeducation_050731221938

"China is casting such a huge shadow on the United States that many Americans are scrambling to learn the Chinese language in a bid to retain their competitive edge.

"Interest in learning Chinese among American youth and their parents has grown dramatically in the past five years," said Vivien Stewart, vice president at the Asia Society, a US group trying to bridge the gap between Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific.

China's dramatic rise to near superpower status and its telling effects politically, economically and culturally are driving the interest to learn the language, experts say.

From kindergartens to high schools, studies by the Asia Society show, there is a "rapid rise" in interest among pupils to study the Chinese language.

This is despite the fact that most of the schools lack qualified teachers or do not currently offer the language in their curriculum.

"The Chinese rich cultural traditions and blossoming economy mean that is now essential for all of our students to be better prepared to engage them and seize opportunities together," said Michael Levine, Asia Society's executive director of education.

A 2004 College Board survey found that 2,400 high schools -- an incredibly high number -- would be interested in offering the Advanced Placement (AP) courses in Chinese language and culture when the courses become available in 2006.

AP courses are administered by the College Board and give students college credit for passing an end-of-the-year exam. But most of the schools that have expressed interest do not yet offer Chinese.

"We expected a few hundred schools to express interest in offering the Chinese AP, so these results were eye-opening," said College Board President Gaston Caperton.

"Americans have been the world's most successful students and entrepreneurs for the past century. We have to envision a new set of global skills that include understanding world languages and cultures to retain our edge in an increasingly interconnected world," he said.

China, the world's most populous nation, is critical to the United States because it is a leading trader, consumer and investor. Its political influence is also rising across the globe.

It has replaced the United States as the world's largest consumer and could become the second largest economy in the world, after the United States, in the next two to three decades.

US total trade with China is at a whopping 230 billion dollars, very much in China's favor.

America's huge budget deficit, economists say, is being bankrolled by China to the tune of one billion dollars per day through its purchase of US Treasury bills -- 200 billion dollars last year and possibly as much as 300 billion dollars already this year.

Even though the US State Department has designated the Chinese language "critical" to national prosperity and security, the "current infrastructure to support recruitment of students and teachers as well as the growth of high quality programs is woefully inadequate," an Asia Society study says.

The Society has set a target of having at least five percent of American high school students learning Chinese by 2015.

"Millions of Chinese are learning English, but only 24,000 Americans are learning Chinese," said Andrew Corcoran of the San Francisco-based Chinese American International School, the oldest Mandarin "immersion" program in the country.

The most popular languages after English in US schools at present are Spanish and French. Japanese is the most-sought-after Asian language.

"Our nation's schools are locked in a time warp," said Charles E.M. Kolb, president of the Committee for Economic Development, a pro-business think tank in Washington.

"By ignoring critical languages such as Chinese and the essential cultural knowledge needed to succeed, our school systems are out of step with new global realities," he said.

But US politicians are aware of the seriousness of the issue.

Two prominent senators have proposed legislation that authorizes 1.3 billion dollars in federal funds over five years for Chinese language instruction in US schools.

The bill also would increase American consular activity to support rapidly growing US businesses in China and would encourage Internet cultural exchanges between Chinese and American citizens.

"The rise of China comes with a whole set of challenges. But the ability to talk to and understand each other should not be among them," said Democratic Senator

Joe Lieberman, who co-sponsored the bill. "

[anyone]

Russian studies programs grew in USA universities during the cold war. I don't think this filtered down to the secondary level though.

Two prominent senators have proposed legislation that authorizes 1.3 billion dollars...

1 dollar for each Chinese citizen... how cute.

[Glenn]

I think the reason people weren't scrambling to learn Russian during the Cold War years is because the USSR wasn't a major trading partner with the US, and the economic implications didn't exist in the US-USSR relationship then the way they do in the US-China relationship now.

At any rate, it seems to me that learning Chinese is a good career move for anyone who isn't a native speaker, and that perhaps in fifty years or so Chinese will replace English as the major international language.

[gato]

There are also a lot more Chinese Americans in the US now than there were Russian Americans during the Cold War.

[mlomker]

gato, that is true but only a small percentage seem to speak Mandarin. I run into a lot of Cantonese and Hakka around Minneapolis. I get a kick out of overhearing the occassional conversation in the elevator or at a restaurant, though. It makes my studying a lot more fun.

[gato]

I was just noting that it seems to me that the vast majority of students in Chinese classes at the college level are of Chinese descent.

[盤古]

At any rate, it seems to me that learning Chinese is a good career move for anyone who isn't a native speaker, and that perhaps in fifty years or so Chinese will replace English as the major international language.

I seriously doubt that.

Now if English wasn't so firmly established as the "unofficial" international language, Chinese may have a chance. But because much of the world has already been built around the English language, it is very unlikely for the language to be replaced unless there are some MAJOR changes in global politics.

This is good for English-speakers who enjoys the luxury of being able to travel around without bothering to learn the local language, but really bad for non-English speakers whose languages are threatened...

I was just noting that it seems to me that the vast majority of students in Chinese classes at the college level are of Chinese descent.

That seems to be true, at least in the U.S.

I am Chinese and although I was born in Taiwan, I came to the U.S. when I was very young and therefore my Chinese language skills more or less remained at a pretty low level. At college, I took 2 years of advanced level Chinese. During that time I noticed all Chinese classes, from beginner to advanced, about a 1/3 were of Chinese descent, be them ABC or people who have similar background as I do.

[cui ruide]

yeah, but it's starting to even out--at least in my experience. At my school of (2400 students), first-year chinese started with 56 or so students--easily a record they told us. Of course there were the Ethnic Chinese students, some knowing some cantonese (mostly), but the majority were indeed not Chinese. Of course our 56 dwindled as the pressures of learning Chinese became evident, but it evened out in the 40s somewhere.

As for Russian, I think there was some post-sputnik interest in it. One of my literature professors--a Russian professor--said that people began to think and wonder about Russia, and it's what first made him begin to read Russian literature and then decide to study the language.

[atitarev]

A bit of off-topic but please don't talk about Russian as of a dead language. Reasons for learning/not learning Russian were quite different in the USA but was quite big in mainland China and Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union wasn't the biggest trading partner in the USA. After a drop the interest to Russian is starting to pick up.

http://masterrussian.net/mforum/index.php

http://learningrussian.com/forum/ikonboard.cgi?

Can someone give me a link to a Chinese site for learners of Russian, please? I have one but it's terribly slow.

[fenlan]

Анатолий, ты прав, много людей интересуются русским языком. Ты знаешь, что в 绥芬河 на северу Китая, строение русско-китайского двухязычного университета уже началось? Китайские люди, особенно на северу Китая, очень интересуются твоим языком, но к сожалению на Западе интерес к русскому намного меньше чем при Горбачеве, когда много людей сразу заинтересовались русскому. Однако, надо признавать, что русский язык - ключ к одной из самых богатых литерартурных культур в мире.

[atitarev]

Анатолий, ты прав, много людей интересуются русским языком. Ты знаешь, что в 绥芬河 на северу Китая, строение русско-китайского двухязычного университета уже началось? Китайские люди, особенно на северу Китая, очень интересуются твоим языком, но к сожалению на Западе интерес к русскому намного меньше чем при Горбачеве, когда много людей сразу заинтересовались русскому. Однако, надо признавать, что русский язык - ключ к одной из самых богатых литерартурных культур в мире.

Your Russian is great! - if you need any help or have questions - send me a PM/email from my profile.

[Glenn]

A bit of off-topic but please don't talk about Russian as of a dead language.

Were we? I thought we were talking about the differences in the Cold War era US-USSR relations and the current US-China relations. I certainly didn't mean to give the impression that Russian is a dead language. Sorry if I caused any offense.

[atitarev]

Were we? I thought we were talking about the differences in the Cold War era US-USSR relations and the current US-China relations. I certainly didn't mean to give the impression that Russian is a dead language. Sorry if I caused any offense.

None taken. No problem, Glenn.

Russian is like Chinese, only ... it's the opposite:

1) Russian writing system is phonetical - each letter means normally one sound with some exceptions and some simple rules.

2) There are no tones in Russian but the voiced accent - for which there are no strict rules, you have to remember, which syllable to stress and it can change, if the word changes.

3) There is no strict word order in Russian - the inflection determines how the words are linked - it's quite the opposite to Chinese.

4) There are 6 grammatical cases (for nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals), genders, verb tenses (only 3) and aspects (2). Russian Grammar is difficult for Europeans - some Chinese find it impossible. It's much easier to learn in the country, though and I know some Chinese people who mastered the language while learning it in China.

5) Words can be quite long and a few consonants can be combined. Much less homophones even compared with English.

Otherwise, the languages are very similar

Yeah, as of the last century we both write from left to right.

Sorry for the off-topic