Mandarin now compulsory learning in the UK

[adrianlondon]

Over-dramatic thread title, but hey.

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4617646.stm

One school (an independent one, ie not controlled by the local authority) in Brighton has introduced Mandarin as a compulsory foreign language.

Well, I'll have to start studying hard again so as not to be out-done by thousands of kids. Damn. There goes my "foreigner speaks Mandarin" novelty.

An independent school has become the first in the UK to make Mandarin Chinese compulsory for pupils, reflecting the growing importance of China on the world stage. But it's not an easy language to master.

China used to be called a sleeping giant. Now, as the world's fastest growing major economy, it is well and truly awake.

British exports to the country are expected to quadruple by the end of the decade and the government wants every school, college and university to be twinned with an equivalent in China within the next five years.

An estimated 100 schools in the UK are now teaching Mandarin, China's official language, according to the British Council - the UK's international organisation for educational and cultural relations.

Compulsory

Brighton College, an independent school in East Sussex, this week became the first to make the language compulsory, alongside French, Spanish and Latin.

But it is a tough language to learn for Westerners. There are two main reason for this, says Dr Frances Weightman, a lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Leeds.

Firstly, the script poses problems. There is no alphabet, just thousands of characters. There are so many that no one can give a definitive total, but it is believed to be around 60,000.

GETTING THE RIGHT TONE

Tone one - A fairly high, even tone

Tone two - A rising tone, much like the sound at the end of a sentence with a question mark

Tone three - Falls then rises. Like the second, but must dip first

Tone Four - Sharp falling tone, a little like how the end of a sentence with an exclamation mark sounds

Half tone - Pronounce words with light tones in about half the time you would a normal word, without putting emphasis on it

College makes Chinese compulsory

Secondly, the tonal system is hard for Westerners. While the meaning of English words does not change with tone, the same is not true for Mandarin.

Four-and-a-half tones are used, meaning a single word can have many meanings. Ma, for example, can mean mother, horse, hemp, or be a reproach depending on tone. How tones are used also varies extensively from province to province.

"The tonal systems can result in a lot of ambiguity for people learning the language," says Dr Weightman.

Westerners have the reputation of using the fourth tone exclusively for all words. It is a sharp falling sound, a little like how the end of a sentence with an exclamation mark sounds.

Pinyin, a system of transliterating Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet, is used by Westerners to learn basic Mandarin. Things get tougher when students start learning characters, but language experts say a person only needs roughly 5,000 to be literate.

'It's like singing'

One thing that is easier in Mandarin is the grammar.

"The grammar is not nearly as complicated as many European languages," says Dr Weightman. "For example there are no verb tenses, no relative clauses, no singular or plural."

The number of people in the UK learning Mandarin has gone up considerably in recent years, she adds.

"It really appeals to kids, they find the different characters fun and grasp the different tones well, it's like singing for them. The more we demystify the language, the more people will learn it. At the moment it is still seen as exotic and a bit strange, which can put people off. But that's changing."

WHO, WHAT, WHY?

A regular feature in the BBC News Magazine - aiming to answer some of the questions behind the headlines

GCSE entries for the Chinese languages of Mandarin and Cantonese crept up to just under 4,000 last year. Even with its falling popularity, however, the number of entries in French still hit 320,000.

Ann Martin, a Mandarin teacher at the Ashcombe School in Dorking Surrey, believes part of the problem is the exam system, which isn't designed for non native speakers and is hard for them to gain good grades compared to native speakers.

"As far as schools are concerned head teachers are reluctant to timetable Chinese because it is not achievable for non-native speakers," she says.

Business experts are in no doubt about how important Mandarin will become over the next few years.

BBC business reporter Mary Hennock says students speaking fluent English and Chinese are going to be the executives of the future.

"China's economy is growing so quickly and becoming so influential in the world economy that people can't afford to ignore it. People who want to be ahead in whatever industry need to think about China and learning Chinese."

[timkunming]

Sorry, I've just got to shout out about this whole phenomenon of making western kids learn Chinese.

WHY? For those of us who have been studying Chinese for years, I would assume the majority of you are doing it because you love the language, the culture, the history. These are the reasons I studied Chinese, not to make myself marketable in the business world a decade or more from now, at a point where no one knows what the Chinese economy will do.

Some people have said to me, "Chinese is necessary, because their economy is strong and we can do a lot of business with them. They are becoming a world power." This is the dumbest argument I've ever heard. We've been strong trading partners with countries like Japan and Korea for how many decades? What is the percentage of people in the United States or the UK that can speak either of them fluently? Why was Japanese or Korean never compulsory? Japan STILL has one of the most powerful economies in the world, yet I don't see a huge influx of people studying the language.

It's ridiculous to make these kids learn Chinese. Two countries can still do business together, without the whole of each country speaking the other's language. And let's face it, English is THE world language and that's not going to change, with a strong or weak Chinese economy. It just won't, not in our lives.

I would be much happier if people were learning Chinese in order to better themselves or to gain a greater understanding of another people's culture, and not just to make a buck. It's sickening to me, and in many ways shows just how far people will go to make money. The fat cats in the west make the big bucks while Chinese workers are getting paid peanuts (although, to be fair this is not only the fault of western corporations, but of the Chinese government as well).

Sorry to fly off the handle. These kinds of things just get to me, that's all.

[johnmck]

In France people take learning foreign languages very seriously and you can choose Chinese as the language to study for the Bac (school exam at 18 ). I had a look at the government web sites hoping to find some useful beginner materials but found that the students who took it as their principle foreign language were only expected to learn 400 characters. While learning 400 characters is an achievement, unless students continue to study the language for several years after leaving school it is pointless. If students take English as their principle language they can normally hold a decent conversation after the Bac.

[adrianlondon]

I agree with what you say, Tim (Kunming). However, when I was at school I never paid much attention to the languages (French and Latin) that I was being taught. Why? Because I had no idea why I was learning either of them. OK, I'm still not fussed I ignored Latin (although it would have made me look trendy when reading inscriptions in churches, and telling people the origin of some words) but French - I wish I'd learnt useful stuff like "where is the cafe?" and "a double room for three nights please".

So, on that basis, I think learning Mandarin can be coupled with some history on chinese characters (and how they evolved over the centuries) along with a love of learning a language so unlike English. I doubt many of the kids will come out speaking the language well, but I hope they'll find it interesting and stimulating. In other words, I think learning Mandarin is so "against the grain" that the reason they're learning it will also have to be explained, rather than "learn this : je suis, tu es, il est" etc.

[johnmck]

I agree with adrianlondon, I spent 5 years refusing to learn French at school in the UK because I didn't know anyone who have ever been outside the British Ilses (this was a long time ago far longer than I care to remember) and I never imagined I would ever visit the country. Of course I am regretting it now!

The main reason why French students learn English so well is that if they don't they will have difficulty finding a job. I know a salesman who is 45 years old and has been made redundant, he doesn't speak English which was not a problem 20 years ago, but now companies require it even if his sales region will be within France and he will never have to speak English in his job.

Learning a language is a huge task before you get to a useful stage. If you are learning a language to improve your income then English is worth it. With many other languages you would improve your income more by studying something else.

I am learning chinese because I enjoy it, from a financial point of view I really should be spending my time doing something else.