Smart New York kids chew on Mandarin

Sunday Times ^ | April 3, 2005 | Sarah Baxter

[lainie]

But what if she gets elected president of the USA, thanking Hillary and grampy George Soros for being her role models? Then sets about declaring those silly state borders meaningless and declares all trade contracts must go through the Chinese ambassador first?

[The Red Zone]

Meanwhile, children in China are learning to speak English.

Yup.

[MadIvan]

I believe in learning foreign languages - as a lad, I learned Latin and German and have picked up Dutch, some Russian and some Hungarian since. However the motives in this case are ridiculous - it's not for understanding or enlightenment, it's to communicate with elites who already speak English.

Regards, Ivan

[maui_hawaii]

Sometimes the elite behaves so stupidly that one wonders how they got to be the "elite" in the first place.

BUMP

Now. I have studied Chinese for more than 10 years. Its great to study. Its interesting by all means. I love it.

Their reasoning for studying Chinese though is utterly stupid though.

I met a person just two days ago...a wealthy investor...who heard that I speak/read/write Chinese...and he made it a point that his ten month old "WILL learn Mandarin"...

Beside from trying to force a kid to do something he fails to understand that Chinese is a liberal arts field.

There are two major ways to translate Mandarin into money...

1. Work in the government 2. Teach others Chinese (ie be a professor)...

Otherwise without some tangible skill to accompany Chinese those guys will end up working in Starbucks with the rest of the finger painting majors...

They would be far better off teaching their kids finance or something like that. If they do it out of sheer cultural appreciation thats a whole different story. That is very much so to be commended.

Not to knock Chinese though...its a lifelong interest of mine and I have no intention of stopping any time soon...

But reality being what it is...they are demonstrating ignorance.

[Hank Rearden]

I have some memories from when I was 2. And although some will say it's impossible, I've always had a brief memory from a surgical procedure I had as a baby.

I can visualize my very first memory (not much of one: a garbage truck going down an alley while I watched from a 2nd story window) quite clearly.

My parents say I was 18 months old at the time.

[lainie]

Oh wow -- I didn't read the last two paragraphs in the link at post #57:

Finding Shirley was no easy task. Jim Rogers put an ad in the China Press and at first got responses only from people who spoke no English or were illegal immigrants. Then, before hiring Shirley, he had friends (Rogers travels to China frequently) test her Mandarin to find out “whether she speaks gutter Mandarin or a queen’s Mandarin.”

“I don’t want my daughter to grow up and suddenly start talking like a tramp at age 9,” he says. Shirley now lives in the family’s Upper West Side home, and Rogers is feeling good about his investment: “Even if my little girl weren’t very smart, she’s always going to get a job because she’ll be totally fluent in Chinese.”

[maui_hawaii]

There is nothing at all knocking learning languages. I been through multiple ones myself. At least two (foreign)languages before I hit the 4th grade (French and Arabic)...I was pretty good.

I touched a few others later on...and ultimately got bored with all of them. Until I learned Mandarin...which I have stuck with going on 11 years...

Language has always been an interest of mine. Its definately good.

What MadIvan is talking about is this yuppie dumbass group viewing Chinese as some new age culture...some superior group of people.

There is NOTHING wrong with learning from a young age to be a global citizen (ie respecting and showing keen interest in all people). Heck, I am a product of that very environment....

However their kids could study Afrikaans, or Dutch, or Russian, or Swahili or any other number of languages and get that too.

These people think China is taking over the planet.

To study out of interest in people or anthropology, or linguistics, or history, or any other number of legit fields is fine. To study because one thinks you will be eventually conquered by X group is a bit Haley Boppish....especially for Chinese.

There is enough Chinese culture to interest anyone just about... but thats not their reasoning it doesn't sound like.

[MaxMax]

This reminds me of the money I wasted learning Russian.
What was I thinking.

[maui_hawaii]

Don't you hope...

[maui_hawaii]

They may not remember facts and figures but young children are EXTREMELY moldable. There is a pattern set out for most people that starts before 3 years of age...in how one thinks and other 'intangible' aspects...

[durasell]

Hey, I learned Latin thinking Latin America was going to boom and all I got was a bunch of aphorisms.

oderint dum metuant

[maui_hawaii]

There is only one flavor of Mandarin chinese.

Depends...kind of like there is only one flavor of English? Eh Chap? Jolly good.

Hate to be disagreeable, but there is a lot more than one flavor to Mandarin.

There are more variations than one can imagine...

[lainie]

quod erat demonstrandum

[maui_hawaii]

I think the notion of "Han" is overblown. "Han" is almost like saying "American"...nothing at all to do with race.

[maui_hawaii]

bump

My sentiments exactly.

[durasell]

QED

In vino veritas!

[NZerFromHK]

Well, I will probably use the more popular term Zhonghua Minzu (Chinese race) then - I understand this is even more revolting for non-Chinese. ;-)

[maui_hawaii]

Where is Bay Street? I need a good job.

Good job doing what?

Odds are there are going to be a whole different set of skills needed in there too.... my "other" skills are a range of financial talents and research (and sales).

[lainie]

Quid agis, medice?

[durasell]

I only play one on tv?