Learning Early, Career Advancement, Teacher Scarcity, Mandarin across the World

English Dethroned as World Language?
By Laura Robertson
CBN News Reporter
November 6, 2008

CBNNews.com - English is the most spoken language worldwide, but it might not be for long.

Millions are calling Mandarin Chinese the language of the future.

One group of pre-kindergarten students in Washington, D.C. take the same classes as thousands of other students nationwide.

CHINA CONNECTION:
Learning Chinese from the Comfort of Your Computer
The big difference? When the boys and girls at the at the Yu Ying Public Charter School finish eighth grade, they will be fluent in Mandarin Chinese as well as English.

"One day they're learning everything through English," Sarah Harris, the school's principal said. "One day they're learning everything in Chinese, so it's a very compelling model for a lot of parents."

Learning Early

Harris said there are many advantages to learning Chinese at an early age.

"Children really do soak up languages when they're young," she explained. "They don't have a lot of preconceived ideas about language, so they really come to it in an open way. We've seen children just soaking up the language and applying it in more and more contexts."

According to school founder Mary Shaffner, it's not just the students who want to learn Chinese.

"We are going to start Chinese classes for our parents, which many, many parents have been chomping at the bit for," she said.

With China's expanding global influence, millions are eager to learn the language. In 2004, only about five thousand U.S. students between kindergarten and twelfth grade took Chinese. Last year that number had grown to nearly 50,000.

Mandarin Worldwide

It's not just happening in the nation's capital. By 2010, it's estimated more than 100 million people worldwide will be studying Chinese as a second language.

Many are learning at one of the more than 200 Confucius Institutes established by the Chinese government. The Insitutes are now in 66 countries advancing the goal of spreading the Chinese language and culture.

In Manila at the Ateneo de Manila University, Director Dr. Ellen Palanca said she believes the popularity of these institutes is a sign of China's development.

"Once a country becomes more developed then it tries to promote its culture and language through such an arm," Palanca explained.

More than 2,000 students have gone through the program since it started two years ago.

Former student Pia Lim Castillo uses Chinese in her job as a food and travel writer. She said the learning experience helped her connect with her Chinese heritage.

"It's my identity. I have to find my identity, not only as a person, but the culture I belong to," he said.

Career Advancer

Many believe the ability to speak Chinese will advance their careers.

"I see value in being able to converse in Mandarin with Chinese clients," Attorney Kenneth Chua said. "Since more and more Chinese have been coming to the Philippines, I see more of a market for a lawyer who can speak Chinese."

Paula Leal, a reporter for Spanish News Agency in Manila attributes the growth of Chinese language learning to China's growing economic opportunities and global significance.

"It is the country of the future," she said. "Because of that it is so important to learn Chinese, because a lot of people are talking' Chinese right now."

Thirteen-year-old Pearl Parel started learning the language when she was just eight years old while on a business trip with her father in Taiwan.

"He didn't have an interpreter so he asked me if I could study so I could be his interpreter," she said.

She and many of her classmates at the Quezon City Christian Academy in Manila say that knowing Chinese will be essential after they graduate.

"Learning Chinese will help me in my future career, because my father wants me to be an interpreter and I want to learn more about Chinese culture," Parel said.

Fifteen-year old Ardenne Chuat agrees.

"Learning Chinese right now would be a good opportunity for applying for jobs here in the Philippines," Chuat explained.:China is now expanding and people would want to have employees who know how to speak the main language of China.

Teaching Mandarin

Half way around the world in Panama, one legislator even proposed mandating Mandarin Chinese in public schools. But Fermin Tomas Chan, head of theSun Yat-Sen School where all students study Chinese, doesn't think the legislation will pass.

"It's so hard to get teachers to teach Chinese outside of China," Chan said. "If you want to make it nationwide, it's going to be almost impossible to teach. We have problems with English in Panama. What about Chinese?"

Despite the difficulty finding qualified teachers, the school has a long wait list because so many Panamanians want to learn Chinese.

Chan and many of his colleagues say that "in 10 years, Mandarin will be as important worldwide as English."

Others doubt that Chinese speakers will outnumber English speakers any time soon.

Dr. Palanca said she believes Chinese could possibly replace English "in the far future, maybe 50 years from now."

But she admitted that it's more likely that Chinese "will most likely not replace English, but there's a possibility that it can be on par with the English language as an international language."

Whether or not Chinese does become the main international language, people worldwide are excited to learn.

Secondary school was awarded for its outstanding work in languages including Chinese.

School is recognised for reaching across borders

24 October 2008
Miltoncross School in Portsmouth has received the International School Award at a high-profile ceremony in London, presented by broadcaster and journalist George Alagiah, pictured.
The secondary school was awarded for its outstanding work in bringing the world into the classroom though international projects.

Each tutor group is assigned a country and throughout the year undertake research on their country culminating in a school-wide competition and International Sports Day.

Other activities include work on music and art from other cultures, the International Food Club, Portsmouth Languages Festival, International Week, themed language days for French, German, Spanish and Mandarin, the Chinese Summer Fair and many trips overseas with aims linked to the curriculum.

Head teacher Niel McLeod said: 'We are very proud. We use our links with schools across the world to expand students' horizons. Our students quickly realise that their talents and skills have an appreciative audience not just in Miltoncross but across the world.'

Lacey-Mai Thornton, who's a pupil in Year 8, said: 'I came to this school because it's a language college and it's the only school in Portsmouth that does Chinese.'

The International School Award is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and managed by the British Council.

Queens School in Chester teaches Mandarin Chinese and wins award

Prestigious Mandarin Chinese language honour for Chester school

Published in the Evening Leader

Date: 22 October 2008
A LEADING Chester school has been recognised for its excellent work to promote the study of Mandarin Chinese.
A group of Year 8 pupils from the all-girl Queen's School, will now visit China at half-term to practise their language skills.

This comes after the school won the coveted accolade of being designated a Confucius Classroom by the Office of ChineseADVERTISEMENTLanguage Council International – otherwise known as Hanban and under the umbrella of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust's Confucius Institute.

Confucius Classrooms, named in honour of the celebrated Chinese thinker and philosopher, promote and support the learning of Mandarin across the globe. Only a handful of schools in the UK have been recognised in this way.

The school is celebrating being the only independent school in the North of England to have received the recognition

With more than 100 girls at Queen's already studying the subject as part of their curriculum, the school has also offered children from Chester primary schools the opportunity to learn the world's most widely-spoken language.

Pupils from Overleigh St Mary's in Handbridge, Upton Heath, Mickle Trafford, Christleton and Guilden Sutton enjoy a weekly after school club where they learn basic conversational Mandarin.

Isobel Jones, a pupil from Overleigh St Mary's Primary School, said: "I love learning Mandarin as the language is very interesting to listen to and speak." Fellow pupil Olivia McNee added: "Drawing the Chinese characters is fun too."

Queen's School headmistress Catherine Buckley said: "We are very proud to have been honoured by Hanban.

"Mandarin is a very significant world language, spoken by over one billion people and it will be a great advantage to young people in Chester to have an understanding of both the language and the culture which underpins it."

Come and see us at The Language Show London http://www.thelanguageshow.co.uk/

Win a year's free subscription to Mandarama, our website for children learning Mandarin Chinese, by visiting our stand at The Language Show.

Learn more about how to overcome the challenges of either introducing your school (or child) to Mandarin Chinese. If Mandarin already is a part of your school, then learn how to improve how you provide Mandarin Chinese learning opportunities to your children. Free advice - come for a chat as we are always keen to hear about people helping children learn Mandarin Chinese.

We are the experts. The only UK organization just to teach children Chinese.

Children stuck with English only langauge skills will find themselves less valuable in the job marketplace

Security Language Initiative" to "dramatically increase the number of Americans learning, speaking and teaching critical-need foreign languages. Foreign language skills are essential to engaging foreign governments and peoples, especially in critical world regions, to promote understanding, convey respect for other cultures, and encourage reform. These skills are also fundamental to the economic competitiveness and security interests of the nation."

Sounds like there's something on which Bush and Obama agree: Nothing could be more dangerous for an America already losing its edge in the world than to teach its children to disdain other languages and distrust other cultures, to skip geography, to forget about travel abroad. If the Chinese, the Indians, the Brazilians and the Russians are busy learning English so they can do business with us, doesn't it behoove us to learn their languages, too? (In China, all elementary school students must study English.) At a time when the West is threatened by Arab jihadists, don't we need many more intelligence agents and soldiers who speak Arabic?

While activists alarmed about illegal immigration have spent the last decade supporting "English-only" codes and decrying the loss of cultural touchstones associated with western Europe, the actual harm to the nation lies in our refusal to acknowledge the growing economic competitiveness of other countries. South Koreans aren't shunning English. It's one more weapon in their arsenal as they advance in commerce, engineering and the sciences.

So the next time you hear some smart-mouth pundit acting as though foreign language fluency is a sign of decadence or an unbecoming Frenchy-ness, don't fall for it. That pundit likely has a passport. If he has college-age kids, he has probably worked hard to help them study abroad.

Do as he does, not as he says. Enroll your kids in Spanish or Russian or Mandarin classes.

Children aged 15-16 take first Mandarin access exam in Scotland.

Record numbers of children passed their Higher Grade exams. For the first year children ages 15-16 could take Mandarin at Access 3 level.Mandarin Chinese continues to be very active in schools in Scotland. In May 2008, the first Confucius classroom opened in St George's School Edinburgh. Scotland plans to have eight Confucius classrooms in a networked hub.

BBC journalist raises question as to whether testing primary school children is fruitful

Tests - do we still need them?

Do we still need national tests in primary schools in England?

I asked that question at the end of last week's column on the Sats fiasco and I want to return to it.

Judging by your responses, many of you think England should be like Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and simply have tests that are marked in schools by the children's own teachers.

These "teacher assessment" should then not be used for league tables.

Many see the current problems with marking of the Sats as symptomatic of an overloaded testing system.

The swell of opinion opposed to externally marked, national tests has been growing.

Learn about great Chinese food from the BBC. Great for children too.

The BBC launches a new TV programme on making Chinese food with Ching. Masterclases, Chinese Street, techniques, takeaway favourites, noodles and dim sum (meaning touch the heart), spicy Sichuan, Chinese cooking for family and friends.

Businesses invest in China at high end of value chain..

GlaxoSmithKline intends to double its R&D staff in China to 350 people in the next few years, reported Reuters.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) which currently has 170 R&D staff in China has plans to boost up its staff to 350 by the end of 2009. According to Carol Zhu, head of operation management and alliances in GSK's China R&D unit, the staff levels would remain static for three or four years after the increase, while the company will expand its facilities to accommodate further increases thereafter.

As part of its strategic plan to step up investment in biotech medicines, GSK has focused on China for furthering its R&D activities.

Women on top in a downturn - Are women company directors well placed to face a downturn in business?

But just in case there are any real cynics among you, who are still sceptical even now, perhaps this procession of casual generalisations will remove any lingering doubts: ‘Women are great at multi-tasking and very good at coping with stress’ (Jill Shepherd, Bamboo Learning); ‘There is less competitiveness amongst women and as such, we’re more open to sharing best practice and support each other’ (Lesley Lant, Perennial Marketing); ‘Women tend to grow their businesses organically rather than making testosterone-driven decisions on equity funding’ (Katherine Leopold, PA London).

Female business owners are more likely to survive a recession thanks to their slow and steady approach, according to a new study by Business Link in London. The support group, which says that it ‘helped’ over 28,000 female-owned businesses in the capital last year, says that women are better at planning ahead, taking advice, and sharing their experiences than men –and they’re not so obsessed with chasing a fast buck. All of which makes them the perfect choice for an economic crisis.