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China’s endangered languages | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Noff Newbie United States Joined 5131 days ago 4 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, German | Message 9 of 29 12 November 2010 at 3:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Jeeb,
Very interesting information. Would you say that the estimates for the number of mandarin speakers (the often quoted ~800m figure) are unrealistically inflated then? The idea of Chinese minority language speakers instead learning English for use as a common language is interesting. Are the various minority languages different enough from Mandarin that learning an entirely different type of language (English) would be practical though? Also, there's already a huge demand in Asia for native speakers of English to go over there and teach, and teaching English to the level necessary for speaking effectively for so many people seems like a very difficult task... Solfrid, It was indeed the standard policy in the US for Native American children to be punished for speaking their native language instead of English, which is definitely one of the reasons why almost all of the NA languages have died out. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| jeeb Groupie Joined 5165 days ago 49 posts - 80 votes  | Message 10 of 29 13 November 2010 at 12:56am | IP Logged | |||||
50% of people in China speak Mandarin. 1.3B/2 = about 650M. Uighur speak better English than Mandarin. Tibetan bloggers even suggest to use English as common language so that everyone feels equal as Mandarin is (Northern) Chinese's mother tongue. I think they're right. Even for less rebellious Tai-Kaidai languages speakers, they also feel threatened by Han Chinese. Some blame the government for latinising their language and makes them lost connection with their heritage..Take Zhuang as example, they used to write with Chinese character. After CPC took over, the government latinised Zhuang. Todays, some Zhuang people feel that latinised Zhuang is low class. And Southern Chinese feel that Northern Chinese is suppressing their culturally and politically. English as common spoken language is practical in China. These days, English is taught early in kindergarten and I believe they can achieve good fluency. Even students in remote part of Southwestern China will actively speak in English. The emphasis in English education and worship of British education even brings Britain prestigious schools to rich Chinese city. This is newly built Wellington College in Tianjin, China. 
Do you know how Disney earn money in China? They set up English schools in China and sell expensive English learning material. In HK, I heard from parents that they paid for 30,000 HKD (about 4000 USD ) for set of Disney English learning material. 
I just checked out some parents's forum discussing about Disney English set: "Disney Learning System 07 Additional Items: 1.Play Along 2.Story Book 3.Bookcase 4.Zippy and me 5. Encyclopedia set" This set worths 53000 HKD. (about 7000 USD) The new generation speak English already. Holding on Mandarin is a suppression to other non Mandarin Chinese and other languages in China. Edited by jeeb on 13 November 2010 at 1:26am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5837 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin | Message 11 of 29 13 November 2010 at 11:19am | IP Logged | |||||
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When I was in Beijing this Summer, I found that very few people spoke even rudimentary English, it certainly isn't a common language. I can't imagine the Chinese, whatever their native language, preferring to communicate on a daily basis in English, rather than in a Chinese language.
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| jeeb Groupie Joined 5165 days ago 49 posts - 80 votes | Message 13 of 29 13 November 2010 at 7:07pm | IP Logged | |||||
Chinese children learn English early. English as common language has potential. If English is used as a common language, a free slot will be freed for putting back other non-Mandarin Chinese language back to school education. Do you know what I mean? Each person in China will speak two languages. Common language: English, so that everyone feels equal. Mother tongue: non Mandarin Chinese if the person isn't a northerner, minority's languages for minority, of course, Mandarin if the person is a Northern person. Chinese still speak "a Chinese language"but it will be non-Mandarin Chinese. China is so big that Chinese has different culture and it reflects on the language. You know, "Chinese" cuisine is a myth, so as "Chinese" language.  Edited by jeeb on 13 November 2010 at 7:18pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| jeeb Groupie Joined 5165 days ago 49 posts - 80 votes | Message 14 of 29 13 November 2010 at 7:24pm | IP Logged | |||||
This second hand Disney English learning set is sold for about 30,000 HKD (about 4000 USD) http://hk.f1.page.auctions.yahoo.com/hk/auction/1125407470 This is how Disney earns money. Edited by jeeb on 13 November 2010 at 7:28pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| blitzny Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5521 days ago 14 posts - 15 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian Studies: French, Cantonese, Greek, Arabic (Egyptian) | Message 15 of 29 13 November 2010 at 10:53pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'm sorry man, but that would be impossible. Mandarin Chinese is not going ANYWHERE. If anything it's expanding, especially with all the foreigners learning it in order to get a great job. I highly doubt that a language like Cantonese will die, but small dialects unfortunately probably will. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| sheetz Senior Member United States Joined 6382 days ago 270 posts - 356 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, French, Mandarin | Message 16 of 29 14 November 2010 at 12:32am | IP Logged | |||||
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The impression I get is that while more foreigners are learning Mandarin, it's not coming at the expense of English. Rather, it's the other languages like French, Spanish, German, Russian, and Japanese that are giving up students to Mandarin. OTOH, schools all over the world are continuing to expand their English curriculums. Even in China, English is a required subject on high school and university entrance examinations.
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