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Popularity of Chinese language. | ||
Tags: Mandarin | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| MLSUSA94 Groupie United States linguisticventures19 Joined 5710 days ago 50 posts - 53 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 9 of 23 07 June 2009 at 4:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah, it does kind of suck. I know it sounds very ignorant, but a lot of Americans expect Chinese to know English (which they are learning ever-so rapidly).
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| JBI Diglot Groupie Canada Joined 5693 days ago 46 posts - 67 votes Speaks: Modern Hebrew, English* Studies: Italian, Mandarin, French | Message 10 of 23 07 June 2009 at 4:53pm | IP Logged | ||
In Canada though, there are over a million native Speakers of Chinese, though mostly Cantonese speakers. It's bad to generalize, but quite simply, Chinese Canadians make a a very significant part of the population, being that, as of 2001, over 80% of them were born abroad and therefore most likely speak a dialect of Chinese at home. In truth, Canadian language learning is strange, relative to the US, because the bulk of people who generally learn languages (people mostly around major population centres) have some degree of foreign background, or live in a multi-lingual part of the country. There is a natural second language in Canada, either English or French, but ultimately, for the rest of the population, often times tracing back to family origins, or quite simply, learning the language of the land is the deciding factor. The US is perhaps different, though Spanish is the obvious choice for most people, given that there are quite a few Native Spanish speakers already in the country, and plenty more to the south. As for Chinese, well, to learn Chinese generally geography will play in the decision - learning Chinese alone is not much fun, so generally you would need to be in a city where you can learn, and interact with speakers of a Chinese dialect, preferably Mandarin as Cantonese is impossible. Edited by JBI on 07 June 2009 at 4:54pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| allikamikaze Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6180 days ago 37 posts - 37 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Russian | Message 11 of 23 07 June 2009 at 7:39pm | IP Logged | ||
I think I would agree with this. I know of very few high schools that offer mandarin Chinese these days (well, any form of Chinese, really) and I just don't think there's as much directed at young people today that encourages them to get into it either. I'm not trying to put-down Chinese culture here, I've just noticed that I meet many many more people that will learn Japanese (for example) because they are interested in some aspect of Japanese culture or Japanese media (is that the right word? I mean Japanese animation, comics, tv shows, movies, etc.). I think it's very possible that more interest could be directed towards Chinese culture and media but right now it doesn't seem like it is as mainstream yet, and that makes it harder to reach an American/Canadian audience. That's my theory at least :\ 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pfwillard Pro Member United States Joined 5701 days ago 169 posts - 205 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 12 of 23 08 June 2009 at 12:40am | IP Logged | ||
In the U.S., Spanish is becoming unavoidable so it is the national second language. For example, my town has few (maybe 5%) Spanish-speakers living in it, but the ATM by my house addresses me in Spanish before giving me a choice of using English. I would rather practice Mandarin when I'm checking my balance but no joy. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Astrophel Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5734 days ago 157 posts - 345 votes Speaks: English*, Latin, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Cantonese, Polish, Sanskrit, Cherokee | Message 13 of 23 08 June 2009 at 3:06am | IP Logged | ||
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Mandarin is still not very popular, but it is becoming more so. You're helping to set the trend! Especially in areas like California with a significant Chinese population, Mandarin is becoming more and more important to bridge cultural gaps in business and communication. I've tried to find Cantonese resources myself, if only to learn basic phrases so that I can understand the people in my neighborhood!
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| WANNABEAFREAK Diglot Senior Member Hong Kong cantonese.hk Joined 6829 days ago 144 posts - 185 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, Cantonese Studies: French | Message 14 of 23 08 June 2009 at 2:32pm | IP Logged | ||
What are you talking about impossible? Don't talk rubbish. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| qklilx Moderator United States Joined 6188 days ago 459 posts - 477 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean Personal Language Map | Message 15 of 23 08 June 2009 at 5:33pm | IP Logged | ||
I bet if Mandarin or Cantonese classes were offered like they are now about 20-30 years ago there would have been a higher percentage of enrollment than there is now, just because of the popularity of martial arts movies back then. That's just my guess though. For whatever reason, though, today's young people tend to be very interested in Japan and all the cultural assets it exports, such as what you listed. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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