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Experience of Learning Chinese
Since people are focusing more on having experiences that last a lifetime, verses consumption, how does Learning Chinese fit in this? Teaching your kids Chinese is a gift that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. It will give them a different prospective on life, expanding their career possibilities as well as expanding and exercising different areas of their brains. It's also beneficial for adults to learn Chinese (Unfortunately, Childbook’s primary focus is on Learning Chinese materials for children). As you learn Chinese, you will also be learning about the Chinese culture. Language has a huge impact upon any given culture, and learning Chinese can give your child first hand experience of the intricacies required to be successful when interacting with the Chinese culture or even other Asian cultures. The main requirement of learning Chinese is not materials, but rather time and dedication. One doesn't learn a language by spending money, but rather by taking the time to learn the words, sentence structures, and by understanding the culture. Don't get me wrong here, although the right materials can definitely ease your path when learning Chinese, the time, effort and dedication required to truly master the language is what really makes an attempt to learn Chinese successful (or God forbid, unsuccessful). More on why to Learn Chinese. The article that got me thinking on this topic, Americans Doing More, Buying Less, a Poll Finds - NY Times. Labels: Why Learn Chinese
Why Learning Chinese Matters
Why Learn Chinese - Job Security
I had breakfast with a supplier this morning and she mentioned another reason on why to Learn Chinese. Her husband works in the Financial Industry and speaks Chinese, and because of this has kept his job while other people around him have not. Only negative is now my wife may be expecting me to improve my Chinese beyond the good enough to be laughed at by native Chinese speakers :-) Labels: Why Learn Chinese
Learning Chinese - Why Learn Chinese
An article from Scotland, Language teaching 'lets down Scotland mentions a major reason on why to learn Chinese is economic reasons, which got me to thinking so I updated my list. 10 Reasons to Learn Chinese1. China is emerging from a period of stagnation and again taking it's place as one of the great powers of the world. China currently has the second largest economy in the world. To take advantage of this huge economic shift and opportunities, learning to speak Chinese is a great way to give your children an advantage in the increasingly competitive business world. Not everyone in the world speaks English. 2. China has become the factory of the world and is moving up the technology food chain. Look at the balance of trade between the US and China. Per Nobel Prize Winner Robert Mundell China will become the factory of the world, in my opinion it already has. Now products are built, as well as designed in China. 3. Chinese culture is over 5000 years old. By learning the Chinese Language, Chinese you will learn another culture. Learning a language gives you a better understanding through the grammar and even how the words are derived of the culture behind them. There is a lot of Chinese Poetry that lose some meaning when translated. 4. China is a huge export market for the US. 1/5th of the world's population lives in China. Overseas Chinese dominate the economies of many countries in Asia, and speaking Mandarin gives you an edge in doing business with them. Countries with large overseas Chinese populations include Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. China has become one of the largest trading partners with the US. Over 16,000 US companies sell products in China. Trade is not only from China to the US, but also the other way. $41.8 Billion in 2006. 5. The world is becoming a global economy. Per a famous book, the world is becoming flat so communication, ideas, and goods are traveling faster and faster between countries including the US and China. Learning Chinese gives you the opportunity to take advantage of this change. It's a great ice breaker when working with people from China if you can say a few words in Chinese. This helps especially when dealing with business people on the other side of the world via conference call. 6. Learning another language gives you another viewpoint. The word he uses, that is ll of meaning, is Kaleidoscope. It does seem to help mentally as you develop new areas of your brain. It also helps as people age. I once had a fun talk with a programmer explaining how learning a new computer language helped keep his mind fresh. It will also help you when ordering Chinese food. 7. Learning Chinese will give a student a competitive advantage. Chinese is the fastest growing Foreign Language being taught in US schools. I like Mayor Daly's quote: "We want to give our young people opportunities to advance ... and [Chinese] is a great opportunity to survive in today's economy." 8. Mandarin Chinese is the most taught foreign language after English in Japan. If the Japanese are learning it, shouldn't people in the US? Mandarin Chinese is the most used language on the Internet. 9. Chinese has become very useful in government. The Austrian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.. The US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geitner studied Chinese and attended Beijing University. The former Utah Governor, now Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman is fluent in Chinese (he learned it as a missionary in Taiwan and has an adopted child from China). 10. Family Reasons - If you have relatives who don't speak English, but only Chinese, it's so great to be able to speak with them in Chinese. I can't tell you how proud my wife is that my daughter got selected to be the announcer this year for her Chinese Choir! Labels: Why Learn Chinese
Why Help your Kids be Bi-lingual?
I've been reading " The Bilingual Edge" (by Kendall King and Alison Mackey )and I must say I find the book very helpful. The text is easy to read, as though the authors are having a conversation with you. Interesting to me are the reasons they cited about the advantages your child will get by being bi-lingual (English-Chinese, for example.) It has been found that bi-lingual kids are: - Smarter. More creative, intellectually flexible
- Socially open.
It turns out bi-lingual children are subjected to more brain activity as they learn two different sets of language. And since their brains are more active, it is but natural for bilingual kids to be more creative and flexible. It was found that bilingual kids can come up with more different answers to problem-solving questions. Not surprisingly, even in test scores and academic performance, it has been seen that bilinguals tend to outperform monolinguals. Note that this is more true for children who have an advanced knowledge of another language, rather than those who know how only how to greet and count in a second language. (However, the latter still tend to be "smarter" than monolinguals. ) As for the social benefits, bilinguals are more understanding of people of the secondary language, and people of other cultures as well. Knowing another language opens their eyes and their hearts that people are different and people should take time to listen to each other. For kids, it is easier to learn about one's heritage if songs, rhymes and stories are understood in the native language. Later on, these children will be the same ones who will reach out to people of different groups. They will also be the link to the next generation's appreciation of one's culture. Either way, the intellectual and social boost being bilingual brings are characteristics we aspire for our children. Teaching your kids to be bilingual is a win-win experience for the child, for your family, community and even the global community. Bilingual Edge shares more about why, when and how to teach your child a second language. Or see more parenting-bilinguals books. Labels: bilingual education, parenting, Why Learn Chinese
Cute Comment on Learning Chinese
French vs. Chinese vs. Spanish
French is a beautiful language that reflects the culture that gave birth to it. From fashion to food to culture, there is a lot of great things about France. Unfortunately from a business prospective, unless doing business in some African nations I don't see a huge reason to learn French, when compared with the potential of China, or even doing business with the huge Hispanic Markets of North and South America. I took German in High School, and the one time I tried to use it in Germany the shop keeper spoke better English than my German! When I visited France we had no problems communicating, and in doing business with people from France I have had no challenges. Here is my list of reasons on Why to Learn Chinese. Labels: Why Learn Chinese
Chinese vs. Spanish - Which to Learn?
There are a lot of reasons why to learn Chinese and I thought I would do a comparison with Spanish. In my opinion, the two languages you should consider learning are either Spanish or Chinese. Or you can be like my Brother-in-law and speak both! In Southern California, knowing Spanish can be an asset. It allows you better communication with many workers if you are running a small manufacturer or other type of small business. There is also the fact that maquiladoras on the Mexican US border do a lot of manufacturing. There was until recently a lot of movement to cheaper labor sources, but with the increase in fuel some businesses are moving operations closer to reduce the shipping cost. NY Times article - Shipping Costs Start to Crimp Globalization. And there is a huge market in Central and South America. A challenge for South America is a lot of their production is still in raw materials, being sent to China for processing. Major areas that Mexico and South America will need to work on is infrastructure (without good roads it's hard to do effective manufacturing) and education. An advantage that Mexico has is being close to the US, that can lower transportation costs. The challenge in Central and South America is often because of the ruling class controls everything and it's hard to make changes, the best and brightest often go to the US. I have known quite a few Chinese who are now in the US, who came originally from Costa Rica, Brazil, or Argentina. Yes, I admit Brazil is doing much better now days. China for better and worse, is putting a lot of emphasis on their infrastructure. Education is another area that China is also working on. China is also emphasizing moving up the value chain for manufactured goods. Currently, China is the factory of the world. Items that require lower cost labor are moving to Vietnam and other countries. As well as moving into other areas of China that have lower cost labor. There is also a huge developing market within China, so China has both the opportunity of exporting items, as well as a potential market. The government of China is very pro-growth (good and bad). There is also a lot of entrepreneurial and can do spirit in China. Truthfully, there is opportunity in both the Chinese and South American markets. I see the Chinese market as more exciting and going through more growth than the overall South American market due to education and infrastructure issues. And for this reason I have a preference for Learning Chinese vs. Spanish. Labels: Why Learn Chinese
Learning Chinese & China's Challenges
With the recent negative publicity on China, should you still Learn Chinese?
China does have challenges and many of the activities of the government are not the most popular. Darfur, selling weapons to Zimbabwe, corruption, largest green house producer, environmental issues, intellectual rights, product safety, Taiwan, Tibet, Burma, Falun Gong, religious control are all issues that are unpopular with many people. So with all these negatives, Why Learn Chinese? Learning Chinese is not about liking the Chinese governments actions, I view it as doing what is best for your kids. Updated List of Why Learn Chinese- I believe a lot of what is happening in China is growing pains and China emerges from a period of stagnation (100+ years). China's the second largest economy in the world and still has a high rate of growth.
- China's growth in the world is not going to change. China has become the factory of the world.
- China's 5000 years of culture and a great way to learn and understand more, is by Learning Chinese.
- Chinese imports from the US (trade goes both ways. China is a huge market).
- The world is become more interconnected, and China is part of this. This change is both good and challenging for China. It's because of this growing interconnection that China is having many of these challenges. An event that happens halfway across the word in South Africa (dock workers refusing to unload Chinese weapons for Zimbabwe) gets global attention. Images of Darfur are easily accessible from one of the more remote areas of the world.
- Learning Chinese does give another viewpoint. From the grammar and how sentences are formed, to the differences between a character based language and a romanized. Chinese poetry/poems are better in their original language Chinese, than English.
- Many jobs already are connected to China, and as China's economy grows many more will be. Knowing Chinese gives your kids an advantage in taking advantage of the opportunities with this huge market for both imported and exported goods.
- Learning of Chinese is going through Huge Growth in the US. Can you afford not to have your kids learn Chinese?
Further Resources: Labels: Why Learn Chinese
Why Learn to Speak Chinese?
I updated the page, now a section Why Learn Chinese? The goal was to make it easier to read and add more ideas that I have been exploring on the blogs in the various Posts I have done on why learn Chinese. I started out with a greeting and joke I learned when I was teaching ESL, that ESL students loved: - What is a person who knows three languages? - trilingual.
- What is a person who knows two languages? - bilingual.
- What is a person who knows only one language? - American.
Followed by three sub-pages to go into more details on important areas of Why Learn Chinese: It's an improvement over the one huge page that existed. The Resources for Kids To Learn Chinese seems to not belong on this page, but I wanted to show people who are interested in learning Chinese some of the resources available. The reasons for Learning Chinese, Eight of them are much better. The reasons Why Kids Should Learn to Speak Chinese? General: To take advantage of this huge economic shift and opportunities, learning to speak Chinese is a great way to give your children an advantage in the increasingly competitive business world. Not everyone in the world speaks English. - China is emerging from a period of stagnation and again taking it's place as one of the great powers of the world. China currently has the second largest economy in the world.
- China has become the factory of the world and is moving up the technology food chain. Look at the balance of trade between the US and China. Per Nobel Prize Winner Robert Mundell China will become the factory of the world, in my opinion it already has. Now products are built, as well as designed in China.
- Chinese culture is over 5000 years old. By learning the Chinese Language, Chinese you will learn another culture. Learning a language gives you a better understanding through the grammar and even how the words are derived of the culture behind them. There is a lot of Chinese Poetry that lose some meaning when translated.
- China is a huge export market for the US. 1/5th of the world's population lives in China. Overseas Chinese dominate the economies of many countries in Asia, and speaking Mandarin gives you an edge in doing business with them. Countries with large overseas Chinese populations include Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. China has become one of the largest trading partners with the US. Over 16,000 US companies sell products in China. Trade is not only from China to the US, but also the other way. $41.8 Billion in 2006.
- The world is becoming a global economy. Per a famous book, the world is becoming flat so communication, ideas, and goods are traveling faster and faster between countries including the US and China. Learning Chinese gives you the opportunity to take advantage of this change. It's a great ice breaker when working with people from China if you can say a few words in Chinese. This helps especially when dealing with business people on the other side of the world via conference call.
- Learning another language gives you another viewpoint. The word he uses, that is ll of meaning, is Kaleidoscope. It does seem to help mentally as you develop new areas of your brain. It also helps as people age. I once had a fun talk with a programmer explaining how learning a new computer language helped keep his mind fresh. It will also help you when ordering Chinese food.
- Learning Chinese will give a student a competitive advantage. Chinese is the fastest growing Foreign Language being taught in US schools. I like Mayor Daly's quote: "We want to give our young people opportunities to advance ... and [Chinese] is a great opportunity to survive in today's economy."
- Mandarin Chinese is the most taught foreign language after English in Japan. If the Japanese are learning it, shouldn't people in the US? Mandarin Chinese is the most used language on the Internet.
Excuses not to Learn Chinese is more of the original page I did on Why To Learn Chinese, that was focused on convincing Chinese speaking parents - who I thought my target customers were, but as usual in marketing once I started selling my target customers were a bit different! Feedback on the Why Learn Chinese? Section is appreciated! Ray@childbook.com Labels: Why Learn Chinese
Why Learn Chinese
Michigan's former State Education Superintendant blogging from Tibet on Why Learn Chinese. A Small World indeed! TOM WATKINS: It's a small world after all
Key Points:
1. More people are know English in China than in the US.
2. Learning another language gives you another viewpoint. The word he uses, that is full of meaning, is Kaleidoscope. 3. Learning Chinese will give a student a competitive advantage.
4. Mandarin Chinese is the most used language on the Internet.
5. 1/5th of the world's population lives in China.
6. China is determined to be a world super power again.
Labels: Why Learn Chinese
Adopted Chinese Parents - Learning Chinese
There are some Families with Children from China who work hard to keep their children bilingual in Chinese and English. The majority don't (my 10 years experience selling Learning Chinese Products). There are probably slightly more adopted parents who are having their children learn Chinese than the general population. With a new baby/child in the family, parents are usually just trying to keep their head above water as they adjust to how their entire life has changed. Their is also the fear that if they try to keep up being bilingual, it will somehow hurt their child's ability to learn English. My High School daughter is bilingual, as is many of her friends, and their English is better than mine (who is monolingual). There is so much Learning Chinese Material out there, and more and more schools are teaching Chinese. Many non-Chinese are also learning Chinese and sending their kids to school to learn it. Here is a list of reasons to learn Chinese I wrote up At a minimum, I suggest keeping them exposed to the Chinese culture. There is so much wonderful cultural history from China and materials from English, there is no excuse not to. There are more Chinese restaurants in the US than their are McDonalds! Labels: Learning Chinese, Why Learn Chinese
200th Post - Learning Chinese
Benefits of Learning Chinese or Why Learn Chinese?
Chinese Language Association of Elementary-Secondary Schools 全美中小學中文教師協會 (CLASS), has the best list I have found yet on other sites of the benefits of studying Chinese! My comments are in bold. Why study Chinese?
1. China is the most populous country in the world with over 1.4 billion people. Mandarin is spoken by almost one billion people. It is the #1 spoken language in the world. One out of five people in the world is Chinese.
Good point, but not a major selling point as a reason to learn a language.
2. Mandarin is spoken in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia,Brunei, Singapore, The Philippines, and Mongolia.
This is actually a much better reason than the first, but there is a huge network of overseas Chinese the have a great deal of economic power in the countries listed above. Actually many of them speak Fujian Dialect or Cantonese, but because of the growth of Mandarin they are now Learning Mandarin because of the rise in China's economic power and how Mandarin has become the Chinese dialect used in business. Which goes with the entire growth of Mandarin in China over the past 80 years that has been pushed by all the Chinese governments as a way to unify the country. So the other dialects are becoming languages spoken at home. I believe this is also happening with Cantonese with the Hong Kong becoming part of China.
3. China is one of the world's oldest civilizations, over 5000 years old.
Interesting reason and there is a lot of Chinese Scientific Advances that the Europeans adopted that started in China. The question with how advanced China was for many years over Europe, was why did China stop advancing scientifically and Europe got it's act together with the Renaissances and age of the enlightenment. The example of Zheng He who had a huge fleet and my have discovered America before Columbus, but the fleet was destroyed due to the government wanting to focus internally for a couple of hundred years (which China continued to do until relatively recently).
4. China has the second largest economy in the world. Knowing Chinese will allow students to compete effectively in the global economy of the future.
Many articles on parents having their kids learning Chinese have mentioned how this will help their kids compete in the future, many executives are having their children learn Chinese because of their frequent travel to China.
5.China is one of America's largest trading partners.
And the US also exports a huge amount to China, as well as importing even more.
6.Many American companies do business in China, including Motorola, Coca Cola, and Ford.
We live in a global economy and the world is becoming flatter everyday.
7.Knowing Chinese may be an edge when competing for a job. The demand for business people who know Chinese is skyrocketing.
Makes sense for the right type job. Can't hurt. 8. China is playing a major role in world affairs and will continue to do so.
Very true.
9. A May 2006 Newsweek article stated that "In U.S. homes, Chinese has eclipsed French, German, and Italian and become the third most commonly spoken language after English and Spanish." My thought is this is due to immigration from China and Taiwan. Ethnic Chinese that speak other dialects are having their children learning Mandarin Chinese 10. By studying Chinese, students will develop an appreciation for Chinese culture and history.
Learning a language gives you a better understanding through the grammar and even how the words are derived of the culture behind them. There is a lot of Chinese Poetry that lose some meaning when translated.
11. Leaning a second language develops critical and creative thinking skills.
It does seem to help mentally as you develop new areas of your brain. It also helps as people age. I once had a fun talk with a programmer explaining how learning a new computer language helped keep his mind fresh.
Class also has a list of why Chinese is also easy to learn on the same page is also a good read.
I definitely need to update my page on the Benefits of Learning Chinese, or as I titled it, Why Learn Chinese and incorporate my previous blog post on Why Learn Chinese into it. Basically re-write the entire page, which I just did. The history of this page is interesting. First it was focused on why Ethnic Chinese in the US should have their kids learn Chinese, and then re-writing it a bit for a more general audience. Anyway, time to revise!
Labels: Why Learn Chinese
Why Learn Chinese?
Why Learn Chinese?1. China is emerging from a period of stagnation and again taking it's place as one of the great powers of the world. 2. Learning Chinese could give you an edge in doing business in China competing with people who don't speak Chinese. I like this quote from a Time Magazine Article: British linguist David Gaddol. If you want to get ahead, learn Mandarin. "In many Asian countries, in Europe and the USA, Mandarin has emerged as the new must-have language," Gaddol notes. 3. Mandarin Chinese is the most taught foreign language after English in Japan. If the Japanese are learning it, shouldn't people in the US? 4. Chinese is the fastest growing Foreign Language being taught in US schools. I like Mayor Daly's quote: "We want to give our young people opportunities to advance ... and [Chinese] is a great opportunity to survive in today's economy." 5. It's a great ice breaker when working with people from China if you can say a few words in Chinese. This helps especially when dealing with business people on the other side of the world via conference call. 6. Over 16,000 US companies sell products in China. Trade is not only from China to the US, but also the other way. $41.8 Billion in 2006.7. China has become the factory of the world and is moving up the technology food chain. Look at the balance of trade between the US and China. Per Nobel Prize Winner Robert Mundell China will become the factory of the world, in my opinion it already has. 8. Learning Chinese has become easier. ChildBook.com offers products for Children to learn Chinese from DVD's to books with songs especially designed to help teach Chinese. A recent addition was a series of textbooks, workbooks, and CD's called Practical Chinese that is also called “The Effective Way of Learning Reading, Writing, and Speaking Chinese” as well as free fun stuff for Children for Learning Chinese such as coloring pictures and game instructions. I would usually do 10 reasons, but 8 is a lucky number in Chinese!” What some other sites have as reasons for Learning Chinese!Why Learn Chinese from ChildBook. I will be updating it soon :-) Why Learn Chinese by the Asia Society Why Study Chinese from an Ohio State Page Why Study Chinese from the Union College in NY Why Study Chinese from a Colorado College Students My thoughts on the other sites reasons from the ones I don't have in common. 1. Ordering better Chinese Food. Makes sense, it's frustrating to go into a restaurant and the entire menu is in Chinese and the person taking the order and you can't communicate. There is a breakfast place locally I like, that has that issue. 2. Olympics as a reason, following this line of reasoning every four years you should learn a new language? 3. Amount of people in China. OK reason. 4. 5000 years of Culture - Good reason. 5. Adding to your CV or resume - again makes sense. Labels: Why Learn Chinese
Get Ahead - Learn Chinese
Some thoughts I am working on: Why Learn Chinese?English is the number one language being learned in the world and widely used in business. But Chinese is rapidly becoming the other must have language. Time Magazine noted that many people believe, if you want to get ahead, Learn Mandarin Chinese. Per British linguist David Gaddol. "In many Asian countries, in Europe and the USA, Mandarin has emerged as the new must-have language". Kids have an incredible ability to learn Languages at a young age per many studies, and schools are teaching kids at younger and younger ages. ChildBook.com helps kids learn Chinese by Why do parents want their kids to learn Chinese? 1. Chinese is the language of the 21st century 2. Being competitive 3. China is becoming more and more important 4. Business Opportunities in China. 5. Not being left behind 6. China will be an integral part of world economy. 7. Increase economic of China. China's Economic Rise. 8. Understanding Chinese Culture 9. Learning their own culture (if of Chinese Descent). 10. Chinese is the new, must have language per this Get Ahead - Learn Chinese - Title of an article in Time Magazine. 12. Kids have an incredible ability to Learn a foreign language. My own writings: Why Learn Chinese?Labels: Why Learn Chinese
Why Learn Chinese
I was updating my Why Learn Chinese page because I realized it was, how to say it, dated. I created the page when Childbook.com started 10 years ago - next week is the anniversary! And originally who I thought I would be selling to was children who had at least one parent who spoke Chinese. And in this market, there is a little bit of a push back due to peer pressure on the playground, TV, etc. on why Learn Chinese, especially when learning English is more important. So I wrote the page addressing why should a Child learn Chinese when they don't have too. Well it turned out originally we were targeting the Chinese Learning Materials we sold to be more of an add on assuming there was some Chinese in the household, where now we are selling a lot of products that are for those who no Chinese. So I re-wrote the page to take into account a few of the changes in China's place in the world in the last 10 years and changed the focus to more of a general why learn Chinese. Labels: Learning Chinese, Why Learn Chinese
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