Opinion: Why Mandarin Should Be Offered at M-A
Photo Credit: Tyler Finn
M-A’s foreign language department has gotten by offering the basic French, Spanish, and Latin. However, it’s missing a valuable opportunity by not offering one of the most influential languages in the world: Mandarin.
Mandarin should be offered at M-A over French, Spanish, or Latin for a multitude of reasons. Mandarin is spoken by approximately one billion people. A person who knows how to speak Mandarin would be able to communicate with almost 20% of the world’s population.
Furthermore, Mandarin is a language that is quickly becoming important for economy, trade and business. According to the US-China Business Council in 2009, despite the world’s economical recession, the United States topped the list of China’s trade partners with $298 billion. More recently, the United States Census Bureau published that over the last eleven months exports to China have totaled $82 Billion and imports a staggering $334 billion. It has become obvious that Mandarin is the language of the future of the economy. Almost all companies around the world are hiring workers specifically because they are fluent in Mandarin. According to The Guardian, “at least 41% of UK business leaders plan to recruit Chinese MBA graduates to boost their prospects in China.” Universities are beginning to accept students based partly on their foreign language experience, and they find Mandarin extremely attractive.
All over the world, the greatest minds and leaders are calling for Mandarin to be taught in schools. Deborah Allday, the author of a report on foreign languages by British consulting firm, the Hay Group, stated that the “government needs to take a fresh look at the…education curriculum in this country to determine the best way to make … graduates… competitive in the global marketplace. This means not only introducing Chinese language teaching, but fostering an understanding of Asian culture and business practices.”
Many schools around the United States are turning to outside sources in order to offer Mandarin. According to The New York Times, “The Chinese government is sending teachers from China to schools all over the word– and paying part of their salaries.” Jackson High School in Massillon, Ohio has seen the advantages of working with the Chinese government. Parthena Draggett, the Department Head for the Foreign Languages said, “We were able to get a free Chinese teacher … but we can’t get a free Spanish teacher.” The US State Department has also paid for the Teachers of Critical Languages Program, paying for Chinese teachers to live and teach here for a year.
Since the class’s debut three years ago, the number of Jackson High School students taking Mandarin has risen from 20 to 80. This growth represents a nationwide trend. According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, a research group in Washington, D.C., out of the approximately 27,500 middle and high schools that offer foreign languages, around four percent offer Mandarin, up from one percent just over a decade ago. The Times reports that the Advanced Placement test in Mandarin is expected to surpass AP German as the third most tested AP language.
More important than impressive statistics is the cultural appreciation that comes along with learning a language. Having lived in Shanghai, China, I can personally attest to the rich, dynamic, and layered culture that the Chinese people have. From ancient Buddhist temples, to men and women selling their wares on the street, from maniac cab drivers, to cities whose skyscrapers reach for the heavens and put on a light show every night of the year, China is a place where there is always something new to learn. They have a history spanning thousands of years with leaders who range from emperors to generals to tyrants to capitalists. And let us not forget The Great Wall that spans thousands of miles of treacherous terrain and can be seen from space. They are a people and culture that constantly innovates and looks to the future, achieving far beyond what is expected of them. Let us take a page out of their playbook of innovation by welcoming their language into our schools.
Tyler – this was a very well written article, very informative and convincing. I completely share your opinion regarding offering Mandarin at M-A. I only hope that incoming students will be lucky enough to participate in such a class in the future. Great job!
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I disagree with you. Yes, mandarin is an influential language, but not more important to our lives than Spanish. Maybe it is more important than French, because, lets be honest France kind’ve sucks. I have not had a single instance in which I have had to speak Mandarin, though I have spoken Spanish and needed to know how to speak French multiple times. China is westernizing, and they are learning how to speak English, let them change. Although Mandarin is the number one language, Spanish is #2. Although Latin is not spoken, well anywhere, It is the basis for basically every European language, which I believe has more speakers than mandarin. If people want to learn mandarin, let them go to outside teachers, and learn it on their own time.
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Conrad Reply:
February 18th, 2011 at 4:44 am
A large majority of American manual laborers speak Spanish as a first language, but it is their responsibility to learn English. When people immigrate to the United States, it is their social responsibility to assimilate themselves into the native culture – starting with language. Whether or not they choose to retain their own heritage, though encouraged, is completely up to them. However, if you wish to do international business or trade and interact with associates from another country, it is your responsibility to learn the language that will facilitate deals. As Tyler mentions, China/U.S. business has been on the rise for the last half-century and continues to grow.
The claim that the Latin-derived language speaking population of Europe outnumbers the Mandarin speaking population of China is incorrect. According to the CIA World Factbook, the population of the European Union as of July, 2010 is just under 500 million. China’s population as of July, 2010 is just over 1.3 billion. Evidently, if one could only choose between Latin and Mandarin, learning Mandarin would allow communication with over a billion people; choosing Latin would allow communication with some members of the Roman Catholic church and awkward exchanges of similar sounding words with the rest of Western Europe.
Latin is spoken in the Vatican, and no where else. And simply because it is a mother language of many of the European languages does not make it a substitute for actually learning those languages.
The opinion that “France kind’ve sucks,” is an ad hominem argument that really says more about your dislike for the country rather than why French is an important (or unimportant) language to learn.
Yes, China is westernizing, and more Chinese are learning how to speak English. But that means more Chinese have the the competitive edge in communication. Frankly, I find your idea of “let them change” to be quite indicative of a condescending view. And your inexperience with having to speak Mandarin shows your lack of involvement in Sino-American business – further indicating your ignorance of the importance of learning Mandarin.
Furthermore, not everyone can afford an outside teacher. As Tyler points out in his well-written article, the Chinese and American governments offer to pay for the salaries of Mandarin teachers, making it financially accessible to those who can’t afford private tutoring.
So why not take advantage of education?
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Elissa Reply:
February 26th, 2011 at 1:32 am
Just a quick note:
Mandarin is not the only language spoken in China. It’s the language of the vast majority (836 million, according to Wikipedia), but it’s not going to allow you to communicate with all of the 1.3 billion people in China. For example, if my mom had grown up speaking Chinese (and actually in China), it would have been Cantonese.
There are 1.3 billion speakers of Mandarin (again, according to Wikipedia, which also, on another page, tells me 845 million), but a lot of them have learned it, some certainly for business purposes. Also, all spoken Chinese languages share a written language AND Mandarin is certainly the primary business language, so I believe learning to read, write, and speak Mandarin would deal with most of the dialect barriers.
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I almost chose to apply to Everest because they claimed they were offering Mandarin. (I didn’t end up applying for a number of reasons, including that they chose to offer Spanish instead.)
I chose to take Spanish at MA because it is very culturally relevant in California and is also widely spoken elsewhere in the world. However, if I’d been offered Mandarin, I would have taken it in a heartbeat because if its increasing prevalence in the business & tech world. It would also be more of a challenge than Spanish, because, frankly, the lower levels of MA Spanish leave a lot to be desired.
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