Is Chinese the next common language?
By. Saho Inoue
- Lin Li Hall, a Chinese language professor, teaches Chinese.
University of Nevada Reno started to have Chinese as a foreign language class for about six to seven years. Lin Li Hall, a Chinese professor at UNR, said Chinese is not quite as different a language as students imagine. However, at first look, students see the difficulties in Chinese characters. This year was the second year of teaching for Hall. Compared to a few years ago, she saw the number of students who register doubled from 13 to 25. She said that almost every semester the class is full. Today, more students got interested in study about China.
Jiangnan Zhu, an assistant professor of political science at UNR, said the reason so many people are interested in China today is the rapid economic development of the country in the past 20 to 30 years.
Jiangnan Zhu, an assistant professor of political science, teaches Chinese politics and East Asian politics.
“I teach Chinese politics and East Asian politics which both are fully registered,” Zhu said. “A lot of students are interested in China and Asia. “
Moreover, Zhu assumed the difference between China and United States in political systems, culture, history and language attracted people to study China.
“Chinese is a language from eastern world,” Lin Hall, a Chinese professor at UNR, said. “Although, there are some challenges but for English speakers, they are still in a comfort zone that they can related to back their first language. ”
In fact, Hall explained how the Chinese basic grammar was adopted by English. Moreover, Hall said Chinese is a tonal language. Therefore, she thinks it's beneficial for students to acquire the language by seeing the real world. Not just studying the Chinese language as an exotic experience, but experiencing culture by studying abroad might help students.
- Michael Kurihara, a political science major at UNR, studying Chinese in his class.
Michael Kurihara, a 23-year-old political science major, said he was always interested in learning Chinese and took a Chinese class this year after studying Japanese.
“I was always interested in learning Chinese,” Kurihara said. “And my major is political science so learning Chinese open up a lot of doors of job opportunities especially for the state department.”
Compared to Japanese, Kurihara said he believed Chinese has more difficulties in pronunciations. Yet, the grammar was not difficult and seemed straightforward, he said.
Tom Maxon, a 21-year-old Asian history major, said he took Chinese class because of an East Asian History professor at UNR whose enthusiasm provoked Maxon's interests. His major as Asian History is focused on China, which requires him to get sources for his research. Then he needed actual language skills.
- Tom Maxon, on the right, in Chinese class.
“My ultimate goal is to invest to China to the United States.” Maxon said. “ Or become a diplomat to China to bridge the understanding between United States and China. ”
Elliott Parker, an economics professor at UNR, said people who want to know more about China are likely to seek more opportunities internationally.
“UNR has been having Chinese economics for about 20 years,” Parker said. “The reason people study China is because China is now getting bigger economically and in population. No matter what they do, China affects the world. ”
- Elliott Parker, a Economic professor at UNR, in his office.
China has had great economic changes in the mid -1980s.In 1984, China adopted an open- door policy. Between its population and economical power, China is now the most influential country.
Hall said students who take Chinese classes have some difficulties of studying pronunciation with tones. Yet, it was beneficial for students to have some background. In fact, Hall found a student at UNR in the past with intermediate Chinese language skill,who got a great
Chinese character hanging on Parker's office wall.
promotion in the field of international business. these skills help students to have an easier time finding jobs.Leaning foreign languages in general encourage a person to become more aware of what is going on in other countries and to be more understanding.
http://studentdev.jour.unr.edu/sinoue/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/final-project.flv