Thats really unfortunate because I know my town is celebrating…because we just got a Confucious Institute!!! Actually, they just recently decided to put it here. I’m really looking forward to it, hopefully it will be built and established before I leave. Does anyone know how long it takes for the Institute to take shape?
Anyway, I was surprised to see it come to this part of central US. Initially there was a split between putting an Institute in Texas(Austin, University of Texas), and Oklahoma(Norman, University of Oklahoma). But the newspaper said the Confucious Institute organizers were persuaded by Norman’s lesser Chinese population. Apparently their looking to teach “Americans of many generations” more than “the so called ‘heritage’ learners”, meaning offspring of Chinese immigrants.
I’m hoping that if I do anything with the Chinese language in college this will make it much more interesting.
I don’t know if this link will work but (http://newsok.com/article/2838113) is the website of the article.
It’s too bad the article isn’t longer. I would have liked a more detailed explanation than that about why they thought it was such a waste, but if attitudes in America are anything to go by, I’m not unaquainted with the idea even here that foreign language is an unnecessary waste of time, akin to some people to basket weaving, though these days the complaint that it has no practical value has less impact because of the influx of immigrants into America. You can use it or hear it spoken daily in the right neighborhoods, but the old argument was you would learn it but it would be impractical on a daily basis, that you’d never actually meet anyone who spoke it. I know some people I’ve encountered even go so far as to question your patriotism as a foreign language-learner, as if showing any interest in anything foreign was a sign of a lack of loyalty to your country. But that’s indicative of a gap between the government/more educated people and the man on the street with no real interest in internationalism. The NSA has been screaming for more linguists, the ATA has tried to promote foreign language learning in schools, but then you get a national public outcry about translating the national anthem into Spanish as a way of promoting foreign language week somewhere in the country, so the perception in need and practicality is very different depending on where you are and how provincially you look at things. I think the comments about the African Chinese program is likely to come from a similar gap in attitudes and perception of need. I’m not sure how you get around that or change those opinions.
Anybody familiar with Zimbabwe and it’s government lead by Robert Mugabe will understand that the Chinese language institute has been set up in response to the ongoing support from the Chinese government. The political and economic situation in Zimbabwe is extremly strained and the people need every bit of support they can get. I can understand the student protests concerning inappropriate use of government resources, but at the same time the initiative will provide many individuals the opportunity to learn Chinese enabling increased trade with China. Ultimatly this will provide desperatly needed income for a troubled country.
Is this the same Confucious Institute that had the return to ‘traditional methods’ approach to teaching?
Thats really unfortunate because I know my town is celebrating…because we just got a Confucious Institute!!! Actually, they just recently decided to put it here. I’m really looking forward to it, hopefully it will be built and established before I leave. Does anyone know how long it takes for the Institute to take shape?
Anyway, I was surprised to see it come to this part of central US. Initially there was a split between putting an Institute in Texas(Austin, University of Texas), and Oklahoma(Norman, University of Oklahoma). But the newspaper said the Confucious Institute organizers were persuaded by Norman’s lesser Chinese population. Apparently their looking to teach “Americans of many generations” more than “the so called ‘heritage’ learners”, meaning offspring of Chinese immigrants.
I’m hoping that if I do anything with the Chinese language in college this will make it much more interesting.
I don’t know if this link will work but (http://newsok.com/article/2838113) is the website of the article.
It’s too bad the article isn’t longer. I would have liked a more detailed explanation than that about why they thought it was such a waste, but if attitudes in America are anything to go by, I’m not unaquainted with the idea even here that foreign language is an unnecessary waste of time, akin to some people to basket weaving, though these days the complaint that it has no practical value has less impact because of the influx of immigrants into America. You can use it or hear it spoken daily in the right neighborhoods, but the old argument was you would learn it but it would be impractical on a daily basis, that you’d never actually meet anyone who spoke it. I know some people I’ve encountered even go so far as to question your patriotism as a foreign language-learner, as if showing any interest in anything foreign was a sign of a lack of loyalty to your country. But that’s indicative of a gap between the government/more educated people and the man on the street with no real interest in internationalism. The NSA has been screaming for more linguists, the ATA has tried to promote foreign language learning in schools, but then you get a national public outcry about translating the national anthem into Spanish as a way of promoting foreign language week somewhere in the country, so the perception in need and practicality is very different depending on where you are and how provincially you look at things. I think the comments about the African Chinese program is likely to come from a similar gap in attitudes and perception of need. I’m not sure how you get around that or change those opinions.
Anybody familiar with Zimbabwe and it’s government lead by Robert Mugabe will understand that the Chinese language institute has been set up in response to the ongoing support from the Chinese government. The political and economic situation in Zimbabwe is extremly strained and the people need every bit of support they can get. I can understand the student protests concerning inappropriate use of government resources, but at the same time the initiative will provide many individuals the opportunity to learn Chinese enabling increased trade with China. Ultimatly this will provide desperatly needed income for a troubled country.
It’s had an effect, here perhaps. We’ve had a visitor on the forum from Zimbabwe. Maybe it’s just coincidence.