Schools in Pakistan's Sindh province to teach Chinese

Schools in Pakistan's Sindh province to teach Chinese

www.bbc.co.uk

All educational institutions in the province will have to provide Chinese language courses from class six (10-11-year-olds), it says.

The provincial government says that the decision was taken because of Pakistan's close ties with China.

The two countries have been strong allies for more than 50 years.

In May, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani described China as his country's "best friend".

(visit the link for the full news article)

And so the new empire starts taking over from the old - you've all read plenty of articles on here about the fractious nature of the Pakistani-USA relationship, and here's another small nail in the coffin - another pointer to the way things are going with the world.

I was watching the History Channel programme about the "Rise of money" - the final episode last night was about "Chimerica" - noting the close financial relationship between the 2 countries & how it mirrored the English-German one from pre-WW1.

It also noted the vast discrepancy in the 2 sides of hte relationship - the American side has the wealth, both individually and (at least for the time being) collectively - but it is producing less and less. the Chinese have exactly the opposite - less wealth - but hey are producing goods that otehr people want to buy.

For my money (sic) the US has largely forgotten that wealth comes from MAKING THINGS. The US has bcome good at shifting money around in financial transactions - stocks & bonds, or currency trading, or anything similar, but that does not create wealth - even though it does create enourmous incomes for the people who do it!

And that is going to be the "death" of the USA IMO - too much interest in trying to make a "quick buck" from a financial deal, and not enough interest in making an "honest living" by mamking things that people want to buy.

Of course ther are still plenty of Americans with work ethics - but as a country that seems to me to be the way you are going.

Back to tteaching Chinese to Pakistani kids - pity the poor kids tho - they'll be learning 4 languages - English, Urdu and Sindi are already taught - anyone care to guess which might be the first one dropped?





www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul
I was watching the Histyory Channel programme about eth "Rise of money" - the final episode last night was about "Chimerica" - noting the close financial relationship between the 2 countries & how it mirrored the English-German one from pre-WW1.

That was a great program we saw it on DVD through Netflix.
It was so informative, I also read his book by the same name.
Ascent ofMoney

Smart for Pakistan to think ahead to educate its children in Chinese.

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul

And so the new empire starts taking over from the old - you've all read plenty of articles on here about the fractious nature of the Pakistani-USA relationship, and here's another small nail in the coffin - another pointer to the way things are going with the world.

Not quite. Pakistan isn't exactly the only country to start doing things like this.

Schools Stop Teaching Foreign Language - Except Chinese

Only makes sense in a way when you consider the country with the second largest population in the world and also has one of the most prominent economies in the world. It's like a lot of schools in Europe and Asia teaching English several decades ago.

A lot of schools down here in Texas also teach a lot in Spanish as well for obvious reasons. Can't say there is any kind of conspiracy going on here between Pakistan and China or that it means anything more than the obvious strengthening of political ties just as we have done with our strongest partners.

Judge says Texas High schools must teach in Spanish

Originally posted by zarlaan

Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul

And so the new empire starts taking over from the old - you've all read plenty of articles on here about the fractious nature of the Pakistani-USA relationship, and here's another small nail in the coffin - another pointer to the way things are going with the world.

Not quite. Pakistan isn't exactly the only country to start doing things like this.

Schools Stop Teaching Foreign Language - Except Chinese

Interesting for sure and thanks for teh link - but there's a slight difference - in Pakistan is it a policy change by a local government - essentially the same as state level in the USA.

so in the USA it might be market forces doing it....but in Pakistan it is by regulation.

I have 2 sons learning foreign languages - 1 does German, the other does about 15 different computer languages!!

A lot of schools down here in Texas also teach a lot in Spanish as well for obvious reasons. Can't say there is any kind of conspiracy going on here between Pakistan and China or that it means anything more than the obvious strengthening of political ties just as we have done with our strongest partners.

Judge says Texas High schools must teach in Spanish

Yep - in both cases I see it as symptomatic of changes taking place in the world rather than any sort of nefarious conspiracies.

I guess Spanish doesn't count as "foreign" in the US any more!!??

Also, IIRC, the US has no official language at all - not even English?

My advice to my Grandkids...here in the US, learn some Chinese dialects.
I long have worried that they are a threat to the "US".
Sadly, anyone anywhere can threaten the "US" in a "politician for hire environment".
Treason is now endorsed by the Supreme Court.

Chinese is a good language to learn. However things are not that simple; if Chinese takes the place of English it will not be for a long time. Remember just about everyone under 40 in Europe and Asia has had extensive schooling in English; in the business world they are often required to achieve certain scores on English tests as part of their jobs, and so on. This represents "sunk cost" in terms of learning, time, effort, systems, etc...it's not so easy for a middle-aged office worker to pick up Chinese, or to toss out the 20 years he spent mastering English. So that will not fade so quickly. Moreover, far more Chinese are proficient in English than foreigners are proficient in Chinese, and this will continue to be the way for some time. Now, I wouldn't say its useless to learn Chinese, far from it, but I am mistrustful of the global "China gold rush." There are and will be big opportunites there but there are limited places at the trow. I am reminded of the way everone rushed to learn HTML website coding in the 1990s because web design was going to make everyone a millionaire. Only a few got rich off the Intenet and only limited numbers can make a living off of it. The same is true for China, and massive global competition to "do China" by ambitious workers everywhere will make it worse.

The language I am studying is Russian -- for the reasons outlined above, I think there are too many people studying Chinese relative to available opportunities, and there will be a supply-side glut. Russian and Arabic strike me as important niche languages that might give you more pull as fewer non-natives study them and it will make you stand out more in the crowd. The significance of the Arabic countries will only grow, and Russia is a rising power.

My sons in a dual language class. Eng/span. He started in kinder. And will continue until 5th grade, where he can decide if he wants to continue. By 5th he will not only be fluent in spanish, but literate as well.

Too bad they dont offer chinese

I wonder if the language courses in pakistan are like the span/french/german classes in middles school... Idk any of it, lol

reply to post by Partygirl


well the chinese still study english, mainly,

from grade school on.

my wife teaches english to kids.

so until china starts teaching something else, not a lot of worry.

it helps a lot to be multi-lingual in the biz world and just a cool thing to be somewhat fluent in another language.

reply to post by Aloysius the Gaul


It's no surprise really, Pakistan has a border with China and they are the closest (geographically) superpower (aside from India).

No doubt this will encourage an increase in trade and cooperation etc.

reply to post by Aloysius the Gaul


its probally got more to do with expanded trade agreements , and the plan to uprate the Karakoram Highway than any nefarious plot

A sign of things yet to come.
Looks like TPTB have made china the new superpower.