Chinese is the new English

[ChinaToday]

HYDERABAD: Having a flair for languages is not everybody’s cup of tea. Some take to it very well while some don’t even get a word of the language no matter how hard they try. Nonetheless, foreign languages have started gaining popularity among youngsters mostly through movies and music initially. Now, thanks to globalisation, foreign languages offer more opportunities and an extra edge to youngsters in their rat race for that elusive lucrative job.

It seems there is a sudden interest among people in the city to learn the Mandarin script, for many reasons, one of them being China’s lead in the race to become the next super power. With the global business focus shifting from the West to China, India may well lose its edge as the largest pool of English speaking population. But alternately, it may well be the largest supplier of Chinese-cum-English speaking skilled employees! From schools to universities, private institutions and corporate offices, everybody appears to be in a hurry to speak the Dragon’s language.

“I love learning Mandarin. It looks like it’s difficult, but it is very easy to learn,” says Abha Singh, a Class V student of Rockwell International School, who has been learning Chinese since June this year. “I think it’s great fun and when I am conversing in Chinese, most of my friends don’t understand what I speak. So, I have an advantage over them,” she laughs. Subash Boda, chairman and managing director of Rockwell International School believes that kids can learn up to seven languages. “I think it is very important that kids learn different languages at this age as they can register them very well. Chinese is ranked as the 6th most spoken language in the world. So, not just personally, but it well help them even career-wise. There are 22 kids from grade one to 10 as of now in this course. We started it from this academic year and we teach students both basic and intermediary level. Kids seem very excited about the course, and they converse in Chinese during their recess and also we encourage them to introduce the assembly in Chinese. This way, they will be more actively learning the language,” he explains. The school has tied up with Tekiru, a language-based company which develops audio and video techniques to build the language skills.

The Vivekananda Institute of Foreign Languages also has students learning Chinese. SK Srinivas, director of the institute says, “We have had a 20 per cent increase in the number of students from last year and most of the students are graduates or post-graduates. People these days have been asking a lot specifically about the Chinese course, as it is turning out to be the next destination of opportunities. China is in need of a lot of English instructors and students here are learning Mandarin to be able to teach the students there.”

He adds, “There are two benefits of learning Chinese, one is you can teach English and since you can speak Chinese, there will be many offers your way.” The institute has three levels, the basic, intermediary and the advanced level and it charges� `10,000, `12,000 and `18,000 respectively. Srinivas also says, “Practising the characters definitely takes a lot of time. The problem we have, is we have a shortage of instructors to teach the language.”

Apart from Chinese, even French, German and Spanish have also been gaining popularity. A lot of institutes cater to teaching foreign languages. Like the English and Foreign Languages University, Alliance Francaise, Goethe-Zentrum, among others.

A former student of Alliance Francaise, Nivedita Rayavarapu says, “I learnt French for almost three years and it is always an added advantage for me, since when there are projects in my office dealing with companies in France, I am always given a preferance.” �

Despite the gloomy economic scenario in Europe, it seems, European languages are still popular compared to Chinese. Though, things are a bit changing.� Meenakshi Reddy, head of the department (German), English and Foreign Languages University, explains, “I think a lot of students take European languages like German or French when compared to Chinese or Japanese because they will have to learn a completely new script. But, whereas for Italian or French it is comparatively easier.” She also adds, “We have had a constant number of students opting for these languages and almost all the students in the German department have been placed in Deutshe Bank and many other companies. It is always a great feeling to learn a new language.”

The 26th edition of Hyderabad Book Fair at Peopls’ Plaza also has quite a number of books on foreign languages. Cambridge University Press’ sales representative said, “People do not usually buy these books at the fair. We did sell a few copies in our showroom though.”

But there’s no denying the employment potential of the rising super power’s language. Jagdish, who has a proficiency certificate in Spanish and Japanese from� EFLU, says, “I have learnt Spanish and Japanese and am working in TCS as a spanish language expert. But I have come to know that learning Chinese could be more rewarding in the future.” He is already into learning Chinese.

Chinese is the new English - southindia - Hyderabad - ibnlive

 

[Jade]

I don't even think even Hindi can replace English in India, forget Chinese

 

[Sonyuke_Songpaisan]

When I hear a black or white people speak chinese, I feel strange. Chinese belongs to us, but we can share this elite language with others in this globalisation time

 

[Roybot]

Elite language?

 

[Safriz]

When I hear a black or white people speak chinese, I feel strange. Chinese belongs to us, but we can share this elite language with others in this globalisation time

Its another thing that it doesn't have alphabets and hindi has alphabets?

 

[Pakistanisage]

Pakistan should make Chinese a required language in Pakistan.

 

[acetophenol]

Learning more languages is good.
In my school days i was taught malayalam,english and hindi. Now my engineering college offers french,german and chinese

 

[davidson]

I like Chinese

 

[Roybot]

I like Chinese

Yeah cause you are a Chinese yourself

 

[Sonyuke_Songpaisan]

Yeah cause you are a Chinese yourself

So your logic. Only Indian love Indian. what a shame

 

[Abhishek_]

given the pdf forum has a self selecting group of people, it is very likely. roy isn't making a sweeping generalization.
if you manage to stay here long enough, you'll come to agreement.

 

[jagjitnatt]

Pakistan should make Chinese a required language in Pakistan.

And how will that help Pakistanis??

The language most preferred is the one from the nation which is going to import max stuff from your country. China will never import anything. It will just export stuff, so they need to learn English, cause Americans speak English, and that is exactly what is happening.

Remember, consumers don't lure producers, producers lure consumers.

Pakistan being a consumer don't need to learn anything special for now. Just focus on regional languages and cultural, economic development.

 

[Sonyuke_Songpaisan]

And how will that help Pakistanis??

The language most preferred is the one from the nation which is going to import max stuff from your country. China will never import anything. It will just export stuff, so they need to learn English, cause Americans speak English, and that is exactly what is happening.

Remember, consumers don't lure producers, producers lure consumers.

Pakistan being a consumer don't need to learn anything special for now. Just focus on regional languages and cultural, economic development.

So Indians study English because Indians are lure producer and your master British are lure consumers?

 

[Abhishek_]

So Indians study English because Indians are lure producer and your master British are lure consumers?

is everything in your world defined by racial overtones?
English has definitely helped india integrate with our western business partners. how is that surprising?

 

[ViXuyen]

highly unlikely considering the fact that most non-Chinese have a terrible time distinguishing tones in tonal languages. A medium of exchange is choosing a language that is easy to listen, understand, and pronounce not a difficult one for most people.