Language of the future?

here comes the language barier again. I have not said that I see you as a teenager, I just said it is possible that people see you like that, exactly because they don't know you.

I agree with what you said abut the old China. Perfect true. But that was the uncommunist China,the one which was unbelieveable culturally and technically advanced, but, in the same time, the one who had also strange traditions and strange life ideas. That one which actually meant something in history. And the one who lost just because they refused to open their own horizons.

As per mentality, yes, true, this is were they earn points. Reminds me about our gimnastics and what Nadia Comaneci meant for us. But also about how beaten the poor girls where during the trainings or the abuses the Russian gymnasts suffered just in order to get that desired glory and to show the western countries how good, we the communist were. Try to beat a child wh practise gymnastic in Belgium or Denmark. Next days, all the papers will yell about child abuse. Well, in Romania (or China) they will just close the eyes and say: "No problem, as long as she/he gets a golden medal...". Actually being gimnast meant a way out from poverty for their family and a way of travelling which otherwise would have been impossible.

By the way, here I make a paranthese, do you know that in Figure skating, the Russian pairs were forced to marry (when USSR still existed) just because it was more "moral" like that? When you don't have so much, you have to work in order to achieve something, with any price, sometimes even your personal hapiness. "Ever thing that has to be build, requires human sacrifices." True, but not to the point to give up to everything just for a moment of glory. Sometimes it just does not worth it.

Anyway, I guess I said what I had to say, good night.

Ok, now I give you totally right. But we cannot change the Chinese government right?
And really, don't blame the Chinese government of childlabour - to less paid jobs. Because most factories in China have something to do with a Western Brand, The multinational Nike, Adidas, they have all got sweatshops, but no one cares about that.
If The Western world would change the thought of money before everything, at least the multinationals have to open their eyes, then we can do something about it!
But when we, Europeans, keep on buying stuff made by child hands. No one can help it then.

Yes Yes, I don't support the communists but neither do I support the capitalism of the United States.

Goodnight, have to get up early tomorrow because I am in my exam period!

good luck to the exams, good night.

Childlabour, to me, is very unfamiliar, since as far as I know, most factories don't accept children, under 18.

Here most factories absorb workers who have graduated from middle schools, then childlabour can be effectively avoided. Because a child starts to go to school at average age of 7-8 years old, then primary school and middle school will cost a child another 10 years or more.

As for China as a country,

I have to say that, it experienced a very long feudalistic period, more than 2000 years. It was lagged behind in the last centuries, when Europe was undergoing industrial revolutions, during which , China was having wars, civil or inter-national. And after Opium War, China had to pay a good sum of wealth to invaders, including big country like Russia, and small country like Denmark. China was like a piece of tofu that every one wanted to have a share.

If a country was having wars and paying compensations, cound it become rich? Half-feudalised and half-colonised.

Then ROC, PRC gained this independent country, we need catch up, and develop, also we want to resume the past glory of China. It has been the central point of governmental report:

To revive China, to resume its glory.

And it is in our national song that:

One who is lagged behind will be beaten.


In historic points of view. China has been alienated from its national spirits for more than once, for example, Mongol, Manchu, ruled China and left China in mess.

The main part (>95%) of Chinese is Han, if Han is not in power, the country will be weak.

Totally right Pluiepoco!

But I can't not really judge how the people in China are, because I've never been there.
I'll let you know when I am studying in China and then can I see whether my statements are correct or not.
1 thing I do know is that China will be the next United States of America.

Hi!
One thing is sure: China is in the spotlight right now.

However, I do not really think Chinese will become a global language. Of course, it will get more popular, more foreigners will speak it, it is important, it is the most widely spoken language in the world as a native language etc. BUT you missed the fact that Chinese is not such an easy language to learn! Also, there are many Chinese immigrants everywhere, but you get good use of Chinese mainly in China and the neighbouring countries.

Some people even have difficulties learning English, Spanish or French, I do not really think they would be able to cope with a tonal language and learn some thousands of characters....

All in all, you are totally right about the importance of China and Chinese, but I to me, it seems that English stays the Global Language.

Have a nice day

Cisa

PS: Be egoists: if everybody spoke Chinese, who could you guys translate for?? I would also like to go in this direction, so I would not really want to get unemployed!

Cisa, we are not talking about the language here. We are talking about the economics; of course will English always be the main language, but Chinese is just becoming more important: China - Singapore - Malaysia - Taiwan - Hongkong.

Btw Cisa, I am not going to be an interpreter or a translator, I just going to use those languages so I can go abroad for a company. Economy still comes for language in my point of view, because I really want to do something with that. That is why I am going to study "Management" first before I am going to master in 4 languages.

I am wrong at least at one point, that is, at present, the actual proportion of Han among all Chinese is >90%, instead of >95%.

And this proportion is decreasing, because the PRC policies treat minority groups in priority, and in preferences. So, many Han people begin to change to be registered as minority ethnicity, and what is worse, Han is prohibited to bear more than one children, but minority ethnic people is allowed to have more children. As suggested in public, in next 70 years, Han will only take 50% of all Chinese population, that will be dangerous!

These unfair policy and treatment will lay a foundation for future nationalism and separatism, as indicated, and concerned by many Han Chinese.

Hi Tristangun
Yeah, but the name of the thread is ´Language of the future´, so I thought I´d share some thoughts of mine about it, this why forums exits, don´t they?

On the other hand, as I wrote it in the other message, I can only agree with China´s economical importance.

Cisa

Actually Cisa has made a point there....

"Childlabour, to me, is very unfamiliar". Yeap, children outside marriage also, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I remember, that my eldest sister was a child labour, but she was eager to.

Consider the environment that a job is a glory.

Oh yes, that is true but I already know for 7 years I'd study Chinese! Even before my Dutch was fluent, I knew that one day, I'd study Chinese!

I think I've made a decision, and that I'll study Spanish. I don't really like German that much, and it isn't really easy, Spanish is much easier & more important.

And what Pluiepoco said: My elder sister was a child labour? Well, that is nothing to be proud of. I can only be glad that I am born on the right sight of the planet, Europe, and that I am not born below the Equator, because else my life wouldn't be that good, maybe I would already be burried.

~ Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another. ~.

Saying that China is about to become the next superpower is very trendy nowadays (as trendy as using an iPod ). China might become the new first worldwide economic power, but that's just one hypothesis right now. It's not a fact yet. Its present growing may be more related to the fact that its capitalist system is young and is just starting to show results. But that doesn't mean it will become the richest country in the world in the next 40 years.

I was shocked to learn that I myself, working 30 hours a week in a rather non-qualified job, earn more in a month than an average Chinese does in a whole year, and Spain is not even among the 10 richest countries. I guess China has a lot of catch up to do, especially in the domain of human rights, governmental corruption, social and politic tensions, public freedoms, and those are urgent issues to deal with, becoming an economic power at any cost is not ethical if they sacrifice their own people.

If the USA were to lose their supremacy I don't see how China would inexorably be the one to take over, why not Japan or Germany whose investments in Research and Development are much stronger and have been wealthy powers for a while.

I don't think any of us will see Chinese as the lingua franca before we die. Mastering English (the current lingua franca, let's not forget that) may be a lifetime task. I wouldn't bother learning Chinese if it wasn't for romantic or scientific reasons.

Guilon, I am happy to see you are interested in this discusion too!

As I've said before, and I will repeat it now.
I have never said and I don't believe Chinese will be the new "linuga franca" as it is called. That is not the discusion point between me and Iepurica, read our conversations so you can see it with your own eyes we never mentioned - I think - the language. And if it is mentioned somewhere, I am 100% sure I didn't say it will be the new world language.
It is even impossible for everyone to learn it fluently, as many have already problems with studying english (even though we are confronted with it every time of the day - Television, Adverts and even in our Flemmish language we use a lot of English words - )
At the moment I am studying Chinese, and it takes me 520 hours, just to teach the basics! (520 hours, without the study at home, just the lessons itself, while English only takes 120 hours to get a good basis.)

I am just going to study Chinese because first of all, at the age of 10 I didn't know anything about the economics in the world, I was just interested in the language and the culture. Now since I am studying it, I've become more interested in it, and because I am also very interested in Economics it's just a good choice to study Chinese & Economics.
I know I'll only be able to use this language in China, but which persons doesn't want to negotiate in it's own language?
If you are the CEO of a company, and someone comes to you, trying to sell his/her product, one speaks english the other speaks your language. I think you feel more pleasant when someone talks to you in your own language, it shows respect.
It is just better to know some other languages than just english or french, even though those are the two most spoken languages in this world.

About the loss of USA's sumpremacy I am quite sure, although of course I can't predict the future.
China is the second economic country in the world now, and if it keeps growing like that it will become number 1 sooner or later.
Chinese government tried to slow down the growth of the Chinese Economic down to 10% but how hard they've tried, they still failed.
China has over 1,300 billion people, 3/4 of them live on the countryside, and they all want to share in the richdom of the boom! So I hope you believe me if I say, they have enough laborours.

A lot of people say that it is a stupid mistake from me to study Chinese, because most Chinese people study English, but a friend of mine has lived in China for 1 year too, and he has said to me: "Nathan, I thought it wasn't necessary to study chinese, because Shanghai is the most Western Chinese city in China, so I hoped those Chinese people spoke english. Well I was wrong, it was tough for me to find people who spoke more than just: "hi" "how are you", so don't make the same mistake as I do, and learn some chinese before you go to China."

~ Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another. ~

Of course you have every right to study Chinese and pursue your own dreams, I wasn't trying to prove you wrong nor was I implying you were saying Chinese is the language of the future, I was just refuting the widely spread premise, heard everywhere these days, that we all are supposed to study Chinese because "it's the future".

China is not the second economy in the world. According to the International Monetary Fund statistics, China has the fourth biggest Gross Domestic Product (2,644,642 $), after the USA (13,194,700 $), Japan (4,366,459 $), and Germany (2,915,867 $). And the European Union all united's is even bigger than the USA's (14,609,836 $). That is only about the GDP, let alone the Per Capita Income, at which China was 82th in the world (according to the IMF). Of course you can use the Purchasing Power Parity theory to assert that China is the second economy in the world, but that's a fictitious and biased comparison.

If you intend to fall in love with China and work over there or be working in tight contact with China, you should learn Chinese. Otherwise, you should improve your English at your best as it is used almost everywhere in Economics.

But, more than anything else, focus on becoming the best Economist of your University, because one thing is what you expect from life and a very different thing is where life makes you end up. You'll tell me when you are in your thirties.

I don't really get what you try to say in the last paragraph.
Do you mean that you cannot choose your life? I mean, that you can't change your fate, how hard you try? Or am I totally wrong?

if I think I understand it, then I can say one thing. Yes I know that I can't change my future, my fate. But I can make the best of it, right? That is why I am going for 2 diplomas at university. It will take me 8 years to get those 2 diplomas, but then I'll have a degree as an interpreter for English - French & Chinese.
When I am going to go for my Management degree, I'll get a third language of choice, which will probably be Spanish. Then I'll speak 6 languages fluently + German, which I didn't master at university, but I did get a good basis on highschool and we use it quite a lot here in Belgium, because it's one of our three national languages.

Now back to China, about the Per Capita Income. You cannot expect from a country to have a fair income for everyone, when your population is between 15% - 20% of the worldpopulation.
China is quite new in the world of Economics, and they can't give everyone in ten years, the loan of an average European engineer.

Only about 10%-15% of the Chinese population makes a profit of this "Boom", but the Chinese people aren't stupid and they are willing to work hard for a bit more richdom, and big companies & multinationals are making a great profit of it, there is enough people to work, because they really want to share in the wealth.
Here in Europe, and in the USA there are people who are just to lazy to work, because here we've got Social Services.
If I can give one example; in Flanders (Belgium) the unemployment rate is about 6%, in Wallonie it is about 3 times that much. It is true that in Wallonie there is not enough job for everyone, but in Flanders there are over 200,000 jobs free.
The French part of Belgium, sorry if someone of Wallonie reads this, I don't want to offend the people who work, and have a good job, is just becoming too lazy, because the dutch part pays up to 13 billion euros every year to Wallonie.
The use of that money is to build up a new industry, so there is enough job for everyone, but you know what happens with the money given?
Well, they use it for the social services, they give the cash to unemployed people.
In Wallonie you've got 4 or 5 generations that have never worked in their entire life, is it just me that thinks this is inappropriate?

That is the difference between us, the Western World and the third world countries.
We are becoming more lazy, of course not everyone and certainly not the main part but as I said, the Western Society is becoming more lazy and is getting richer, while the poor people in Africa, China, India, really want to work for their money but barely get chances.


~ Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another. ~

hi nathin what u decide about languages?

you know i try to learn some languages i know just enghlish but the others its difficult to learn for me cuse i cont travel to learn languages and the bock its not useful and its need teacher and no one know just enghlish,so if u were in my place what u will do?

and if u need help in arabic i am here,goodluck