Spring Break
Learning your ABCs
in a language
with no As, Bs or Cs
Subtly Obvious
Sarah Kyo
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Opinion
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According to the article, which was published on May 9, 2005, there were 24,000 students in seventh through 12th grade who studied Chinese. In 2007, College Board, which organizes advanced placement exams for high school students to earn college credit, began providing Chinese language exams in 2,400 schools.
While the article focused on K-12 students, there have definitely been developments in higher education when it comes learning Chinese. According to a study conducted by the Modern Language Association, 51,582 college students were enrolled in Chinese language courses in fall 2006. This was a 51 percent increase from 2002.
When I read this Newsweek article for an English writing class three years ago, little did I know that I would eventually be studying this Asian language.
Mind you, I have been immersed in the English language, and for the most part, it has pretty much been my only language throughout my life. When I was in high school, though, I did have the opportunity to learn Spanish, French, German, Japanese or American Sign Language. I selected Spanish because of the prominence of Latin American cultural influences and people in the United States, not to mention I could learn to roll my R's with my tongue.
After four years and not too much practice since high school graduation, I can only speak un poquito. Definitely need to brush up on those language skills. However, I do know how to ask where the restroom is (That's important, right?). Oh, and I finally do know how to roll my R's - sort of.
The Chinese language, though, has totally been foreign to me in its sound and appearance, though I do know many people, including relatives, who speak the language. All in all, it seemed intimidating to me, and yet, now I'm giving it a go.
On the first day of my beginning Chinese class last week, people shared different reasons for studying the language, including communication with Chinese speakers and travels to China someday.
These could potentially be my reasons. Also, the fact that I'm required to learn an Asian language as part of my minor sure does force things along. There is more to it than that, though.
China has become and is becoming more prominent in the economic, political and social realms at a worldwide scale, as shown by its recent hosting of the Summer Olympic Games. In a world where countries are interacting with one another and are interdependent, penetrating these realms, learning another language and gaining a better understanding of other cultures is important.
On the second day of class, we started learning the very basics of syllables made up of Roman letters: the pinyin system.
Ah, the familiar letters from my childhood. On the surface, they seemed like familiar things to grasp onto, but let's just say that looks can be deceiving.
The spoken Chinese language consists of different sounds with different sounds and inflections. The same pair of letters can represent two totally different words, depending on the tone.
I was telling an exchange student from Hong Kong who was familiar with the Chinese dialects Mandarin and Cantonese about learning these syllables, and she said she had to learn them too - as a child.
Easy as 1,2,3, as the Jackson 5 would sing, in this case.
Or, in her case, easy as yi, èr, san.
But, hey, you have to start somewhere. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was the Great Wall of China. I'm still optimistic about the future.
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