Chinese most popular foreign language for Thai students - The Nation

Chinese most popular foreign language for Thai students 

"Chinese has become the most popular foreign language among Thai students, according to a top education official.

Almost 300,000 students at 700 schools administered by the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) study Chinese, said Usanee Watanapan, deputy director of the Bureau of Academic Affairs and Educational Standards at Obec."

Meanwhile in Thailand

'via Blog this'

Feed your brain with Chinese Vocabulary

I have written about some of the features of MDBG in a previous post. MDBG also has a Web 2.0 feature of delivering Chinese vocabulary to you. This feed feature can be found here. MDBG Vocabulary Web Feeds. You can subscribe for all six levels or just one or two levels of HSK vocabulary feeds. I find this useful to learn and revise vocabulary. Try it and let me know via comments what you think.

MDBG Feeds

Call to drop Chinese lessons for Year 12 | The Australian

There has been a call to drop Chinese lessons for Year 12 students.

This is a radical idea. Many good points are made in this article. These include;

• Students should give up competing with Chinese background speakers
• Teach Chinese only up to a year 10 level while interest in the subject remains strong
• Re-engage these learners to study Chinese at a tertiary level
• Clumsy system streaming of students needs to change
• Universities need to look to be flexible if the secondary students stopped learning at year 10.

All very interesting and adding to the Chinese language education debate / discussion in Australia. Call to drop Chinese lessons for Year 12 | The Australian:

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Rudd's latest game of Chinese whispers: join Weibo

"Australia's former prime minister Kevin Rudd has rekindled his love affair with China by embracing the popular Chinese social media site, Weibo."

Read more: Rudd's latest game of Chinese whispers: join Weibo:

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Chinese language education taking off in Turkey’s universities

Meanwhile in Turkey.

"Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent visit to China signifies that Chinese-Turkish relations have entered a honeymoon period, according to numerous media reports.

With strategic and economic ties booming between the two countries, studying Chinese language is becoming a growing trend in Turkey’s universities."
Read more
Chinese language education taking off in Turkey’s universities

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Australia has dropped the ball on Asian languages

"Australia has dropped the ball on Asian languages"

This article echoes yesterday post Speaking their language prudent lesson in new history

Kevin Rudd says Australia has to lift its game to reverse declining student enrolments in Asian languages "if we are to secure our future in this century of the Asia-Pacific".

The Queensland backbencher foreshadowed speaking about the issue of Asian language take-up at greater length throughout the year.

Aust failing on Asian languages: Rudd

The government has implemented compulsory Chinese language classes for all schoolchildren as of 2013

Speaking their language prudent lesson in new history

School students should learn languages like Chinese, not Latin argues Eddie McGuire. This is an interesting and provocative news article that highlights many of the problems with learning Mandarin in Australia. 

The Pakistan government has implemented compulsory Chinese lesson for school children, while the Australian government produces reports on language. 

Below is one of the best observations that I have read.

"If we are fair dinkum at all about building an educated workforce that can do something other than work in an Asian quarry, then a system that trains teachers first, then the kids, needs to implemented - and pronto."

Read the full article  Speaking their language prudent lesson in new history

Chinese Language in the Early Grades

A free e-book from the Asia Society called Chinese Language Learning in the Early Grades is available for download from today. The book contains resources and best practices for immersion programmes for Mandarin. There are now over 70 Mandarin and Cantonese immersion programmes across America. Details of the book can be found here Chinese Language Learning in the Early Grades.

8 things about the Confucius Institute

1. The opening of the first Confucius Institute was in Seoul in 2004.
2. China uses culture as a diplomatic platform to enhance its image and project its soft power.
3. China's influence is growing steadily, the thrust for the future is not only to export more goods, but also showcase the life and culture of the nation.
4. China wants to forge greater trust with the world, especially through more cultural exchanges, as it helps build the global image of a peaceful rising power.
5. Confucius Institutes have emerged as China's most successful global brand for promoting Chinese language and culture
6. By the end of last year, there were about 358 Confucius Institutes and 500 Confucius classrooms in five continents, covering 105 countries and regions, with registered students more than 50 million.
7. Students taking classes at the Confucius Institutes feel that learning Chinese also increases their future employment opportunities
8. Confucius Institutes have helped train people in Chinese, which experts believe is also conducive to the expansion of other Chinese culture, particularly literature

From Message and the medium Asiaone News