Let the Negativity Begin!

It didn’t take long for the Moaning Minnies to pop up and say the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper will never work.
Opinions in the media are easy to find.
Here is a sample of  a collection of very dodgy language myths and falsehoods;

“..anyone over the age of 12, the intonations, grammar, sentence structures and colloquialisms of another language seem like an Everest to master.”

Many students really enjoy the challenge of learning another language. Learning a foreign language allows the development of higher order thinking skills.

Bilingualism and second language learning can be acquired at anytime in life. It has much more to do with motivation and perseverance rather than when you start learning.

Have a listen to this.  Your Fabulous Bilingual Brain! Radio National – All in the mind

“In the past, for English speakers, it's been relatively easy to learn a foreign language.”

There is no ‘easy’ way to learn a foreign language.  Otherwise those “Learn Language X in 10 minutes a day” books and audio would really work. Learning any foreign language has ‘swings and roundabouts’ in the cycle of learning.

“Business people who travel from Shanghai to Singapore, or from Tokyo to Taipei will tell you time and again that unless you're on the pointy end of trade, people in Asia won't want you to practise your dodgy local language skills on them: they want to practise their YouTube versions of English on you.”

So you are saying our “Business People” only speak dodgy foreign languages? I am sure they would be delighted to hear this.  Perhaps that is why a White Paper has been published so that we can educate our future “Business People” so that they can learn better than dodgy language skills.

Also explain why is it ok for an Asian business person to practice their English (apparently they only use YouTube to learn English) on our Business people? Yet we can not practice our foreign language skills with them.

“But Chinese and Japanese both use different alphabets and very subtle juxtaposition of symbols to create nuances in their written languages.”

1. Chinese and Japanese both have a non-alphabetic scripts
2. Chinese word order is quite strict (there is less flexibility with word order compared to English).
3. Nuances in written language is not peculiar to Chinese and Japanese.  All languages have this.

“This subtlety also extends to the tonal nature of their pronunciation and vocabulary, where it's much easier to make mistakes than in the European languages.”

• Japanese is not a tonal language.
• Hindi is not a tonal language.
• Indonesian is not a tonal language.
• Yes Chinese is a tonal language.

So three out of four of the languages in the White Paper are not tonal languages.

“That is why high school students drop out of Asian languages - if offered - at a high rate. They're just too hard. ”

Too hard for you perhaps!
However, in my humble opinion the drop out rate has more to do with how the language is delivered or presented to out Ozzie students.  “If you build it they will come”, give our students an attractive, exciting and rich learning experiences in the language classroom and they succeed in language learning.

So now that I have dispelled all the farcical nonsense from this (in my humble opinion) very poorly written article. Which is full of broad language learning  generalisations and lacking in factual details.
Lost in translation - why Gillard's plan won't work
It would be nice if there was not such bias against a new idea (learn an Asian language in school) and that at least we could try it. Better than clinging to (and publishing) old out-dated myths about language learning.

I now have a crusade to go and find more of these badly written and false pieces of writing about LOTE and set the Ozzie world right.

Chinese Indonesians come full circle

Meanwhile in Indonesia....

Chinese Indonesians come full circle

It is incredible to think that Chinese language was banned discouraged  from 1967–1998 in Indonesia. Expressions of Chinese culture through language, religion, and traditional festivals were banned.

 "The Soeharto regime urged citizens of Chinese descent to take on Indonesian names to prove their loyalty, closed Chinese schools and imposed curbs on celebrating the culture and the learning of Mandarin.

It was only three decades later, following the riots that toppled President Suharto, that these policies were reversed.

Fourteen years on, many Chinese Indonesians are using Mandarin names and learning the language. Chinese schools, newspapers and community organizations are flourishing once more."

Chinese Indonesians come full circle

Is Sydney doing enough to attract Chinese tourists?

It seems that some in the tourism industry are preparing and encouraging Chinese tourism and business tours by having staff learn Chinese language and culture.   Is it worthwhile doing this? It is!

"...events estimated to be worth more than $90 million to the NSW economy. These events will attract about 18,500 visitors who will spend a combined 91,700 days in Sydney. About one in three of the events is from China."

"Sydney's events and tourism industry is making efforts to become ''China ready''. An increasing number of hotels, attractions and suppliers are providing Chinese language or cultural study lessons for staff, integrating Chinese language tours into their programs and rethinking menu and media options."

"On the supply side, we are working closely with industry partners to improve cultural awareness, language skills and support to service visitors' needs better."

Is Sydney doing enough to attract Chinese tourists?

Chinese lesson Australians must learn

Found this article which outlines some of the cultural ways of doing business with Chinese.  Chinese lesson Australians must learn

Highlights from the article;

"...in China, “yes” does not necessarily mean yes, contracts aren’t always binding and sharing a meal and booze with your Chinese counterpart doesn’t make you his best new mate."

"There is more to business in China than just dollars and cents."

"Relationships are key in China, but it takes time to build trust."

"“Confucianism puts emphasis on guanxi,” says Chen. “To maintain a good relationship is important to work efficiently in China."

From The Australian Financial Review - ROBERT GUY



Chinese lesson Australians must learn

Asian language 'vital for syllabus'

"ASIAN languages should be compulsory for every school student because many will go on to work in Asia's fast-growing economies, says the accounting body CPA Australia."

This article in the Australian highlights some of the recommendations of the CPA an accounting body in Australia. At present there are only 300 (non background speakers) year 12 students studying Mandarin in our senior schools across the nation. The article states that learning an is vital to engage with Asia now and in the  future. 

Melbourne University's Joe Lo Bianco, an expert in language education is calling for a more moderate approach to the national curriculum with an emphasis on language learning. Lo Bianco recommends a gradual build up of language teachers and quality programs.

Asian language 'vital for syllabus' | Story & Education Stories | The Australian