Nessquick:

not only there bro, maybe will be needed everywhere around the globe.

GuilinRaf:

I know we will need it in the States....

Shining_brow:

Don't worry Scandi, we don't take it personally.

It's one thing to teach a language, it's entirely another to bother to learn it! And, for the most part, they don't bother to learn.... There's only so much you can do in a classroom for a few hours a week.

Scandinavian:

S_Brow, now you went and did it, you have hurt all of China. But yes, I do recognize that even the best teachers cannot do anything if the students are not motivated to learn or the environment is not geared for it. 

philbravery:

who voted her in ?

I have yet to meet anybody that will own up to that crime

Traveler:

But see, Mike, the advantage of the voting system over a dictatorship is that in September, we can vote her out if we don't like the job she's doing.

In China, Jiang Zemin just tries to assassinate leaders he doesn't agree with, because otherwise China is stuck with them for ten years.

www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/news-of-assassination-attempt-on-chinese-leader-uncensored-232529.html

Xi Jinping should be very worried. Or maybe Jiang should be...

mike168229:

Coming from a wonderful democracy as I do (U.K), I love the fact that we don't have to assassinate people to get a regime change. However, sometimes, a little shot to the head might have done some good. (George W anyone?).

Traveler:

While it is true that the people of most countries learn a second language, that second language is normally English, or one of the other "world languages." The world languages are those that are spoken across continents - English, Spanish, French, Russian and Arabic.

The UN bowed to political pressure from China to classify Chinese as a world language, even though it is not a major language in any country outside Asia (it isn't cross-continental). The International Olympics Committee, and most other international institutions, refused to bow to China's pressure to recognise Chinese as a world language.

Scandinavian:

It probably doesn't matter what the second language is. The positive aspects of opening up a childs mind to the fact that the world is bigger than what is right outside the windows. As I come from a very small country my native language is pointless seen from a world perspective, still there are universities in China that teach it (I think two) but more to the fact, coming from a small language, learning English as second language is a matter of survival, learning a third language is a matter of general education and when done at high school level (with my teacher) also includes significant introduction to the culture of that language. 

BHGAL:

I studied French, in Canada (BC) for 5 years (grade 8-12) as an option .....  took it cause it was easy for me........................  nowadays, I can usually read a cereal box in French or English ........  my  oral Chinese is probably on a par with my French ....  can't read/write any Chinese.

I pressured my 20 y.o. son to study a second language, in high school. Asian language or Spanish........  he chose Spanish and did well in the courses.....  Now he's contemplating coming to live off Dad in China for a while...... hindsight is such a wonderful view.

I believe a second language is very useful, and the basics can be learned easier when you start younger..................  NO, Australia should not adopt Chinese as a mandatory language learning experience or as an official language.

China is in the process of changing to English..... hurry up China!!!

RRoy:

Agreed! 

RRoy:

but just to piss off the Chinese gov, we should force them to all learn Japanese haha