Thinking Of The Future, Or Preferring To Be Wed To The Past

[originally transmitted to Elwood Community Network on 10/28]

There was an excellent article in the Financial Times, a newspaper known to anyone in either the business or academic communities involved in international markets and global understanding.

The subject was the increase in teaching of Mandarin Chinese (which is the predominant dialect of the many in China, and the official state language) in Europe and the United States. Not many Americans are unaware of the increasing economic power of China, and there are always advantages in being fluent, or at least conversant, in the power languages of the future.

One paragraph of the author's story was particularly telling about our country:

"In 1997, about one in 300 US elementary schools taught Mandarin; by 2008 the figure was close to one in 30, according to the latest statistics compiled by the Center for Applied Linguistics. The rise is reflected in the number of students sitting SAT II standardised tests, up 50 per cent since 2001; Advanced Placement programmes run by the College Board have grown by more than 2.5 times."

Whenever you think of doing the best for not only your kids, but for that generation and the generations to come, try to envision what will give them -- and our nation -- the greatest advantage in the future.

Try not to be mentally mired in the past, or somehow imagine that "an education" is "the right education."

Our kids and our grandkids will benefit most from a geopolitical understanding, from a deep knowledge of history and economics, from a mastery of intensive math and science subjects, and from the ability to speak Mandarin Chinese and other emerging languages of "the next generation."

There is a time to recognize that more traditional European languages, while good to know, and while comfortable to some parents because that was what they studied or what their own parents or grandparents spoke, are not truly necessary and should only be an ancillary experience after learning Mandarin Chinese.

Time is not on our side, and state education departments are frequently uninspired and often mentally stagnant.

The entire article has more information about European attitudes on the matter as well as the challenges in establishing the teaching network. You can read this article on the Financial Times website; you do need to register, but is free:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/73c7e4c8-e527-11e0-bdb8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1c2a6YC1S