May 18 2009
Chinese Language Next Required Course?
There is a scene from the 2009 season finale of “Desperate Housewives” where Lynette’s husband plans to return to college to study the Chinese Language to better position himself as a “marketing” executive.
How times have changed just during my lifetime! When I was in high school, most kids studied German and Spanish and French. Russian Language studies were not even offered in high school (where I went). Then, American universities began to promote Russian as the language skill most needed for the diplomatic corps and the military service. Russian History was a big deal where I went to college, and there were several different courses offered. Yes, the Russians were Coming, the Russians were Coming!
Fast forward thirty years and the Soviet Union is defunct, the Russian Federation sounds like something fictional from Star Trek and Russia is allied with the West (well, almost). The new Power player in World Politics, World Economics, and World Olympics is CHINESE!
A friend of mine graduated in Business with a minor in French. He is unemployed, (for now).
One of my sons works in retail. He showed me how nearly every clothing product in his sporting goods store was made in China. So, the Desperate Housewives story line is right on the mark.
We live in a different world than I grew up with in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In a way, I miss the good old days of the Cold War and the KGB. What great fiction it made!
To many Americans, me included, China seems even more foreign than Russia. The people look different. They eat different food. They have different social customs and manners. They use a different way of writing. We have much to learn about them. Language is just the beginning.
