South Koreans rush into Chinese classes

[dArKeR]

Yeo Ji-eun once felt that the English and Japanese classes she struggled through were enough to land a good job. Now, the 24-year-old electronics worker is in a crash course on the language of a country South Koreans once considered backward: China.

"I realized I've got to study Chinese these days. No matter which country you work in, no matter which company you work for, you have to think about doing business with China," said Yeo, who takes twice-a-week Chinese classes offered by a local government.

With China surpassing the US as South Korea's largest trading partner and the ever-tightening domestic job market, young South Koreans are rushing to master Chinese as the new language of the future.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/03/10/2003245648

I wonder how many Americans would study Chinese if offered free lessons?

[latteromden]

1. Very interesting, and also true in the US. I study Chinese along with

a few other languages, because I'm well aware that Chinese is a very useful thing to know when looking for a job. I doubt many Americans would study it, though - the "English is the only language the world should speak" mindset.

[Old and In the Way]

2. I want my kids to learn it.

Regardless of what they want to do, it would be a great life skill to learn the most popular language of the world.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. I doubt that most Americans would take such an opportunity

They'd point to all the Chinese students studying English as evidence that they don't need to learn Chinese. Of course, they don't realize that such students are only a tiny percentage of China's population and that older people and the majority who never make it past elementary school don't study English.

[teryang]

4. Correct me if I'm wrong

But language ability is secondary to social position. In Korea as in the US. An interpreter is a social afterthought, who blends in with the woodwork.

Is this not the case in China? If one has a corporate bankroll to invest or purchase with, the interpreters will find you.

I don't say this in a chauvinistic sense. I found this to be the case when I was in Asia.

I used to think of language study a la lawrence or Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, but really the study is a reward in itself and doesn't necessarily forshadow a bright or prosperous future.

If you study for the money, I think you will be dissappointed, unless you are connected already, in which case it certainly would come in handy.

Those who succeed in the transcultural exchange world are those who learned the language during childhood, the natural way. This sort of learning is fortuitous.