Why Learn Chinese - Minneapolis Public Schools



-----------------------

[pic] Why Learn Chinese? [pic]

• Over one billion people speak Chinese - one out of every five people in the world.

• China’s emergence as a major player in the world has created a need for greater understanding and successful communication.

• Chinese language is the key to the accumulated knowledge and experience of a civilization that is more than 6000 years old - one the world’s oldest and richest cultures.

• Chinese is considered a "critical language" for more Americans to learn because of the U.S. national interests in the dynamic global community of the 21st century.

• China has the world’s largest population and the fastest growing economy and holds great potential as a market for U.S. goods.

• Mandarin Chinese is the common, official language spoken by 2/3 of the Chinese population and as one of the daily languages of Taiwan, Singapore, and overseas Chinese communities.

• There are 867.2 million Mandarin speakers in the world, making it the world’s most commonly spoken language.

• The sound system of Mandarin Chinese includes four tones and about 405 basic syllables. Chinese written characters are formed by a combination of strokes written in a prescribed order to communicate ideas and words meanings.

• About 3000 Chinese characters are in common use and the largest Chinese dictionaries include over 50,000 characters.

• There are two different sets of characters (traditional and simplified) in written Chinese and differences between spoken and written Chinese. Chinese is pictographic calligraphy is a form of art.

• It’s a good idea to start learning Chinese early and to continue a long sequence that will lead to proficiency in the language.

Sources:

1. National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project. Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century.

1999. Allen Press, Inc. Lawrence, KS

2. Photo images:



[pic]

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download