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Rob_Hugo@PortNWThe PBS Lehrer News Hour is running a series titled "China Rising" over the next couple of weeks. Paul Solomon, their business correspondent and a highly engaging reporter, presents the series. Part I was titled "The Boom". Here are a few facts and figures from that program. China now has the most populous and fastest growing economy the world has ever seen; since the 1970's their economic growth rate has doubled every 8 years and the populace has 10 times the purchasing power of 25 years ago. The old(Tai Chi in the park, calligraphy) can still be seen, but it is rapidly being replaced by a bustling, high-rise ultra-modern look. Because of the abundance of cheap labor ($.80/hour for construction and $1.25/hour for manufacturing), builders work around the clock in 3 shifts. Today Chiina has 47 cities with 1 million or more people; by comparison the U.S. has 9. The passion to be "on top" reigns with great enthusiasm among the young. International investors are everywhere in China; however, there are drawbacks: How do you innovate in a repressive culture? Investing where there is much corruption is risky. The opportunity for gridlock and massive pollution looms. Fascinating program. You can view this online at PBS.com; Lehrer Newshour; China Rising or Paul Solomon. Cheryl Tchir
AnonymousIn recent news in Korea, there have been numerous news reports of Chinese agricultural products deemed to have high level of toxic materials. :@ High level of lead in Chinese made Kim-Chi has caused Korean government to issue health warnings throughout Korea. Many of the Korean restaurants use Chinese Kim-Chi because it is cheaper to use Chinese Kim-Chi than to use Korean homemade Kim-Chi.
clay dubeHi Folks -- Jay reports on news articles concerning Chinese kimchi in Korea. Here are some examples:
Asia Times Online Sept. 29, 2005
I found these articles via a Google News search.
I think this discussion would be of general interest and could go on in the Asia on My Mind forum.
AnonymousHere's an interesting article in the New York Times regarding the explosion of American students learning Chinese.
CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese flag hang from the wall.
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Kenneth Dickerman for The New York Times
Students in Hong Wei Yu's Chinese class at Alcott Elementary School on the North Side of Chicago.
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Forum: Contemporary Education
Kenneth Dickerman for The New York Times
A pupil at Alcott learns that the Mandarin word "dian" means "point," or "dot'" or "bit."
One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students are already choosing it over Spanish.
"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."
With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments, schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention one of its most difficult to learn.
Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.
"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we can."
The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10 years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language Institute in Washington.
"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr. McGinnis said.
"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."
Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or on weekends.
The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public schools during the regular school day and primarily serves students who are not of Chinese descent.
Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the competition.
"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley said. "There will be Chinese and English."
From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to the school system last year.
The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.
"They have a great international experience right in their own classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet on an equal playing field."
Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the institute says.
Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before deciding whether to take the class.
"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she told her daughter.
Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite class.
At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without occasional frustration.
"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.
Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.
"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn as many languages as I can."
Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like that," Ms. Freire said.
Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking time from classes like physical education, music and art to make room.
Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.
"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified because of that missing certification," he said.
The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States, said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia Society in New York.
Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.
"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our own."
I guess we are on that list of SoCal "homegrown own":}
AnonymousA very interesting and perfect article for our class to discuss. I thought it was wonderful that students in these schools are given the opportunity to learn Chinese. These participating schools seem to reiterate the message of what we are learning in our own class of how important China is/will be in the future in the world sphere. It reminds me of a few years back (maybe 2001-ish) how emphasis was being put on the learning of Arabic because of the impact of issues/situations in the middle east are affecting America. Yet I'm not sure how many school districts are offering Arabic in 2005.
In addition, the teaching training aspect of these programs are a very curious thing to me. Are these teachers majoring in Chinese? Is that their specific subject area? Are they getting a supplement? One trip to China is definitely an eye-opener but what are the specific requirements for a teacher to teach 40min./4 days a week in that school district?
One final comment about this article was the pull-out time being used to fit the Chinese language program in. There is so much to teach in so many subject areas, how do they choose? PE? Most of us are probably aware that PE usually gets the short end of the stick and is the first choice for a pull-out for anything (special programs, rsp, school pictures,etc. ). Not even being a PE teacher I see this happen all the time and it's a concern. Where do our administrators make the choices and where do they draw the line - worst case scenario: with a bunch of obese/unhealthy Chinese speaking students? An extreme thought but I'm sure you can catch the drift of this off the wall example. I think this program in the article and others like it sound great but do other programs have to suffer to make it happen? Maybe this is one of the many tough issues facing our profession these days.
AnonymousI watched the final in Paul Solomon's series, "China Rising" on Friday evening, and was struck by how similar Communist Chinese government techniques are to those of the Legalists. The Legalilsts proclaim that people are basically bad and not to be trusted. Therefore, they need to be spied upon and monitored closely so that they do not drift from the officially proclaimed path. Solomon noted that all of his internet access and e-mails were monitored by the government and he needed to have government minders with him throughout his journey. In one portion of this segment, Solomon spoke with some prople about why the young Chinese are reluctant to speak out against the government's repression and control. Lee ssaid "It's like the anaconda in the chandelier. It might never come out, but you can feel it. Some say the anaconda is communism, but it's not. It is very very Chinese. One does not question authority It's Chinese Confucianism." To this, Solomon said, but I thought Confucianism was a positive influence -- respect for elders and all. Lee replied that Confucianism emphasizes that one does not question authority in the family or in the government. These philosophies are indeed far-reaching. Perhaps showing clips from this program along with the study of Legalism and Confucianism could bring the point home that these philosophies still live in China. [Edit by="ctchir on Oct 16, 7:33:31 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousFor an interesting article on contemporary art in Shanghai, see the Sunday Calender edition of the LA Times, page 44 and 45. MOCA Shanghai is up and running!
AnonymousThis would be a terrific series to show the new Career Development class (CDRO) for Freshmen. Could you let me know how I can obtain a copy of the show? This is the first year for this new class (replaced the TCE, which focused on computer applications) and I am on the curriculum writing committee. A series such as this one would be fabulous to show during the unit on global market trends.
I'll check out PBS.com
clay dubeHere's the link to the LA Times story that Darlene referred to:
AnonymousI recently saw a terrific movie about spirits that may be of interest to many that are watching "ghost stories" for All Souls Eve...it is entitled 'Rogue'. Mind you, it is not at all appropriate for minors, as it involves opium, and sex with ghosts (a common theme in Chinese ghost stories...and hey, at least it's not Pu Songling, and fox spirit intercourse with men).
Here's a link to check it out:
http://www.dianying.com/cgi-bin/titleen.cgi?yzk1987
You can get it at Netflix. If you don't have Netflix, and you are still trudging to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video, get a clue! Here's a link-
http://www.netflix.com/Register
Cheaper, more practical, like the Vonage deal...you do the math.
Anyway, this film is one of the best I have seen in this genre. And the lead is outrageously beautiful!!!
Sadly, she recently died of breast cancer at forty years of age.
AnonymousThe Chinese have decided to develop their own " computer game" for the kids to play instead of the games that are coming out of "foreign" countries. They are saying the outside games are promoting suicide, etc. The new state government game promotes those values that the Chinese Communists holds dear, such as loyalty to the state, etc. Kids who have played it say it is boring, and will do nothing to stop the "foreign" games from flourishing.
AnonymousThere is an excellent artice in todays L.A. Times 11/14 (Business section), page 1, regarding why China needs California. One of the quotes I found especially interesting: "This is an opportunity for California...It needs to be at the vanguard of reaching out to China on behalf of America." Keep in mind that in terms of economic output, China is the 7th largest, and California is 8th.
Anonymousif you don't have the time or the eye speed to read China Inc. by Fishman, here is a nice feature on NPR. The book is fascinating, and as it relates to $, many of your mercenary students will love it!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4497020
Anonymousnot immediate application, but perhaps this will have a great impact. South Korea and North Korea have stated that a 'unification baby' has been born. YIKES
N. Korea celebrating 'unification baby'
S. Korean's child entered the world via Pyongyang
By Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times | November 20, 2005
PYONGYANG, North Korea -- While watching child gymnasts tumbling in unison across the field of Kim Il Sung Stadium in a performance heralding the miracle of the North Korean economy, Hwang Seon felt a sharp cramp in her abdomen.
Within minutes, the 32-year-old South Korean tourist was whisked by ambulance across town to Pyongyang's maternity hospital. There, doctors delivered a 7-pound, 6-ounce girl who has become an instant celebrity and rare source of optimism in this often-forlorn North Korean capital.
The newborn is the first baby born in the north as a South Korean citizen. Her birth on Oct. 10 has been hailed as a mystical sign that the half-century long division of the Korean peninsula is coming to an end.
''Our precious unification baby girl," is how North Korea's official KCNA news put it.
Hwang, who was more than eight months' pregnant when she traveled to North Korea, spent two weeks recuperating in the maternity hospital, where she was treated without charge to around-the-clock nursing care. Her meals included seaweed soup, a Korean traditional postpartum treatment.
North Koreans suggested naming the baby ''Tongil," or reunification; but as that sounded like a boy's name, the parents instead opted for ''Kyoreh," meaning one people.
''Everybody said her birth was a lucky omen for the Korean people," explained Hwang, a left-wing political activist who favors rapprochement with the North.
Hwang and her daughter are the best-known South Koreans to have spent time in Pyongyang lately. From late September until earlier this month, visitors from the South came in unprecedented numbers to view mass games marking the 60th anniversary of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party.
During the month of October, 7,203 South Koreans flew to North Korea on nearly 100 nonstop flights connecting the estranged neighbors.
For the first time, planes of South Korea's leading carriers, Korea Air and Asiana Air, became regular sights on the tarmac of Pyongyang's seldom-visited Sunam airport. North Korea's national carrier, Air Koryo, was reciprocally a frequent visitor to Incheon, South Korea. In the past, there have been only occasional charter flights between the airports for special events.
The South Koreans were not permitted to go out unescorted and had to wear large name-tags around their necks identifying themselves. While North Koreans trudged through the empty boulevards on foot, the South Koreans were transported in fancy tour buses, some of which sported color television monitors and video recorders.
At one point, a disoriented man in his 80s, born north of the border, tried to wander out of a Pyongyang hotel in search of his home village, but was blocked by a courteous but insistent North Korean doorman, according to a South Korean visitor who witnessed the encounter.
The mass games were blatantly designed to tug at the heartstrings of South Koreans. Named ''Arirang" after a popular Korean folk song, the program was replete with sentimental tunes and operatic skits about separated families reaching for one another across barbed wire. The show used more than 100,000 performers, many of them holding colored cards to make up intricate human mosaics in the backdrop.
Keeping on message, the finale used a backdrop of doves with a message: ''The last wish of the father [referring to the late North Korean founder Kim Il Sung] is reunification of the fatherland."
When North Koreans speak of reunification, their meaning is radically different from what Americans might think in recalling the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the absorption of the communist east by West Germany. Instead, the North Koreans describe a loose confederation into which their nation would keep its own system of government while receiving massive economic aid from the south.
''We don't want what happened in Germany," said tour guide Pak Gyong Nam. ''We would be one country, but two governments.
''If Korea is reunified," he continued, ''South Korea will bring in technology and investment. We have great confidence in the future."
© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
AnonymousAn article posted on NPR.org, called "Western Architects Push the Envelope in Beijing", is interesting. The article explains how many of the new prominent urban buildings are being designed by Western architects. Interestingly enough, the article's writer calls this phenomenon a case of "future shock" for the ancient city. Is the writer implying that Western ways are the way of the future? Or is it a comment on the modern styles of these buildings? NPR.org, by the way, is a great source for short essays (mostly on contemporary society) to share with your students. Check it out.