March 3, 2009
Tesco Chairman Promotes Mandarin Lessons
David Reid, chairman
of Tesco PLC, criticized the U.K. educational system for not teaching enough
Mandarin in its schools. According to Mr. Reid only 10 percent of schools
in the U.K. offer language lessons in Mandarin as part of the curriculum.
According to a report
by The Scotsman, Mr. Reid told an audience at the headquarters of
the Royal Bank of Scotland, "This has to change. The unprecedented
speed and scale of changes in China means the U.K. cannot afford a slow
transformation, as that will deny British young people the support they
need to best prepare them for a future in which China will play a big role."
Mr.
Reid has the support of Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, in seeking
to expand Chinese language and cultural programs. Mr. Brown said in January, "If
we are to make the most of our relationship with China, we need to understand
China better, through our schools, universities, cultural institutions,
our businesses and in government. I am determined to do that."
Discussion Question:
How critical is it for Americans to learn Mandarin for U.S. businesses
to remain competitive in the future? Are there other languages that are
equally or more important for American workers to learn? Is the American
educational system adequately preparing students for an increasingly
global marketplace?
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In a perfect world most Americans would speak English, Spanish, Mandarin and maybe Arabic and Hindi or Erdu. In the real world most Americans have trouble with English. This xenophobic approach to world linguistics may have worked when we had the economic clout to force the rest of the planet to speak English, but it won”t serve us well in a truly global economy.
Most of today’s comments are spot on: English standards in American schools must improve markedly. English will remain the primary language of business for the foreseeable future. However, learning a second language is also a critical skill–not only for working in an increasingly global workplace, but also for learning about world cultures and helping to avoid fundamentalist attitudes.
Mandarin, Hindi, Arabic and Spanish would be the key languages for helping ready our youth for possible international work opportunities–but any of them will do for the purpose of expanding minds and hearts.
While English may be a problem for many of our students that doesn’t mean we should ignore what is going on in the world. With 50% of the traffic on today’s Internet in Chinese, we should all think about including Chinese in the curriculum while we increase standards for English.
Some of the “visionary” school districts in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area have recognized that there are foreign languages other than French and German, and are offering Chinese and Hindi as an option in their curricula for foreign language. This is good start.
In an era where over 50% of the staff in the public school system do not teach and the students fall further behind foreign children every year that they are in school, it is insane to suggest adding non-core courses. In my grand-daughter’s school system they have twelve assistant superintendents and in the usual public blackmail scheme they are eliminating the band teachers rather than the pencil pushing bureaucrats to cut the budget.
The current language of business is English. This is the result of the British Empire and has nothing to do with America.
I have done work all over this planet. The vast majority of senior managers I have worked with understand and speak English. Going down through the organization does require an interpreter. In a Board-of-Director meeting in Russia, the meeting was held in Russian and I was provided translation services, but when I responded to questions, the meeting switched to English.
Since 99% of Americans only are fluent in English, this is just another example of the failure of our education system. Every other country requires students to be fluent in a minimum of one other language and many require two. Does it need to Mandarin? The answer is no. The number of Americans doing direct business with China is actually small. There are more Americans doing business with Spanish-speaking businesses and countries.
The suggestion that governments mandate additional languages in the curriculum is certainly ironical when, on the other hand, some other parts of these governments are erecting barriers to people-to-people contact by making immigration and travel tougher.
I believe youngsters need to know that there is a world beyond their town and the borders of their own country, that other people in the world don’t live the lifestyle that they do, and it is OK to have that diversity. The list of things people are fundamentalist about is too long already–let’s not add language to that list.
We can achieve more security by building friendships than by being unfriendly with neighbors and building (mental or physical) walls to keep them out.
Encouraging foreign languages is a good first step.
If the next generation in the U.S. can’t speak Mandarin, then they can honestly say they just don’t understand when the Chinese call to ask where our debt payment is. Or, I suppose, maybe we could just teach kids to say “the check is in the mail”?
Ryan is right–many Americans have trouble with English. Many of us could use a refresher course on the very basics–when to say “I” vs. “me” or “myself”; when to say “an” vs. “a”; and so on. Oh, and maybe when to say “please” and “thank you” would help, too.
It would be great if we could all learn a second or third language as well. The U.S. is falling behind in a number of areas and this is one of them. At least the U.K. is thinking about this problem.
Students in the US should begin studying foreign languages far earlier than they currently do. In many countries this process begins in early elementary school. In the US, it usually begins in 7th grade.
We have been spoiled in that English has become the universal language of business. This may not always be the case.
Many students in Europe are fluent in at least 2 languages by the time they enter college. We should encourage the same in the US.
Is this a joke? In my opinion, what the schools need to concentrate on is teaching English. The number of non-English speaking immigrants arriving in countries such as Great Britain, Canada and the United States is what’s really slowing down economic growth.
This is just one of many reasons a cab driver may be better educated than most of his customers.
As for China, learning English is becoming the must-have skill for business people.
English is the international language of business. Let’s make sure everyone knows it.
There is no question that American Schools and Universities need to re-look at language studies and de-emphasize traditional languages such as French and German, and place more emphasis on the Mandarin language.
English continues to hold sway over the international world of business and politics, but it would be a mistake to believe that understanding and speaking Mandarin will not become increasingly important over time.
As a global company with offices in China, it is a great wish to promote more use of Mandarin in our schools, but the reality is that it is English which is the language of trade. English is required in all Chinese schools, and all young people are speaking more and more English, in China. Obviously, having another language skill is very important (I also speak French and some German), but none of my peers here have noted that we aren’t pushing for Hindi language teaching (there are almost as many people in India, 1.15B vs China’s 1.3B). I have been traveling to China since 1984, and have seen many changes, including the move to more English, especially when it comes to trade.
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In a perfect world most Americans would speak English, Spanish, Mandarin and maybe Arabic and Hindi or Erdu. In the real world most Americans have trouble with English. This xenophobic approach to world linguistics may have worked when we had the economic clout to force the rest of the planet to speak English, but it won”t serve us well in a truly global economy.
Most of today’s comments are spot on: English standards in American schools must improve markedly. English will remain the primary language of business for the foreseeable future. However, learning a second language is also a critical skill–not only for working in an increasingly global workplace, but also for learning about world cultures and helping to avoid fundamentalist attitudes.
Mandarin, Hindi, Arabic and Spanish would be the key languages for helping ready our youth for possible international work opportunities–but any of them will do for the purpose of expanding minds and hearts.
While English may be a problem for many of our students that doesn’t mean we should ignore what is going on in the world. With 50% of the traffic on today’s Internet in Chinese, we should all think about including Chinese in the curriculum while we increase standards for English.
Some of the “visionary” school districts in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area have recognized that there are foreign languages other than French and German, and are offering Chinese and Hindi as an option in their curricula for foreign language. This is good start.
In an era where over 50% of the staff in the public school system do not teach and the students fall further behind foreign children every year that they are in school, it is insane to suggest adding non-core courses. In my grand-daughter’s school system they have twelve assistant superintendents and in the usual public blackmail scheme they are eliminating the band teachers rather than the pencil pushing bureaucrats to cut the budget.
The current language of business is English. This is the result of the British Empire and has nothing to do with America.
I have done work all over this planet. The vast majority of senior managers I have worked with understand and speak English. Going down through the organization does require an interpreter. In a Board-of-Director meeting in Russia, the meeting was held in Russian and I was provided translation services, but when I responded to questions, the meeting switched to English.
Since 99% of Americans only are fluent in English, this is just another example of the failure of our education system. Every other country requires students to be fluent in a minimum of one other language and many require two. Does it need to Mandarin? The answer is no. The number of Americans doing direct business with China is actually small. There are more Americans doing business with Spanish-speaking businesses and countries.
The suggestion that governments mandate additional languages in the curriculum is certainly ironical when, on the other hand, some other parts of these governments are erecting barriers to people-to-people contact by making immigration and travel tougher.
I believe youngsters need to know that there is a world beyond their town and the borders of their own country, that other people in the world don’t live the lifestyle that they do, and it is OK to have that diversity. The list of things people are fundamentalist about is too long already–let’s not add language to that list.
We can achieve more security by building friendships than by being unfriendly with neighbors and building (mental or physical) walls to keep them out.
Encouraging foreign languages is a good first step.
If the next generation in the U.S. can’t speak Mandarin, then they can honestly say they just don’t understand when the Chinese call to ask where our debt payment is. Or, I suppose, maybe we could just teach kids to say “the check is in the mail”?
Ryan is right–many Americans have trouble with English. Many of us could use a refresher course on the very basics–when to say “I” vs. “me” or “myself”; when to say “an” vs. “a”; and so on. Oh, and maybe when to say “please” and “thank you” would help, too.
It would be great if we could all learn a second or third language as well. The U.S. is falling behind in a number of areas and this is one of them. At least the U.K. is thinking about this problem.
Students in the US should begin studying foreign languages far earlier than they currently do. In many countries this process begins in early elementary school. In the US, it usually begins in 7th grade.
We have been spoiled in that English has become the universal language of business. This may not always be the case.
Many students in Europe are fluent in at least 2 languages by the time they enter college. We should encourage the same in the US.
Is this a joke? In my opinion, what the schools need to concentrate on is teaching English. The number of non-English speaking immigrants arriving in countries such as Great Britain, Canada and the United States is what’s really slowing down economic growth.
This is just one of many reasons a cab driver may be better educated than most of his customers.
As for China, learning English is becoming the must-have skill for business people.
English is the international language of business. Let’s make sure everyone knows it.
There is no question that American Schools and Universities need to re-look at language studies and de-emphasize traditional languages such as French and German, and place more emphasis on the Mandarin language.
English continues to hold sway over the international world of business and politics, but it would be a mistake to believe that understanding and speaking Mandarin will not become increasingly important over time.
As a global company with offices in China, it is a great wish to promote more use of Mandarin in our schools, but the reality is that it is English which is the language of trade. English is required in all Chinese schools, and all young people are speaking more and more English, in China. Obviously, having another language skill is very important (I also speak French and some German), but none of my peers here have noted that we aren’t pushing for Hindi language teaching (there are almost as many people in India, 1.15B vs China’s 1.3B). I have been traveling to China since 1984, and have seen many changes, including the move to more English, especially when it comes to trade.