CCG holds discussion on International Chinese Language Education
On November 30, the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) held an online discussion on international Chinese language education.
Participants include:
David Blair, senior economist and senior columnist of the Alliance of Global Talent Organizations (AGTO);
Denis Fred Simon, Senior Adviser to the President for China Affairs at Duke and Professor of China Business and Technology at Duke's Fuqua School of Business;
Dianjun Wang, former Principal of Tsinghua University High School and head of the International School Chapter of China Association for Non-Government Education;
Henry Huiyao Wang, President of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG);
Mable Lu Miao, Secretary-General of CCG and Secretary-General of the Global Young Leaders Dialogue(GYLD).
Some of the points raised in the discussion:
The Chinese language has become a way for many people to understand Chinese culture, and foreigners proficient in Chinese contribute to a better understanding of China and showing China to the world. Currently, Chinese language education outside China is facing many challenges, particularly due to COVID-19. It is necessary to facilitate opportunities and assistance in teaching the Chinese language to a new generation of young people.
The challenges to international Chinese language education are daunting. The number of Americans learning Chinese in China has declined dramatically. It is necessary to promote international Chinese language education by sharing relevant. Efforts should also be made to attract more foreigners to come to China, learn the language and the culture, and better understand the Chinese people.
Mutual trust is crucial to the prospects of international Chinese language education. At present, there is a great gap between how well the United States understands China and how well China understands the United States, and that gap is frustrating. For individuals, it takes a lot of investment and dedication to truly understand a country in depth. The opportunity to start learning a language should be presented - and expanded - as early as possible.
The teaching of the Chinese language should take advantage of films and television programs as a way to expand the resources available to teachers and students. Non-governmental forces should play a greater role in international Chinese language education.
(Enditem)
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Firstly, I must confess that I did not watch the entire video but was reading through the raised points. With that out of the way, I think a few points should be considered in connection to this discussion about learning Chinese and therefore understanding the culture:
1. Countries such as Saudi Arabia have implemented Chinese as part of its educational system. While that is new, we can only imagine that this would increase in the coming future with more countries (in particular Global South) wanting access to the Chinese market and Chinese technology/manufacturing, I would imagine this trend would organically grow.
2. With the US setting aside budget to "counter Chinese influence" and also the shutting down of the Confucius Institute, would the measures discussed here properly address the actions on the other side?
It is an important step for countries and other cultures to seek to understand each other and I believe this conversation is critical. However, I question how effective the actions would be if the pain points are not properly addressed.