Chinese Language is Difficult but Rewarding

This article was interesting and I agree with the idea of learning Chinese because of its importance and difficulty. After reading, I got to thinking, what other languages are becoming increasingly important in the world? I personally think that Hindi is also going to be playing a greater role right alongside China as the two economies become even more prosperous. Other than that, though, I don't know what would be important to learn.

Another interesting aspect of the article was that students who major in Chinese also major mostly in business. Other majors/minors include engineering, medicine, law, and the military. I personally wonder how business is going to progress as China plays a greater role in the global economy. Will business start to take place more in Chinese? Will it stay in English, for the most part, and have Chinese fluency necessary for other communicative purposes. What role will the U.S. play if it becomes the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th most powerful nation economically?

One final point of interest is that many of the best speakers are those that are the most motivated to learn. Because it is such a difficult language, many of the teachers say that it really doesn't matter if your aptitude to learn the language is greater. This is an interesting aspect of the conversation that occurred in class. When talking about learning languages, I think it is interesting to note that a student's motivation may be the most critical factor vs. presentation of the material. While we may find differences based on how the material is presented, it seems the highest correlating factor is motivation.

Overall, it was a good article that raised many questions.

Original Article: http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/66608