Foreign Language Study in US

choi

本文通过一路BBS站telnet客户端发布

(1) Lisa W Foderaro, Budget-Cutting Colleges Bid Some Languages Adieu;
Chinese and Arabic are muscling out Latin and German on campus. New York
Times, Dec. 5, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/education/05languages.html?scp=5&sq=chinese%20german%20language&st=cse

(2) Tamar Lewin, Colleges See 16% Increase in Study of Sign Language. New
York Times, Dec. 8, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/education/08language.html?scp=1&sq=chinese%20german%20language&st=cse

My comment:
(a) Take a look at the table only.
(b) Elizabeth Weise, More Sign language Students Signal a Shift. USA Today,
Dec. 8, 2010 (title in the print).
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-12-08-1Alanguages08_ST_N.htm

"The Modern Language Association survey found that 8.6% of college students
at schools that teach foreign languages take them.

"ASL has different grammar and structure than English.



--------------------------Separately
Christian Oliver and Kang Buseong, Koreans Try to Bridge Linguistic Divide;
Shared medical and construction needs have provided the impetus. Financial
Times, Dec. 8, 2010 (title in the print).
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5186cd86-022c-11e0-aa40-00144feabdc0.html#axzz17fI1leC7
("Many defectors insist the main challenges are not vocabulary but accent,
intonation and manners. South Koreans, who have an extremely courteous
culture of client service, find North Koreans abrupt and rude. In turn,
North Koreans find South Korean language effeminate and insincere.")

Summary: After six decades, languages in two Koreas have diverged.

My comment: Taiwanese can not pronounce standard Mandarin sounds. Many
Chinese also share contempt for the way Taiwanese speak Mandarin. We
Taiwanese just can not help it.



--