Chinese Language studies becoming popular in France

[grey boy 2]

Chinese language studies becoming popular in France 08:11, November 11, 2009

The study of Chinese has become increasingly popular in France, says a French sinologist.

More and more middle schools and universities in France have begun to offer Chinese classes, Joel Bellassen said during a recent talk with Kong Quan, the Chinese ambassador to France.

Among the 30 school districts across France, 27 now offer Chinese classes, including some in the remote areas, said Bellassen, the Chinese learning inspector in the Education Ministry.

About 25,600 middle school students were registered to study Chinese in September, a large increase from the less than 5,000 students 10 years ago, Bellassen said.

There now are 44,000 school students learning Chinese in France, including 16,000 university students and about 2,000 primary school students, Bellassen said.

In addition, the number of Chinese teachers in France has grown to 430, up from less than 30 in the 1980s when the French Teachers of Chinese Association was established, he said.

In Bellassen's view, the support of China's government is an important reason for the promotion of Chinese language studies in France.

Kong said that China has made vigorous efforts in recent years to promote Chinese language learning in France, including dispatching teachers to the country, offering text books to educational organizations, and promoting Chinese language tests such as the HSK and BCT.

Source: Xinhua
Chinese language studies becoming popular in France - People's Daily Online

 

[PlanetWarrior]

Is Mandarin a difficult language to learn to speak and read? Not many institutions here offer Mandarin as a language study and yet (I believe) that it is the most widely spoken language in the world

 

[BelligerentPacifist]

It is indeed true that Putunhua is beginning to be taught at the schools and the facs, but its nowhere as popular as neighbouring european languages like German and English.

Add to that, the hanyu is very hard to learn for children that are used to speaking a totally non-aspirated language.

 

[grey boy 2]

Is Mandarin a difficult language to learn to speak and read? Not many institutions here offer Mandarin as a language study and yet (I believe) that it is the most widely spoken language in the world

Buddy, To my own experience, learning any languages when you

were younger will always help.

I am from HongKong, we have quite a lot of Indians and Pakistanis

population there. Most of them speak very good Chinese (cantonese,

or even Mandarin. Some local born one speak like local Chinese.

Some research found evidents that Indians and Pakistanis were gifted

Chinese speaker.

A significant number of Indians and Pakistanis can be found mainly in Tsim Sha Tsui. Signboards written in Hindi or Urdu can be seen in the area, and conversation in South Asian languages including Nepali, Sindhi and Punjabi, as well as Urdu and Hindi, can be heard.

The Indian and Pakistani populations are more integrated into Hong Kong culture than Westerners dwelling in Hong Kong, at least linguistically. While few Westerners and "bananas" in Hong Kong can speak fluent Cantonese, many Pakistanis and Indians speak almost-perfect Cantonese.
visitHongKong.in : Visit Hong Kong - Language

 

[Ahmad]

How much difference there is between Mandarin and Cantonees?

 

[bigmoneymaker]

the two only differ in speaking tone and accent. the writing characters are 99percent the same. people like hong konger can hardly speak the almost perfect mandarin as they are long immersed in cantonese speaking environment, they just need to invest a bit further time to hear and adjust themselves to adopt the mandarin speaking tone.

 

[grey boy 2]

the two only differ in speaking tone and accent. the writing characters are 99percent the same. people like hong konger can hardly speak the almost perfect mandarin as they are long immersed in cantonese speaking environment, they just need to invest a bit further time to hear and adjust themselves to adopt the mandarin speaking tone.

Buddy, true, Hongkong Chinese speak cantonese accent Mandarin,

But since now Mandarin is a formal course in school started from

primary school for the new generation, it shouldn't be a problem in

the long run.