April 10, 2007

SINGAPORE

Non-Native English Speakers vs. Non-Native Chinese Speakers

While I was studying for my Chinese exam, the following thought came to mind: I know hundreds of Chinese who were born in China and speak fluent English, while I do not know a single American who can speak fluent Chinese. Surely such people exist, but the ratio must be 1:1000 in favor of the Chinese.

There are two possible reasons for this:

1) Historically, it has been more important to learn English. Even now this is true, but with well over two billion Chinese in the world and the standardization of Mandarin (the Chinese race has the world's highest population and a significant number don't live in China), the rewards from fluency are significant.

2) The Chinese work harder. Granted, English is easier to learn than Chinese (agreed on by neutral parties who have taken on both languages), but the Chinese willingness to "suck it up and study" may be higher.

In truth, the explanation is probably a combination of both hard work and necessity. However, simple supply and demand dictates that a native English speaker who knows Chinese is far more valuable than a native Chinese speaker who knows English.

This thought keeps me in the library that extra hour, but it doesn't make learning any easier or faster.

加油 (add oil), as Chinese are keen to say.

One last thing: I'd like to give a shout-out to my beloved pops who made Sports Illustrated for the following letter:

Note: I post such "shout-outs" at the discount price of 2.50USD. If you are interested I'd love your money.