Category Archives: Ideology
So yuh wanna learn Cantonese, eh? (Part 1)
You do?
Think again! Unless you take the time to understand the politics and ideologies surrounding speaking and learning Cantonese, you may find the difficulties of actually using the language far outweigh
Also posted in Romanization, learn Cantonese Tagged Cantonese, Cantonese as a Foreign Language, Cantonese as a Second Language, Cantonese dialect, Cantonese learning, Cantonese romanization, Hong Kong, Jyutping, Yale Cantonese, bilingualism, language and power, learn Cantonese, learn Cantonese in Hong Kong, learning Cantonese, medium of instruction in Hong Kong, politics of language learning, written Cantonese Comments closed
China’s role in BC Chinese classes: Mussolini or Sunzi?
When I first read Jonathan Zimmerman’s Christian Science Monitor op/ed Beware China’s role in US Chinese classes, I wondered if Canadians would react as he did. Jonathan, a Professor of Education and History at New York University attempted to draw parallels between the funding of Mandarin classes in the US by the Chinese Government and [...]
Also posted in Hanyu Industry, World, learn Mandarin Tagged Art of War, British Columbia, Canada, Ideology and Mandarin teaching, Jonathan Zimmerman, Joseph Nye, Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin course, Mussolini, Neo-liberalism, Sunzi, hanban, language pedagogy and ideology, learn Chinese, learn Mandarin, soft power, teaching Mandarin Chinese in Canada, å™å兵法 Leave a comment
Ideology and Mandarin Teaching: The end of history?
Maybe one day Global Hanyu will become a multi-billion dollar language industry on a par with Global English. And despite the belief among some that the number of people learning the language is exaggerated, perhaps there really will be a “Global Hanyu”.
But it may take a while. Becoming a global language is not easy. As [...]
Also posted in Hanyu Industry, World Tagged Chinese language pedagogy, Global English, Global hanyu, Hanyu, Hanyu Industry, Ideology, Jonathan Zimmerman, Mandarin, Mussolini, Neo-liberalism, critical literacy, global language, language teaching and ideology, teach Chinese, teaching Mandarin Leave a comment
A borrowed word
All languages at one time or another borrow words from other languages. Most of the scientific and technical vocabulary in English is composed of Greek and Latin roots. And for some reason, lost in history for most people, our swear words are Germanic. Loanwords in Chinese are not so obvious – but they are still [...]
Also posted in Loanwords, Uncategorized, World Tagged Beijing, Ideology, Loanwords, Mandarin, Michael Ledeen, 法西斯 Leave a comment
The Sociolinguistics and Ideology of Learning Cantonese in Hong Kong