Chinese Most Popular Foreign Language For Thai Students

[osiboy]

i always believed thai was closer to the indian language than chinese, even some of the words are near identicle, {look up suvanabumi} or swampy as we know it, that comes from an indian word as do hundreds of others in thai and their alphabet and letters are similar , they paint their trucks as indians do , have the same buddha image and are friendly as indians are, but one thing they all have in common ..... the thirst for money !

[Kananga]

i always believed thai was closer to the indian language than chinese, even some of the words are near identicle, {look up suvanabumi} or swampy as we know it, that comes from an indian word as do hundreds of others in thai and their alphabet and letters are similar , they paint their trucks as indians do , have the same buddha image and are friendly as indians are, but one thing they all have in common ..... the thirst for money !

Thai language is derived partly from Sanskrit and Pali which have their roots in India, however with the influx of Chinese immigrants chinese words naturally found their way into the vocabulary, the same way English words are now doing so in this century and the last.

[bumpkin]

A recent forecast of Chinese demographics and labour requirements, indicates that by 2030, China will be importing workers. The population of China is aging fast, which is a major source of concern for the CPC planners.

[bumpkin]

This is just pandering to the Chinese ego IMO (and the Chinese probably sit back and snigger at it). English is the international language, and a heck of a lot of Chinese students spent a heck of a lot of time and effort learning it.

I would imagine most Chinese hearing this would think - it's good that people from lesser ASEAN countries learn Mandarin, so that they can follow the instructions of their Chinese supervisors on the factory floor and leave the business side of things to the English speaking Chinese bosses.

Lamb's to the slaughter!

"English is the international language, and a heck of a lot of Chinese students spent a heck of a lot of time and effort learning it."

"Lamb's [sic] to the slaughter!"

One wishes that certain posters would spend a little time learning the English that they proclaim to be the international language.

This exemplifies a great advantage that the English language has over many other languages. It is extremely tolerant of variations in spelling, grammar and change of use/meaning with time or location. It is vibrant and constantly changing. So much so, that the major English dictionary compilers find it useful to publish annual updates. In reality, it is not one universal language, but a range of acceptable variants used widely on every continent. Indian English, American English, Chinese English, English English, Malaysian English, etc. Let's not be critical of variation, this is part of what keeps "English" as the principal means of common communication around the world.

[farang000999]

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Edited April 26, 2012 by farang000999

[farang000999]

some good points, but look where europe is now after the ''fall of the wall'' !

Sure, in support of my contention that the west is likely to continue to decline.

I was talking about the transformation that has come to most of Eastern Europe after the collapse of the USSR.

Ask the residents of what used to be East Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia etc to compare their future prospects now with thirty years ago. Imagine the same transformation happening to mainland China.

I agree with everything but I think you're jumping on the media's bandwagon pretty quickly. The US is a case in point: everyone just loves to talk about how America's time is over but the US still manages 25% of the world's GDP.

. . .

I'm talking more about longer term trends, specifically responding to an opinion that used the word "never".

Admittedly not relevant to the OP, bit of a [rant] I think the moral/philosophical/political bankruptcy of my home country is much more significant than macro economic measures. The idiotic "war on drugs", "war on terror", the near-total corruption of our political processes, practically explicit class warfare, the ruthless "winner take all" rules of the current economy, abandonment of even lip service to the ideals of our founders - all these things represent to me the "hollowing out" of a society that used to lead the world in hope for man's progressive evolution.

If we want to regain upward momentum in our leadership of the world we need to recapture - or rather make more genuine once again - our willingness to structure society - not just our own but the others where we have strong influence - in alignment with our ideals, and stop letting our greedy elite drive the use of our international power to serve only their definition of our "national interest".

[/rant]

I agree but before any of that is possible, we have let go of centuries-old traditions of elitism that stem from European culture and appeals to the world's elites (because elitism is self-aggrandizing). That will take generations, if ever. America's politicians appeal to the least common denominator, so one nice feature of American politics is that the system is relatively predictable. The scarier reality to which you are referring is that Americans are fundamentally unaware of their relative status in the world; to the extent that they would sacrifice an image even further without blinking an eye to the reality. America has lost a status it continues to think is nontarnishable. It's a country riding a dead horse that it thinks is Seabiscuit.

lol, okay. American/Europe now owns Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya. Syria and Iran coming shortly.

The key to running the world has always been technology and production.

Congrats to China on it's surplus of paper money! To bad the USA can print as much of it as it wants and switch to a gold standard when they want to. Who has all the gold? Oh, America and Europe!

Right now the Chinese get suicide nets, the Americans and Europeans get cars and big screen tvs.

[JurgenG]

lol, okay. American/Europe now owns Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya. Syria and Iran coming shortly.

How many lives of young bright people are lost there every day ?

The cost of ownership is quite high don't you think ?

Russia collapsed because it spent to much money, more than it can afford, in the global arm race. Unfortunately America is following the same mistake.

Not China.

Edited April 26, 2012 by JurgenG

[lost_in_space]

I read a newspaper article by an American businessman who had studied Chinese for 7 years. Soon after opening his mouth, the Chinese would switch to English, as their English was better that his Chinese. He argued that it is better to study Chinese history and culture, so that you have an understanding of them and can impress them with your knowledge of these,

[JurgenG]

I read a newspaper article by an American businessman who had studied Chinese for 7 years. Soon after opening his mouth, the Chinese would switch to English, as their English was better that his Chinese. He argued that it is better to study Chinese history and culture, so that you have an understanding of them and can impress them with your knowledge of these,

I know an other blond story

What do smart Blondes and UFOs have in common? You always hear about them but you never see them.

[farang000999]

lol, okay. American/Europe now owns Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya. Syria and Iran coming shortly.

How many lives of young bright people are lost there every day ?

The cost of ownership is quite high don't you think ?

Russia collapsed because it spent to much money, more than it can afford, in the global arm race. Unfortunately America is following the same mistake.

Not China.

Except that America is trading paper money for real assets, oil.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

lol, okay. American/Europe now owns Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya. Syria and Iran coming shortly.

Fatal error for the west to think it can have any more than a superficial and temporary hold on such territories through force. And at a pyrrhic cost to our civilization as a whole, with benefits only accruing to the 1%, and then only short-term ones.

We'd have been much better off just ignoring the whole issue, just using existing tactics to do our best to prevent future (relatively minor) disasters like 9/11. Islamic terrorism has won by having provoked the reactions that are bringing about our downfall.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Any Thai worth speaking too, can speak English.

IMO only true for business/professional purposes.

I feel completely the opposite for personal/social contacts, always better off looking for both true friends and playmates among those without a word of English.

[vijer]

Hmmm ... strange data gathering ... strange data analysis ... strange hypothesis ... strange conclusions. I work at a language school, there is one Chinese teacher and 4 students studying Chinese. There are 15 English teachers and about a hundred students studying English. There are about 10 English language schools in Central Lat Phrao, about 10 in Central Chang Wattana, about 6 in Ploen Chit center, about 15 in Siam Center, and most other big malls have similar numbers. All advertising English not Chinese. I guess its true, Chinese is the most popular language. Whoda thunk it.

[wolf5370]

This is just pandering to the Chinese ego IMO (and the Chinese probably sit back and snigger at it). English is the international language, and a heck of a lot of Chinese students spent a heck of a lot of time and effort learning it.

I would imagine most Chinese hearing this would think - it's good that people from lesser ASEAN countries learn Mandarin, so that they can follow the instructions of their Chinese supervisors on the factory floor and leave the business side of things to the English speaking Chinese bosses.

Lamb's to the slaughter!

"English is the international language, and a heck of a lot of Chinese students spent a heck of a lot of time and effort learning it."

"Lamb's [sic] to the slaughter!"

One wishes that certain posters would spend a little time learning the English that they proclaim to be the international language.

One also wishes there were fewer pedantic twits in the world, but looks like neither of us will get our wish, eh? However, if it helps, one [sic] can be well versed in English and still hit the wrong key from time to time.

[EyesWideOpen]

I spent two months traveling in western China by motorcycle . Every single white person I met was an English teacher, leading me to believe that China has quietly brought in umpteen thousand people to teach English to Chinese people. So clearly even China knows that in fact English is the international language of business.

I also saw a story on CCTV ( Chinese news in English ) that fascinated me even more. It was the fact the China was debating over the concept that perhaps the national language of China should be changed to English. Speaking a language that in essence no one else speaks can have dire long term business effects. This change will probably not happen, but I was amazed that the topic had even come up. Shows some forward thinking in the Chinese government.

Edited May 6, 2012 by EyesWideOpen