{"id":416,"date":"2011-02-25T00:26:45","date_gmt":"2011-02-25T05:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/?p=416"},"modified":"2011-12-13T08:10:49","modified_gmt":"2011-12-13T13:10:49","slug":"china-in-the-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/02\/china-in-the-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese influence hard to miss"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Liam Zanyk McLean & Owais Riaz
\n<\/strong>editor-in-chief & staff writer<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

With Asia\u2019s largest economy, China\u2019s influence on the world is hard to miss. Its products are sold in stores across the western world and its corporations are growing to be major players in international business. And while China\u2019s economic dominance is well documented, its equally-influential cultural presence is less noticed.<\/p>\n

This influence, however, is not missed by educators in the area. Yang Liu, a Chinese instructor at Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU), said that an increased number of schools in the area are teaching Chinese, and more Chinese students are coming to the United States to study.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a few elementary and high schools in the area that are offering Chinese already,\u201d Liu said.<\/p>\n

Learning Chinese can be a huge boost in the job market, Liu added. She said that interest in the language at SVSU has boomed in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the students that take Chinese are Business majors,\u201d Liu said.<\/p>\n

Chinese is not currently offered in the classroom in MPS. However, students can take a Mandarin class through Michigan Virtual School, an online service. The cost of the class is $275, which is covered by the district.<\/p>\n

Junior Brooks Royster took the online class for two years, but left the class feeling disillusioned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was getting difficult to learn,\u201d Royster said. \u201cOne time a week we had a chat room, so it was hard to have someone to practice with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Royster lived in Shanghai for two years, and would support the introduction of Chinese into the classroom. Concordia, the international school that he attended in Shanghai, required Chinese. He saw that being immersed in a language makes it much easier to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can go out of class and use the stuff you learn,\u201d Royster said. \u201cYou pick it up so quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Royster added that if Chinese is eventually introduced into the district, it would have to be taught from a cultural standpoint as well as a linguistic one.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have to understand where the language is coming from,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite the interest from students in taking the online class, there are currently no plans in the district to introduce Chinese into the classroom. According to MPS Foreign Language Coordinator Louann Bensinger, there is not enough total interest to justify it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be fabulous if we could offer Chinese as an elective at the high schools,\u201d Bensinger said in an email interview. \u201cWe truly want to encourage our students to take a World Language. In order to offer a class we would have to have a strong interest from students, enough students to offer the class and a highly qualified teacher to teach the class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chinese-American social influence has increased drastically in recent years, too, particularly in areas of pop culture. Amy Chua\u2019s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, <\/em>a memoir of a high profile Chinese American woman, has become a national bestseller. In addition, Amy Tan\u2019s The Joy Luck Club, <\/em>is taught in the junior level World Lit class at DHS. The Joy Luck Club <\/em>is a novel that discusses the blending of Chinese and American culture.<\/p>\n

In Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, <\/em>Chua documents many of her parenting techniques that she used to raise her two daughters. It describes how she gave her children a traditional, strict and \u201cChinese\u201d upbringing.<\/p>\n

Senior Crystal Chen, whose parents came to the United States from China to attend university, said that Chua\u2019s book was misunderstood after it received criticism from book reviewers and parents alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cChua\u2019s book wasn\u2019t supposed to be controversial,\u201d Chen said. \u201cIt was a memoir. It wasn\u2019t about how one type of parenting is better than the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chen said that while her parents are strict, they ultimately have her best interests in mind. Chen is not allowed to do certain things with friends \u2013 such as sleepovers during the school year \u2013 but is happy her parents act the way they do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more important things than just having a social life,\u201d Chen said. \u201cTheir intentions are good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior Lulu Wang \u2013 who moved to the United States from China when he was three \u2013 does not speak fluent Chinese, and considers the language to be difficult to learn. Wang said that because Chinese is a graphic language, meaning that each character is a picture with a different meaning, it is difficult for English speakers to become fluent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to speak Chinese at home, but it is hard for me even though my parents speak it,\u201d Wang said.<\/p>\n

With dedication, however, English-speakers can learn the language, Wang added.<\/p>\n

\u201cLearning Chinese takes more commitment,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it is an important language to learn for business purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Chinese language gains influence inside and outside the classroom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[35,41,42],"class_list":["post-416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3feature","tag-dow-high-news","tag-feature-stories","tag-student-activities-dow-high"],"yoast_head":"\nChinese influence hard to miss - UPDATE ONLINE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/02\/china-in-the-classroom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chinese influence hard to miss - UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chinese language gains influence inside and outside the classroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/02\/china-in-the-classroom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-25T05:26:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-13T13:10:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/china-in-the-classroom\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/china-in-the-classroom\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Update\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198\"},\"headline\":\"Chinese influence hard to miss\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-25T05:26:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-13T13:10:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/china-in-the-classroom\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":797,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Dow High News\",\"Feature Stories\",\"Student Activities Dow High\"],\"articleSection\":[\"FEATURE\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/china-in-the-classroom\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/china-in-the-classroom\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/china-in-the-classroom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Chinese influence hard to miss - UPDATE ONLINE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-25T05:26:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-13T13:10:49+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/china-in-the-classroom\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"UPDATE ONLINE\",\"description\":\"H.H. 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