[bootlegga]

Canadians must be prodded to create better ties with Asia, experts say

$1:

Canada must invest heavily in education and skills training relevant to Asia if it hopes to compete in the new global economy, says a report to be released Monday by the Asia-Pacific Foundation.

That includes matching Australia’s promise that every student will have an opportunity to learn Asian languages in elementary and secondary schools, even if it means drawing resources from other foreign language programs, says the report, based on a survey of 374 Canadians who are active in Asia through business, professional or personal interests.

These Asia experts indicated solid support — 91 per cent — for a greater emphasis on Asian language instruction in K-12 schools, although that view isn’t shared by the general public, said foundation president Yuen Pau Woo. A public opinion poll conducted by the foundation earlier this year suggests that only one in four Canadians also want more emphasis on teaching Asian languages in schools.

“Asia practitioners understand the importance (of language training), but the general public doesn’t and that’s going to be a problem,” Woo said.

Language training isn’t all that’s lacking. The report, titled Education in Canada-Asia Relations and released in advance to The Vancouver Sun, said Canadians also need to be “gently pushed and prodded” to acquire a better understanding of Asian societies and their economies and to obtain the scientific, technological and engineering skills now in demand in Asia.

“We can talk about the need to diversify our trade, we can talk about the importance of more investment with Asia, we can talk about how the rise of China and India and other countries in Asia is going to change the world, but if we don’t have the knowledge and the skills to take advantage of that opportunity, we will fall even further behind,” Woo said in an interview.

The challenges are not simply for Asian Studies departments in universities, he said. They are also for engineering, nursing, architecture, medicine and every other faculty. “Asian competency, Asian skills, Asian knowledge is needed across the spectrum of the education system. It should not be seen as a specialist endeavour that is limited to connoisseurs of Asia. We’re well past that period.

“The rise of Asia is changing the way in which the world works and its influence is extending into all segments of society.” For example, he said, those who are interested in architecture have to understand how Asia is transforming everything from designs to materials. “You cannot be a world-class architect if you don’t understand how Asia is changing architecture.”

Of the Asia experts who participated in the survey, 60 per cent said it is difficult to find Canadians with sufficient knowledge to help their organization do business in Asia and only 34 per cent gave a thumbs-up to Canadian professionals in their industry for their understanding of Asian societies and economies.

The results of the survey also suggest that:

— The most important skills for Canadians seeking Asia-related work are being comfortable with a different culture, having expertise related to the specifics of the job and having an appreciation of the social, economic and political context of the country in which they want to do business.

— Post-secondary institutions should consider linking promotion or tenure to international work or experience, and students should be required to take courses in Asian issues and events.

— Greater efforts should be made to encourage Canadian students to study abroad, since fewer than three per cent do so now and only a tiny fraction study in Asia.

The only question is whether governments in Canada have the political will to pursue a “full-on, long-term Asia strategy,” the report concludes.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/met ... story.html

[BartSimpson]

Yay, more PC agenda crap in the schools.

[saturn_656]

There seems to be a few folks (making rather frequent statements to the media) that seem to want to entirely re-orient this country to Asia (read: China) and away from our North American/European focus. From what we teach our children in the grade school all the way up to our foreign and trade policy, revamp it all to be Asia-centric.

I question their motives.

[bootlegga]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Yay, more PC agenda crap in the schools.

An eye roll is deserved, but not for the article, for your lame reply.

This has nothing to do with political correctness, but to do with economic prosperity and long term viability.

In the 19th century, Canada did most of its trade with Europe (and largely with the UK). In the early 20th, we shifted to the US as our major trading partner and it was a smart move, considering the decline of the British Empire and their willingness to sell us out for the EU in the 70s.

Now, it's time for a similar shift - this time eastwards to Asia. We don't necessarily have to look to China only, but all of Asia (India, Japan, South Korea, etc) will need natural resources in the coming years, and if we're smart about it, we can benefit from those needs.

The US will likely remain our largest trading partner for another decade or two, but it's smart economic planning to broaden our horizons and look for other baskets in which to put our eggs.

If the USA continues with its reckless wars, spending, etc, they too will decline just as the British did before them. Better not to get dragged down with them. What you might call paranoia others call prudence...

[bootlegga]

saturn_656 saturn_656:

There seems to be a few folks (making rather frequent statements to the media) that seem to want to entirely re-orient this country to Asia (read: China) and away from our North American/European focus. From what we teach our children in the grade school all the way up to our foreign and trade policy, revamp it all to be Asia-centric.

I question their motives.

I have no doubt the same thing was said a century ago about our shift from the UK to the USA.

[BartSimpson]

bootlegga bootlegga:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Yay, more PC agenda crap in the schools.

An eye roll is deserved, but not for the article, for your lame reply.

It is not a lame reply. The article reflects an ongoing anti-Western bias by the educational establishment and the focus on teaching about Asian culture and language ignores the fact that most Asians are busily adopting English and shirking off their cultures in favor of ours.

If you want to teach the kids something you could teach them that their language and culture are so successful that there's now more people speaking English in Asia than anywhere else in the world...combined.

Edit: The Asians no doubt wonder why successful Westerners would waste time learning the details of failed systems much the same as my Eastern European friends can't figure out why myopic leftists are so obsessed with socialism when the proof of its utter failure is found in their own countries.

[Brenda]

Because the extreme right wingers call everything that is slightly left from their idea(l)s "socialism".

[DanSC]

bootlegga bootlegga:

The US will likely remain our largest trading partner for another decade or two, but it's smart economic planning to broaden our horizons and look for other baskets in which to put our eggs.

Probably more than a decade or two. After all, a huge fraction of Canadian trade travels over a the Ambassador Bridge alone.*

There would be one great way to fit in Asian language education to the BC students who might actually want to learn. Just teach Chinese instead of French.

*I fully recognize that the Ambassador Bridge itself can stand as a metaphor against diversified trade, but the bridge isn't the only route between Canada and the USA.

[BartSimpson]

Brenda Brenda:

Because the extreme right wingers call everything that is slightly left from their idea(l)s "socialism".

And the predictable and pedantic reaction of the left to anyone calling them on their socialism is to ridicule anyone calling them a socialist.

I've read Alinsky's book, too, so use that crap with someone else as it'll get no traction with me.

[Brenda]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Brenda Brenda:

Because the extreme right wingers call everything that is slightly left from their idea(l)s "socialism".

And the predictable and pedantic reaction of the left to anyone calling them on their socialism is to ridicule anyone calling them a socialist.

I've read Alinsky's book, too, so use that crap with someone else as it'll get no traction with me.

I take it you consider yourself an extreme right winger? You obviously feel personally attacked.

I'm sorry, darlin', but I am not a left-winger, and not a socialist either. Centrist all the way. But you wouldn't know, because you, in the US, do not understand what that is. It is either black or white, right or left, up or down.

[bootlegga]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

bootlegga bootlegga:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Yay, more PC agenda crap in the schools.

An eye roll is deserved, but not for the article, for your lame reply.

It is not a lame reply. The article reflects an ongoing anti-Western bias by the educational establishment and the focus on teaching about Asian culture and language ignores the fact that most Asians are busily adopting English and shirking off their cultures in favor of ours.

If you want to teach the kids something you could teach them that their language and culture are so successful that there's now more people speaking English in Asia than anywhere else in the world...combined.

Edit: The Asians no doubt wonder why successful Westerners would waste time learning the details of failed systems much the same as my Eastern European friends can't figure out why myopic leftists are so obsessed with socialism when the proof of its utter failure is found in their own countries.

No, the article reflects a new reality in which the USA is not the only consumer market in the world now. There is no anti-Western bias except perhaps in your head. My guess is either you didn't bother to read the article or the points it made were totally lost on you.

Almost everything it suggests is to increase/strengthen our ability to do business with them - not learn how to participate in a tea ceremony or learn kungfu or anything else.

It suggests teaching more Asian languages in our schools - how is that a bad thing? It will enable us to communicate with them in the future for trade/business deals and perhaps prevent us from getting screwed over because we mistook the word bridge for chopsticks (both sound very similar in Japanese to the untrained ear).

Why should we teach European languages that have small populations in their native countries over ones with populations double, triple or even twenty times the size in Asian countries? Please explain the economic sense that teaching Italian has compared to learning Japanese, Chinese or even Korean (which has fewer speakers than Italian does)?

In the near future, we'll be doing far more business with companies like Samsung and Hyundai than we do with Fiat and Ferrari, nevermind companies in Japan, India and China. We should prepare for that eventually instead of teaching languages that will be next to useless in a few decades.

You say that you've been to Japan in the past - is it or is it not almost entirely different than North America? I'd argue that if you expect a North American to say/do 'A', a Japanese will automatically say/do 'B'. At least, that was my experience in the 2 years I lived there. That's how different their culture is - and learning how to communicate with Asian countries will be the difference between our nations fading into irrelevance or staying competitive (or even ahead of them).

Things like exchange and study abroad programs will further enhance our ability to understand and deal with Asian cultures and their peoples. I speak from experience when I say that going abroad was the toughest thing I ever did - but it was also the best.

IMHO, the one thing the immigrant countries (Canada, USA, Australia, & New Zealand) have going for them is that they already have large minorities of many of these Asian cultures and this will be a competitive advantage in the coming decades. Closed, insular cultures (like many in Europe and elsewhere) will have far more trouble competing with us, simply because we will understand Asian cultures and they will not.

Just as the rise of the USA after WW1 changed the world, so too will the rise of Asia. We can either get onboard or fade into irrelevance - like so many other countries throughout time who failed to change with the times.

FYI, sure there are more ESL speakers in Asia than anywhere else in the world, a large majority of them can barely string a sentence together...but they sure can read and write Engrish!

[ShepherdsDog]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

bootlegga bootlegga:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Yay, more PC agenda crap in the schools.

An eye roll is deserved, but not for the article, for your lame reply.

It is not a lame reply. The article reflects an ongoing anti-Western bias by the educational establishment and the focus on teaching about Asian culture and language ignores the fact that most Asians are busily adopting English and shirking off their cultures in favor of ours.

If you want to teach the kids something you could teach them that their language and culture are so successful that there's now more people speaking EnglishPidgin in Asia than anywhere else in the world...combined.

Edit: The Asians no doubt wonder why successful Westerners would waste time learning the details of failed systems much the same as my Eastern European friends can't figure out why myopic leftists are so obsessed with socialism when the proof of its utter failure is found in their own countries.

$1:

but they sure can read and write Engrish!

Read............ maybe. Writing ...that's debatable.

[BartSimpson]

Brenda Brenda:

I'm sorry, darlin', but I am not a left-winger, and not a socialist either. Centrist all the way.

A Dutch centrist is a socialist.

Now go make someone a sammich.

[bootlegga]

DanSC DanSC:

bootlegga bootlegga:

The US will likely remain our largest trading partner for another decade or two, but it's smart economic planning to broaden our horizons and look for other baskets in which to put our eggs.

Probably more than a decade or two. After all, a huge fraction of Canadian trade travels over a the Ambassador Bridge alone.*

There would be one great way to fit in Asian language education to the BC students who might actually want to learn. Just teach Chinese instead of French.

*I fully recognize that the Ambassador Bridge itself can stand as a metaphor against diversified trade, but the bridge isn't the only route between Canada and the USA.

That's all I'm saying - teach Chinese (and maybe Korean) as well as French. Fortunately, the public school board here in Edmonton is far more evolved than some posters here and already has K-12 Chinese and Japanese programs for students who wish to take them.

I know I'll be enrolling my kids in Chinese in elementary school. It will be just another thing that separates them from the herd come interview time...

[bootlegga]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

bootlegga bootlegga:

$1:

but they sure can read and write Engrish!

Read............ maybe. Writing ...that's debatable.

My bad - I meant handwriting.