Better start learning Chinese my friends...

[simms]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

question: are there more chinese speaking people than french speaking people in canada? french is still the second official language, yet i know only a dozen fluent french speakers.

Are you stupid? There are more chinese speaking people in the world than any other language.

While I am Chinese, I remind you that the English language is still the majority.

 

[Martin]

Originally posted by: glenn1

However, the so-called short term trend will continue for quite some time IMO. The rate of growth will slow, but the amount it can grow is simply staggering. Furthermore, China seems much less xenophobic than Japan was in many ways, and China has much more land and resources (including of course human resources). I don't think the language will take over, since it's so damn hard to learn to write it, but I do thing China is the next superpower, super that Japan never really achieved.

Let's presume for sake of argument that you're correct. However, if China is destined to be a superpower, I don't see how India could not be a greater one. They have every advantage China has (population, a historical and cultural tradition that goes back millenia), and none of the disadvantages (mostly flat and agriculturally usable land, 50-years of democratic government vs. communist rule, and a highly western-style educated population and cultural awareness due to the British rule days).

Except India lags in the most important area, when speaking about 'rising powers'. That is, China has been growing at twice the pace of India for about 15 years now, and recently (03 I think), its GDP per head became twice that of India's.

I know Americans don't like the thought of their country no longer being "#1", but if these simple short term trends continue (as they have for close to 30 years now), it will happen. In fact, China the the only one that can do it. The EU will remain politically disunified (compared to a normal country), Russia's population is too low and decreasing and India..doesn't look like they'll "wake up" any time soon.

 

[Eug]

Most of the articles are now online here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/china

 

[Crappopotamus]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0

question: are there more chinese speaking people than french speaking people in canada? french is still the second official language, yet i know only a dozen fluent french speakers.

Are you stupid? There are more chinese speaking people in the world than any other language.

 

[kreb]

meh..

That's what babelfish is for

 

[Atomicus]

For those of you who cannot do math.....

it was estimated that in 2002, the population of the People's Republic of China was 1.28 billion.

If you cannot comprehend the magnitute of that number correlating to the number of people who speak Chinese, then I suggest taking a college Statistics course.

Simms, if you're Chinese, then I don't suggest you return to your homeland. Just strap on a t-shirt saying "The Chinese suk, USA roks", fly to Honk Kong, and take it up the buttocks Jackie Chan style, mmmk?

*note: even though there are dozens of different Chinese dialects, all must learn Mandarin in school.

 

[Eug]

Family (Caucasian) teaching their 3 yo kid Mandarin.

During roll call at this Scarborough preschool, the children answer in Chinese. That includes three-year-old Jamie McBride. "Dao!" shouts the blue-eyed blond, using the correct falling fourth tone for "present."

Ethnic Chinese parents here have always put their kids through that torturous Canadian ritual known as heritage-language classes. Now, on the brink of a new world order, parents with zero ties to China are enrolling their children in after-school Mandarin programs.

But few have gone to the lengths of Jamie's WASP parents. They endure tapes of Chinese nursery songs while driving to the cottage. They have a Chinese nanny. A tutor comes in Thursdays. To find Jamie Mandarin-speaking playmates, they hired a company to drop 25,000 leaflets around their Lawrence Park neighbourhood and beyond. At one point, they even opened a Chinese school in their basement.

 

Ohhh those wacky Canadians.

 

[LocutusX]

Originally posted by: Eug
Family (Caucasian) teaching their 3 yo kid Mandarin.

During roll call at this Scarborough preschool, the children answer in Chinese. That includes three-year-old Jamie McBride. "Dao!" shouts the blue-eyed blond, using the correct falling fourth tone for "present."

Ethnic Chinese parents here have always put their kids through that torturous Canadian ritual known as heritage-language classes. Now, on the brink of a new world order, parents with zero ties to China are enrolling their children in after-school Mandarin programs.

But few have gone to the lengths of Jamie's WASP parents. They endure tapes of Chinese nursery songs while driving to the cottage. They have a Chinese nanny. A tutor comes in Thursdays. To find Jamie Mandarin-speaking playmates, they hired a company to drop 25,000 leaflets around their Lawrence Park neighbourhood and beyond. At one point, they even opened a Chinese school in their basement.

Guess you missed the Star article a few weeks back on what MOST *wasps* are doing in light of the Chinese "ghettoization" of Markham/Scarborough?

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/...2&col=968793972154

(registration required, sorry)

some quotes from it:

Increasingly in Canada's big cities, and especially among the affluent, that question also includes an unspoken undercurrent: How are you going to avoid the "problems'' posed by sending them to public schools?

These parents are concerned, among other things, that teachers in big cities are overwhelmed by the demands of special needs students, immigrant children and others with poor language skills. The concern is not usually racist but is an honest belief that classrooms populated with students struggling with English cannot offer optimal learning conditions for their children.

~~~

The study never mentions white flight, but instead uses the term "rapid replacement'' to describe the combination of white residents moving out and visible minorities moving in.

~~~

"In Stouffville,'' Bismilla says, "when we even try to talk about race relations, we've had people openly say to us: `We ran away from Markham because of multiculturalism. Don't come here and talk to us about multiculturalism.'

"Already we have people in burkas that are showing up in some of these schools and they are facing some really weird reactions,'' she says.

~~~

The city's residents are now 56 per cent visible minority, mostly Chinese and South Asian. According to census data, the visible-minority population grew to 115,000 in 2001 from 79,000 in 1996, accounting for almost all of Markham's growth during that time.

It was a good article. Better than the usual left-wing rubbish they usually publish.

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

"One day we decide that those Chinese sons of a bitches are going DOWN..."

:laugh:

edit: eh, for those who don't get it, http://www.ebaumsworld.com/endofworld.html.

 

[LocutusX]

Regarding INDIA vs. CHINA, please read this article at an American blog which focuses on current social/political trends, science, genetics, etc. It has a mix of left-wing and right-wing writers, but mostly libertarians, all well-educated folks:

India vs China: part 1 -- http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/002487.html

quotes:

Furthermore, China has several current and potential advantages over India, including:

1. Racial and religious homogeneity (91% Han)
2. No neighbor as hostile as Pakistan
3. A higher GDP and higher growth rate, and far better infrastructure
4. The possible wild card: the ability of the Communist party to push genetic engineering

Just about the only major negative trend in China relative to India is the much higher surplus male population:

The author of the article is a second-gen indian immigrant to the US (like Anand) so it's certainly not pro-China biased.

 

[Eug]

All that stuff LocutusX posted about the GTA and multiculturalism

Even if we ignore the social difficulties, one sad part is that in those areas, the Mandarin spoken is pretty bad. Strong southern accents most of the time.

 

[LocutusX]

Eug, you live in those areas -- Markham/Scar-LEM?

I've heard that Scarlem is actually more "brown people" than Chinese now though.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
why the fsck would we learn chinese when chinese schoolchildren are being taught engrish?

Fixed

(sorry, I couldn't resist)

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: LocutusX
Eug, you live in those areas -- Markham/Scar-LEM?

I've heard that Scarlem is actually more "brown people" than Chinese now though.

I live in downtown Toronto, but I have a few friends who work up there. Good southern Chinese restaurants, and good places to find new GSM cell phones. A lot of brown, but I'd say there are way more Chinese. Or at least there are more visible Chinese. There are entire malls that are Chinese all over the place.

Actually it's sad sometimes. I went to one mall and there were two bulk food places there. One was a shiathole run by Chinese. One was spotless, with much nicer stuff for reasonable prices, but it was run by I think a Portugese family. Guess which one was full of customers? (Yes. The shiathole was the one with all the customers.)

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Eug

Originally posted by: LocutusX
Eug, you live in those areas -- Markham/Scar-LEM?

I've heard that Scarlem is actually more "brown people" than Chinese now though.

I live in downtown Toronto, but I have a few friends who work up there. Good southern Chinese restaurants, and good places to find new GSM cell phones. A lot of brown, but I'd say there are way more Chinese. Or at least there are more visible Chinese. There are entire malls that are Chinese all over the place.

Actually it's sad sometimes. I went to one mall and there were two bulk food places there. One was a shiathole run by Chinese. One was spotless, with much nicer stuff for reasonable prices, but it was run by I think a Portugese family. Guess which one was full of customers? (Yes. The shiathole was the one with all the customers.)

I live in Markham. My area is actually mostly brown people. (Steeles/Middlefield)

The Chinese one?

 

[Eug]

The Chinese one?

Yeah, there's definitely reverse descrimination to a certain extent. (I edited in the answer to my post later.)

I can understand how one group of people when they come to North America like to stick with people from their own culture, but I think some just don't realize that they are being exclusionary too. OTOH, there a cell phone store run by a Caucasian guy in an otherwise all-Chinese mall, and that store gets a bazillion customers.

Mixing it up is good. Better for the gene pool.

 

[jai6638]

Imo India also has a younger population as compared to China which i guess would mean compartively more productivity

and decreasing and India..doesn't look like they'll "wake up" any time soon.

never thought i'd say this but surprisingly india has waken up and is taking certain measures such as improving infrastructure ( although this is not being done as fast as they could do it) which imo is what india needs now in addition to various reforms for the betterment of the economy ..However, China does still stand a better chance of becoming the next superpower..

 

[neonerd]

hehe

 

[DingDingDao]

Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong
If anyone moves to the {insert country here} they need to learn to speak {insert that country's national language}. If I moved to {insert country here} I'd need to learn thier national language.

I'm so sick of immigrants who have lived nearly thier entire lives in the States, and still refuse to learn even basic English.

You are aware that the United States has no official language, right?

 

[LocutusX]

Originally posted by: jai6638
never thought i'd say this but surprisingly india has waken up and is taking certain measures such as improving infrastructure ( although this is not being done as fast as they could do it) which imo is what india needs now in addition to various reforms for the betterment of the economy ..However, China does still stand a better chance of becoming the next superpower..

the population of india is very religious compared to china. this has held them back, and will continue to do so. the Caste system hurts them too.

i know immigrants who spent their entire life in India in a big city like Bombay, which is roughly equivalent to a 1st/2nd world Asian city -- when they go to a poor state, or the countryside, they act as if they're in another country... the same way "white folk" would act if they visited those parts.

India is also pre-occupied with Pakistan, which is a bit pathetic. It's like the big fat kid in the playground who starts crying the moment the skinny whiny kid throws a pebble at it -- rather than just launching himself at him and flattening the sh*t out of him.

 

[jai6638]

the population of india is very religious compared to china. this has held them back, and will continue to do so. the Caste system hurts them too.

true.... this does hurt india every now and then but it doesnt usually result in riots,etc ( riots make a big difference to india on the whole ) very often....

i know immigrants who spent their entire life in India in a big city like Bombay, which is roughly equivalent to a 1st/2nd world Asian city -- when they go to a poor state, or the countryside, they act as if they're in another country... the same way "white folk" would act if they visited those parts.

i dont get what you mean.... from what i do understand, people usually go from rural areas to urban cities and not vice versa..

It's like the big fat kid in the playground who starts crying the moment the skinny whiny kid throws a pebble at it -- rather than just launching himself at him and flattening the sh*t out of him.

thats a very immature comment to pass.. india cant just "flatten the s*** out of pakistan" else US would sanction restrictions/embargoes,etc and would result in countries turning against India which is definately not what India needs at this point of time.

India is also pre-occupied with Pakistan, which is a bit pathetic

well it really doesnt wanna be pre-occupied with pakistan but its forced to.... India spends a lot on defense budget coz of Pakistan and that does hurt India in a way as that same money could be used for the betterment of the country.. However, this is essential until a solution can be found. Removing indian soldiers from the boder will just result in more pakistanis entering indian borders...


What do you suggest India should do inorder to get rid of the problem with Pakistan?

 

[LocutusX]

Originally posted by: jai6638
i dont get what you mean.... from what i do understand, people usually go from rural areas to urban cities and not vice versa..

basically, too much of a disparity between city indians and rural indians. isn't that one of the major factors that got Mr. BJP kicked out of office?

What do you suggest India should do inorder to get rid of the problem with Pakistan?

I don't know, that was just a joke anyways. i understand that Pakistan has more power than it should, due to being propped up by various Western and Arab powers. India is doomed to have an antagonistic relationship with Pakistan, i think.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: homestarmy
Those damn chinese, it's their fault that our gas prices are so high.

No, but it is their fault that steel and aluminum prices are so high.

 

[BHeemsoth]

Originally posted by: Eug

Originally posted by: homestarmy
Those damn chinese, it's their fault that our gas prices are so high.

I drive a Prius.

when you went to the DMV to register that, did you trade in your man card?