Mandarin Chinese
Captain Cawley
lucy_hsucawley@srqit.sarasota.k12.fl.us
2008 Year of the Rat
CHINESE PAPER CUTTING
Chinese paper cutting is one of China’s most popular folk-arts. There are designs of dragons, birds, landscapes, people, flowers and sometimes Chinese characters. Most of the time the paper cut is done in one color. Sometimes the paper cuts can be made more colorful by painting them with watercolors or using several layers of different colored paper.
Here are some paper cuts that we did in the Chinese class:
The Character- Double Happiness Fish
WHY study Chinese?
Let other students taking Chinese tell you why!
· Chinese is fun and interesting which makes it easy to learn!
- Often we get together outside of the classroom to speak Chinese, celebrate Chinese holidays, make Chinese food, or watch Chinese movies – and have a lot of fun!
- Chinese is unusual – my friends took common foreign languages and they were jealous of me for taking such an interesting language! It’s a great conversation piece!
- The size of the class is small which makes it easier to learn and the teachers give you a lot of individualized attention.
Speaking Chinese is important for your career!
Mandarin Chinese is a resume-builder: knowing Chinese may give you an edge when competing for an important position!
For students wanting to be involved in business, China is, and will be a major player in international business. China is a wonderful country to study abroad, do a business or education internship in or teach English to Chinese speakers in. The experience is great and it is something one will never forget!
China will play a major role in world affairs in the future. China’s population of more than one billion accounts for a large percentage of the world’s population. As China continues to open up to the West, there will be opportunities for employment in all areas.
International business prefers to hire people who speak more than one language. China is one of the largest markets to work in, and companies are looking for people who can speak Mandarin Chinese.
Speaking Mandarin Chinese can provide career opportunities in private sector intelligence and security, international business, education, foreign diplomat service, government, and as a valuable translator.
Speaking Chinese is
useful!
This is great practice for your new language skills.
Learning Chinese language in high school will help you understand current events you may hear or read about in the news, and give opportunity to learn another language and experience the culture and traditions of mysterious China. Travel to a Chinese speaking country or to a neighboring Chinese restaurant to you a great foundation for taking a Chinese culture, literature or history course in college.
Learning Mandarin Chinese is a powerful exercise that is good for your brain and is being studied as a possible treatment strategy for brain injuries or people affected by a stroke.
The demand for business people who know Chinese
(Mandarin) is skyrocketing.
Speaking even a little Chinese can improve your
career opportunities in business.
Chinese is the #1 spoken language in the world!
There are more people speaking Chinese than
English. It’s the number one spoken language in the world.
FIRST CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION AT SMA! click here for more..
CHINESE LANGUAGE
INSTRUCTION POPULAR IN PUBLIC SCHOOL
(National School Board Association, November 8, 2005) Excerpt:
“With China poised to become the next global economic superpower,
policymakers say it’s essential that American schools expand their
Chinese studies. Worldwide, 1.4 billion people speak Chinese. An
estimated 30,000 to 50,000 K-12 students are now studying Chinese in
U.S. schools…”
NEXT FUTURE TREND: LEARN CHINESE
(Christian Science Monitor, November 8, 2005) Excerpt:
"Chicago itself is home to the largest effort to include Chinese in US
public schools. The program here has grown to include 3,000 students in
20 schools, with more schools on a waiting list. Programs have also
spread to places like Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and North
Carolina.”
GLOBAL
PERSPECTIVE: KNOW CHINA
(Philadelphia
Inquirer, October 31, 2005) Excerpt:
"In a push to prepare students for the ever-changing global marketplace,
the Philadelphia School District is expanding classes in Mandarin
Chinese - the most prevalent language in the world, yet largely
neglected by the nation's schools until the last few years. More than
1,700 students are taking Chinese this year at six district high schools
and three elementary schools -up from 900 two years ago."
CHINESE
AT 2,300 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AROUND THE
WORLD…. (Rediff.com,
India Abroad, October, 2005)
“The
number of foreign students in China, now 85,000, exceeds the number of
Chinese studying abroad. Not a bad record for a country still classified
as a developing nation. Globally, 2,300 colleges teach Chinese, with an
estimated 20 million people learning the language. With China's Internet
usage expanding rapidly, Mandarin users should overtake those using
English within a decade. The runaway success of baidu.com, a Google-type
Chinese language site, is testimony to the coming times.”
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