China, Chinese and Ireland
Published Saturday, September 24, 2005 by Kevin Breathnach | E-mail this post
This fair Isle we call Ireland is doing pretty well for itself at the moment. We find ourselves positioned as the second richest nation in the EU, while coming 8th in the Open Republic's list of economically free nations. I'm no economist, so I'll make a bland statement most people will agree on. It's fair to say that - proportionate to our size and population, as well as our recent history of decline and depression - we have reason enough to be cheerful.
At the same time, Communist China seems, finally, to be opening-up its markets (and, hopefully, its society) to liberalisation. With a population of over one billion people, it's obvious that open Chinese markets will present huge opportunity in the near and later future for global businesses. In this age of globalisation, when even a venerable New York institution like IBM has sold its most visible element to the Chinese, it's clear that we in the West must adapt.
In New York, affluent parents have commenced that adaptation. They are hiring Chinese nannies - who will speak only mandarin to the kids - in order to equip their children for the challenges Chinese prosperity and power will bring to the globalised economy, were Mandarin may soon become the new English. Indeed, reports such as this one suggest that without a sizeable proportion of a population speaking Mandarin within the next 10 years, the prosperity of a nation - in this case America - is likely to be hit, and hit hard.
So, were does Ireland stand on the issue? Currently, and I'm sorry to disappoint the two year- olds reading, we don't hire Chinese nannies to teach our youngins' Mandarin. That's okay though, it's an extravagant idea. We don't see it on our Leaving Cert curriculum, this is slightly worrying, but its early days yet. However, a recent attendant of the Irish Times' Higher Option Conference, I was surprised to find that no Irish 3rd level institution currently offers a degree or diploma in Mandarin, the official language of China. The closest one can get to studying Chinese is as a minor part of UCD's Horizon's programme. Fluency is unlikely under the programme, and one won't actually obtain a degree in Madarin, thus leaving us behind on the international CV wars. Universities thoughout the countries offer languages ranging from Russia to Welsh, so Mandarin's absence is, indeed, very worrying.
The old idea - that Irish have a seeming disability with languages - may go some way towards justifying the absence of a degree in the complex language. However, it's not as bad as it is sometimes made out to be. A quick look for language degrees and their take-up shows that more than a quick look is needed to find the information sought. However, Arts and Social Science degrees remain the most popular degree areas and if one looks at the points needed for languages, they aren't that low, indicating take-up isn't insubstantial. Also, Leaving Cert results spanning the last three years show that a very small proportion of students actually fail their language exams.
If Ireland wants to keep its economic playa' title in the age of globalisation, we must make greater strides towards embracing the Chinese language. Steps such as this and other movements towards greater cultural understanding are a first, but they jump around the primary concern - to be able to speak with Chinese and the Chinese market is more important right now than to be able to discuss Chinese history and culture. Degree programmes such as these in DCU, whereby one studies both International Business and a language - in this case, Mandarin - would be perfect for all our budding young entrepreneurs and high-flyers eager to take advantage of the new economic opportunities in China.
At the same time, Communist China seems, finally, to be opening-up its markets (and, hopefully, its society) to liberalisation. With a population of over one billion people, it's obvious that open Chinese markets will present huge opportunity in the near and later future for global businesses. In this age of globalisation, when even a venerable New York institution like IBM has sold its most visible element to the Chinese, it's clear that we in the West must adapt.
In New York, affluent parents have commenced that adaptation. They are hiring Chinese nannies - who will speak only mandarin to the kids - in order to equip their children for the challenges Chinese prosperity and power will bring to the globalised economy, were Mandarin may soon become the new English. Indeed, reports such as this one suggest that without a sizeable proportion of a population speaking Mandarin within the next 10 years, the prosperity of a nation - in this case America - is likely to be hit, and hit hard.
So, were does Ireland stand on the issue? Currently, and I'm sorry to disappoint the two year- olds reading, we don't hire Chinese nannies to teach our youngins' Mandarin. That's okay though, it's an extravagant idea. We don't see it on our Leaving Cert curriculum, this is slightly worrying, but its early days yet. However, a recent attendant of the Irish Times' Higher Option Conference, I was surprised to find that no Irish 3rd level institution currently offers a degree or diploma in Mandarin, the official language of China. The closest one can get to studying Chinese is as a minor part of UCD's Horizon's programme. Fluency is unlikely under the programme, and one won't actually obtain a degree in Madarin, thus leaving us behind on the international CV wars. Universities thoughout the countries offer languages ranging from Russia to Welsh, so Mandarin's absence is, indeed, very worrying.
The old idea - that Irish have a seeming disability with languages - may go some way towards justifying the absence of a degree in the complex language. However, it's not as bad as it is sometimes made out to be. A quick look for language degrees and their take-up shows that more than a quick look is needed to find the information sought. However, Arts and Social Science degrees remain the most popular degree areas and if one looks at the points needed for languages, they aren't that low, indicating take-up isn't insubstantial. Also, Leaving Cert results spanning the last three years show that a very small proportion of students actually fail their language exams.
If Ireland wants to keep its economic playa' title in the age of globalisation, we must make greater strides towards embracing the Chinese language. Steps such as this and other movements towards greater cultural understanding are a first, but they jump around the primary concern - to be able to speak with Chinese and the Chinese market is more important right now than to be able to discuss Chinese history and culture. Degree programmes such as these in DCU, whereby one studies both International Business and a language - in this case, Mandarin - would be perfect for all our budding young entrepreneurs and high-flyers eager to take advantage of the new economic opportunities in China.
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