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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mary Cluney who wrote (128259)	7/29/2005 7:52:12 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793777

They both succeeded because they had english as a second language. In the case of Singapore, their Prime Minister (Lee) mandated the teaching of english in their school systems. They also need English as a universal language in China. We think of them as speaking Mandarin and Cantonese, but there are many dialects, and English will solve this problem.

To: Mary Cluney who wrote (128259)	8/5/2005 7:00:27 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 793777

"That should be no contest. They have to overcome their (relatively) primitive language and kludgy language interface with computers and computer technology. For them to compete, they have to basically learn a second language. Singapore and Hong Kong are the model. They both succeeded because they had english as a second language. In the case of Singapore, their Prime Minister (Lee) mandated the teaching of english in their school systems. They can only succeed if they become proficient in english. India is another example. They are succeeding because their educated class are all proficient in english. China and India (and especially China) have a lot to overcome to compete with us. But, we are squandering all our advantages." It turns out that people who learn to speak chinese have brain activity in an area of the brain usually dormant. When they do learn a second language such as English, they seems to have certain advantages over others. Yes they are a backwater. This is one of the reasons the ruling council has kept the exchange rate artificially low. If their standard of living had increased at a natural rate their expectations for the future might be unrealistically high. I still want to point out that we agree that better education in the US is essential for our continued economic success.