Re: OT: languages (was chip designs)

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 18:13:16 GMT, the renowned Joerg
<notthisjoergsch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hello Spehro,


This is getting way OT.


T'is quite normal 'round here.


A teacher should not be hard to find- most any native speaker with a
good Beijing accent and a university degree (and hopefully some
teaching skills) would do.


A native speaker is an absolute must, IMHO. I have learned foreign
languages and the long term success was directly proportional to
exposure and not at all to academic grades. If you don't use a language
among natives of that country or, ideally, by living in that country for
a long time, most people will lose those skills fast.

A really sad thing-- many Chinese kids take English in school
(probably like I had to take French, but with little chance to use it,
little remains in adulthood). I was talking with a woman leading a
group of kids when I was in Sichuan last year-- she spoke haltingly
and was *very* hard to understand in English, even though I was fully
acclimatized and I'm used to that kind of accent. Turns out she was
the childrens' English *teacher*. Probably she's great with the
written language, of course.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@xxxxxxxxxxxx Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
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