School's In

Day after day
Day after day
We study English every day
Don't be lazy that's the way
We study hard day after day


China is old. For some odd reason, I take comfort in that. I think the Chinese do, too. And from the knowledge of how long their civilization has been around (5000 years - give or take), it seems they possess a deep and abiding faith in their culture. Not much seems to shake them. From what I've seen so far, they harbor a belief that if you're going to do something you might as well try to do it right (unless, of course, you're selling pet food to the United States). I can only speak comparing China to some of the other countries we've visited. So many of them just can't seem to get ANYTHING together. I used to worry about visiting India before it changed too much. I might have said the same thing about Laos or Cambodia or Honduras or any number of a handful of other developing countries. Now I think there is not so much to worry about. I will be old and gray before some of these places start to look like the US or Europe. There are countries that seem to be on an effective path of development and some that aren't. For better or worse, China's on that path.

Thirty-five years ago China had one of the very lowest per capita incomes on earth. Twenty-eight years of Mao Tse Tung drove the country into the dirt. Today China is among the more comfortable places we've traveled. Growth (again, for better or worse) is evident everywhere. The Chinese, as a people, seem to have said we're going to modernize and get with the Global program.

The photo above is from a small, ethnic village in rural Guizhou Province (the poorest province in China). They're starting the kids on English at nine years of age. Recently, the government in Beijing declared that all primary students in the COUNTRY will learn English. Prior to that, middle and secondary students studied it. We've talked to some young people fresh out of college. Before they graduate, they must pass certain levels of CERT (College English something or other...) exams to graduate. There is such an immense amount of pressure to be proficient in English that written Chinese is being neglected. (Everyone speaks Chinese but it takes a virtual lifetime to learn the thousands upon thousands of Chinese characters.)

Are the Chinese afraid of the language of their primary rival, the US? Do they let the official history of "imperialist aggression" and "exploitation" suffered at the hands of "capitalist roaders" cow them into thinking "it's the Chinese way or the highway"? Nope. They know, just like any business person anywhere, that English is and will be increasingly essential for global business. They're on it. Look out.