[lbo-talk] Asia rising.......

Jon Johanning zenner41 at mac.com
Sun Feb 6 20:27:44 PST 2005


On Feb 6, 2005, at 5:48 PM, Dennis Redmond wrote:


> No more so than any other language. Ideographic languages aren't
> necessarily more difficult than alphabetic languages; in some ways
> Chinese
> is simpler than English -- e.g. grammar.

Have you actually tried learning Chinese yourself? Or Japanese?

I'm not just talking about the writing systems -- though learning thousands of characters is a barrier that does tend to daunt all but the very determined. It's also the fact that these languages are completely outside the Indo-European family.

How many American students take and complete degrees in these languages compared with European languages?

Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________ When I was a little boy, I had but a little wit, 'Tis a long time ago, and I have no more yet; Nor ever ever shall, until that I die, For the longer I live the more fool am I. -- Wit and Mirth, an Antidote against Melancholy (1684)



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