At 12:55 AM 9/1/2006, you wrote:
>Dear Karen and all,
>
>Just a reminder. Any language is a tool. And 
>like any other tool, language is also designed 
>to perform a certain task. The essential task 
>related to language as a tool is communication. 
>And communication is first and foremost an 
>economical and socio-political performance.

>
>So, this being said, in the current case Chinese 
>may - or may not! - indeed be a must worldwide, 
>sooner or later; just as were Greek, Arabic, 
>Persian, and Latin a few centuries ago, and then 
>Spanish, Portuguese, French, and now English. It 
>won't then be a matter of choice, the tool 
>"Chinese" will be somehow imposed upon us all, 
>and we'll have to learn it.  Thank God Tao and 
>many of you of Chinese descent assure us that it 
>want be so difficult to learn it.
>
>The most crucial issue now is to devise as 
>minutiously as possible what exactly  we, 
>individually and collectively, mean to do with 
>such a tool. What do we want to achieve as an end result.
>
>Shall we start learning Chinese just to allow us 
>to move around more easily while on a short 
>visit in Chinese speaking countries? Or else, as 
>design technicians, we'll need to master some 
>Chinese just to enable us to perform some 
>relatively basic and intermediate designing and 
>communication jobs assigned to us?
>
>At a different level, however, we may also need 
>to master Chinese in order to be able to join, 
>as designers, in material culture politics, 
>those pertaining to Chinese speaking communities 
>as well as those affecting us all worldwide (re. 
>John Heskett's conclusion in the Cox Review)
>
>Each of these above language purposes requires a 
>corresponding level of mastery, and an 
>appropriate learning strategy. It is upon these 
>more fundamental issues, particularly the last 
>one that concerns us most, at the PhD level, that I am suggesting to ponder.
>
>François
>Montréal


Dear François and all,

I read this and earnestly I don't know how I am going to say. I really don't.
Its really 3+ in the morning. But I think I 
should try earnestly to respond  as much as I can
for now because I am only free to make long replies towards the weekends.

I have only read part of the Cox review so I am 
in not in the position yet to comment on that.
But my impression so far is Britain is ready to move on.

I did consult people offlist and those over on 
the other forums  if the rise of China would mean that learning the language
would be important. They are aware that people 
can have their own choices and no one can enforce those
choices as this is a free world. I agree with 
that thinking too. One could take upon the theory that the language
learning is not important or partially 
unnecessary. They could come up with their own 
ways that they think would enable
them to learn the way people work. If they can do 
so, they could. There are genuinely some subjects that would be
best learn in the native tongue. In my 
opinion,without the language, it is hard to understand.

English is my second culture and sometimes I don't feel
comfortable writing and even speaking in it 
because they are totally different to what I am used to.
But I know I must do the language to learn the culture
so I will know how to solve problems in the 
western world. I could have a choice
to ignore it as a child. However had I done that, 
I would have also missed the many wonderful learning experiences that I have
earned through my years in England and in North 
America. I would also not be able to understand
what this forum of scholars have to say. I 
cultivate a habit that whenever I go to a different
country, I will try to learn or at least 
understand how the language works there. It helps
me to observe how cultures are form and how 
people think. Language opens doors to the various ways of thinking.
  It certainly opens mine. And because I do this 
often I understand that language is something I must always
respect and do it wholeheartedly. Its a shortcut to solve problems in humanity.

Don't think I am going to sleep today but I will 
use the time to write something instead.


Sincerely yours,
Karen Fu