From the Readers

Don't be afraid to learn Chinese

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-15 08:20

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times reported that a dispute had arisen because a program of Chinese classes is being funded by the Chinese government.

At the Los Angeles elementary school which adopted the program, a former school superintendent worried that the program was "a propaganda machine from the People's Republic of China that has no place anywhere in the United States". A former television personality who hosted a children's show and opposes the teaching of Chinese said that "doctrine will be part of the program."

Those comments are, of course, nonsense as the program is overseen by both the school principal and a teacher from that school. The school also has a population that is over one-third Asian, with most of those students being Chinese, making the teaching of Chinese quite logical.

The former superintendent said that those kids "need to be taught Americanism."

Although the superintendent's choice of words is problematic, I agree with his sentiment. American students do need to be taught "Americanism," that America has become a great nation because it is a country capable of accommodating a wide range of viewpoints.

It has always been an American ideal that the philosophy of the founding fathers was elastic enough to recognize a diversity of viewpoints and the inevitability of change.

Children are not being brainwashed by learning to speak Chinese and understand a different culture, any more than they are brainwashed when they learn math or science.

China is sometimes accused in the Western press of closing its doors and shutting itself off from the world. But the fact is, many more Chinese are going to schools in America than vice versa. Besides, English is taught in schools throughout China.

The Chinese apparently aren't afraid to learn English and send their students abroad to be "Americanized." This begs the question: why are some Americans so afraid when youngsters are exposed to China, particularly at a time when it is incumbent upon Americans to learn about the world's next superpower?

Patrick Mattimore, Beijing,via e-mail

Readers' comments are welcome. Please send your e-mail to opinion@chinadaily.com.cn or letters@chinadaily.com.cn or to the individual columnists. China Daily reserves the right to edit all letters. Thank you.

(China Daily 04/15/2010 page9)