China

[thewizeard]

In any case China will not fall apart, in fact it's heading to be the world's financial hub and the axis where the rest of the world economies will be revolving around. Within 20 years we all might even have to learn Chinese as it barges the English language from it's number 1 position....take heed...

all this of course if we get past 2012 and the return of Niberu.. lol



..which, we might not.

[peat moss]

I think we should teach our children Mandarin or Cantonese in school instead of French like we do in Canada . Having a second language would give our children a step up .

Children learn so fast if given an opportunity .

[clocker]

Within 20 years we all might even have to learn Chinese as it barges the English language from it's number 1 position....take heed...

Unlikely, although learning a second language is a good thing anyway.
China, divided by many dialects and an unwieldy language, has pretty much adopted English as the official language of business and science.

To read a Chinese newspaper, one must be conversant with at least 3000 characters and official dictionaries contain 40,000 +, so a Chinese keyboard can be a nightmare.
Furthermore, a character's definition is fluid, depending on context and intonation, so Chinese, which can be extraordinarily precise when spoken, is poorly suited to written mediums.

No doubt that as influence accumulates in the East, elements of Chinese language will become integrated in world culture but I think it's unlikely to totally displace simpler languages like English or Spanish.