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Not sure how this thread shifted from the xenophobic topic to language, but any talk about English being the language that will bring economic miracles to every place is not going to happen. The Philippines has a lot of problems hampering its economic growth, there's corruption in the government and it has too many people that rice has to be imported. It does not have petroleum like Indonesia and any cheap power sources (hydroelectricity or other sources) is not enough to provide cheap electricity. With too many people and having a disadvantage in manufacturing, the Philippines has shifted to more service-oriented industries. With friendly attitudes and English skills, there are many Filipinos working as nurses, caregivers, domestic helpers, seamen, cruise ship workers, etc. English has served it well, and there is definitely more opportunities for the Philippines due to that. It does not mean other countries will have their economy stagnate because they do not speak English. Nor will any country's economy shoot up just because of English. If anything, English just prevented the Philippines from sinking to the level of Pakistan and Bangladesh by having a more global outlook and working overseas or in international businesses when local opportunities are limited. English can most likely help the Philippines go up to the GDP per capita level of Thailand but still below Malaysia. At that time, it has to do something else for the economy to improve further. In any case, I believe the level of development in the Philippines is not as bad as those GDP numbers will let you believe. There is a severe case of under reporting in those figures due to corruption.
Sounds like a pretty accurate analysis to me. I think America was instrumental in globalising the Philippines, which facilitated all these Filipinos working overseas. I'm quite amazed there are as many Filipino Americans as Chinese Americans too.
Not sure how this thread shifted from the xenophobic topic to language, but any talk about English being the language that will bring economic miracles to every place is not going to happen. The Philippines has a lot of problems hampering its economic growth, there's corruption in the government and it has too many people that rice has to be imported. It does not have petroleum like Indonesia and any cheap power sources (hydroelectricity or other sources) is not enough to provide cheap electricity. With too many people and having a disadvantage in manufacturing, the Philippines has shifted to more service-oriented industries. With friendly attitudes and English skills, there are many Filipinos working as nurses, caregivers, domestic helpers, seamen, cruise ship workers, etc. English has served it well, and there is definitely more opportunities for the Philippines due to that. It does not mean other countries will have their economy stagnate because they do not speak English. Nor will any country's economy shoot up just because of English. If anything, English just prevented the Philippines from sinking to the level of Pakistan and Bangladesh by having a more global outlook and working overseas or in international businesses when local opportunities are limited. English can most likely help the Philippines go up to the GDP per capita level of Thailand but still below Malaysia. At that time, it has to do something else for the economy to improve further. In any case, I believe the level of development in the Philippines is not as bad as those GDP numbers will let you believe. There is a severe case of under reporting in those figures due to corruption.
Well the population issue has been addressed by the RH Law. Free birth control for everyone, and they're very willing to use it. The vast majority of the population is ok with it. So if overpopulation and corruption are the main things holding the country back, well they finally got a solution to one of them.
If you are fully fluent in both Chinese and English, you will realize that Chinese is has many advantages that western languages don't.
Let me give you a few example - names of various fish in English have nothing to do with each other (perch, bass, grouper, whatever), but in Chinese, you can tell by seeing the words that they are a certain kind of fish. The same goes for many other animals, objects, clothing etc. For example, without first knowing the word "shirt", one can't guess it is a type of clothes, without knowing the word "pneumonia" one won't know it has anything to do with the lungs (unless you know latin?), while in Chinese just by looking at those words, you know what it basically means (a kind of clothes, an infection of the lung).
Each Chinese character has so much more information than an English letter or words, which is translated into different languages, Chinese is almost always the shortest (at least 30% shorter than the English version).
It is extremely naive to say "pictorial languages will soon be phased out". Chinese speakers represent 20% of world population, and I don't see any sign China will use an alphabet based system, which looked primitive in most Chinese' eyes as every word looks so dry and lack in history/story - they are nothing but a random combination of 26 letters.
Each language has its own advantages and disadvantages. I do not see those examples as particularly advantageous. Yes, they're kinds of fish, but alligators are not fish, contrary to what it is called in the Chinese language. I would also rather call it hippopotamus even though its roots are the same as its Chinese name, "river horse"... it's not a horse.
Some of Chinese's advantages over some other languages is its semantic density per character and its numbering system. The fact is, China never colonized much of the world so it won't be a world language to anywhere near as large an extent as English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Arabic (though Arabic's colonization was a slow, lasting creep among contiguous areas).
Some of Chinese's advantages over some other languages is its semantic density per character and its numbering system. The fact is, China never colonized much of the world so it won't be a world language to anywhere near as large an extent as English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Arabic (though Arabic's colonization was a slow, lasting creep among contiguous areas).
Anyhow.
I think Chinese is still rising, especially in Asia, with many non-Chinese learning it.
I think Chinese is still rising, especially in Asia, with many non-Chinese learning it.
Undoubtedly, but that's not really my point. There is unlikely going to be a period in the near future where any country or large portions of the world will switch to Chinese as its native language.
Learning Mandarin is on the rise throughout many parts of the world. Though honestly, from what I've seen, it's a lot like second language acquisition for any language that isn't English where the vast majority of people who take it will learn for a bit, but will never really be able to hold a real conversation in it.
^
Wow, some nasty hateful comments. Am sure there are some bad apples among the foreign workers, but the majority have to be hard workers and law abiding citizens. I doubt the Philippines wants to take over Singapore. I think it's just people that are insecure or not comfortable that think that.
Well in America you have illegal aliens coming into the country that don't even try to assimilate to the country. At least there the foreigners come to work with visas. I wish we could do the same in the States.
PH economic model is same as Singapore and to some level, India, which are all service driven economy. If its not for Filipinos and Indians, Singapore won't survive as service secotor is a labor intensive sector. Whatever skills needed to fuel Singapore service industry can also be found to Indians and Filipinos.
SIngaporeans must shoot the game not the players.
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