Languages
Real Chinese Culture (not superficial)
What are people looking for when they talk about culture? Admittedly, holidays and festivals are part of culture and no culture program would be complete without them. Culture involves much more than things you can see. Business people are writing culture books that basically help corporations make money in China but there isn't much material out there that lets people in on the daily lives and concerns of Chinese people. Even the people that come here from the west that work in companies, don't really know what is happening around them. They live in the protected world of westernized places and can't really appreciate what they are seeing. I have a study done by Judge Law School, on my website, for business types, that makes a case for attempting to learn the language. Not so you can speak Chinese, but to gain a little respect from the people you work with. How would a westerner feel if a Chinese person was working in your country and had no interest in learning the local language? The last thing you would have is respect.
To really understand culture, it takes people with experience on both sides of the culture gap to explain it. There are a lot of myths about China that get reinforced simply because no one take the time to explain what is really happening. I have begun to try to bridge this gap in my summer immersion program by covering what Chinese people watch on TV, read in the newspapers, blog about, why education takes a primary role in all Chinese people's lives and what it is like to work for Chinese people.
People in China will rent out their nice apartments in the suburbs and move to a small apartment near the school their child attends to cut down on the commute for their child. It is really hard to rent an apartment in August because that is when students change schools. They move to a place near the primary school their child attends then again when they enter grade 7 and once again when they enter grade 10.
I am looking forward to people adding insights about real culture, not just holidays. Chinese teachers that live in the western world could write their impressions about what they see as different in the west. That would help westerners understand Chines culture more.
To learn the language, I recommend the free 2-year course. It is free to download from my website and to learn the culture, have a look at my immersion school and see it that hits the mark at the same website.
Kurt Hamm
Comments
RE:Real Chinese Culture (not superficial)
Rural women
Wu Qing Development Center for Rural Women believes that empowering women with skills to work outside the home increases their sense of self esteem and improve their quality of life.
I agree with you the importance of promoting a real mutual understanding of the Chinese and western cultures and like the quality of the instruction material provided at your web site. In my book "Learn Chinese through Songs and Rhymes", I've included both western and Chinese songs as well as many cultural bits to help foster an understanding of the Chinese culture. There is so much to tell that cannot be covered in a single volume. That's why I'm also posting articles at my Learn Chinese Weekly blog to continue to help bridge the gap between east and west through miscellaneous comments, observations, and, yes of course, songs.
http://teachmechinese.wordpress.com
Traditional Chinese Culture covers large geographical territories, where each region is usually divided into distinct sub-cultures. Each region is often represented by three ancestral items. For example Guangdong is represented by chenpi, aged ginger and hay.