Importance of having kids to learn Chinese | 讓孩子學中文的重要性 - 談談孩子的教和養（四)
I had discussions with my friends who are living overseas. There is one common topic among all the discussions : Chinese for next generation. All of them would like their kids (who are all born overseas, in US, Canada, and Australia) learn how to speak, read and write Chinese. Reason behind this was very simple: just want the kids to speak their parents' mother tongue so that there will be something from their root remain with them when they grow up.
我跟身處他鄉的朋友們談過很多東西，其中有一個其同的題目：下一代能使用中文。他們都希望孩子們能學習如何說和讀寫中文。原因基本是都是簡單的希望能傳承自己原來的文化。
In fact, there are many foreigner parents that I know would like their kids to learn Chinese in their early ages because of the perceived value as a commerce and business language. Non of them seems to aware of another benefit of studying Chinese - it stimulates different parts of the brain!
事實上，很多外國人都希望他們的孩子能學習中文。因為他們覺得中文是一種商場上要用到的語言。似乎沒有人知道學習中文的另一個好處 - 它能刺激腦袋不同的部分！
This topic came up a few years back during a reunion of my fellow classmates in university and some of our lecturers. One of the lecturer who is also now a good friend of us bought up an interesting topic : Researchers use MRI to study brain activities of people who study English and Chinese. Results showed that studying Chinese utilized both size of our brain while studying English only use left side of it. As per our lecturer friend, that study kind of supporting the observation that Chinese students were usually more proficient over English speaking students (at least before university study). That was an interesting discussion which kept us entertained for the whole evening.
早在幾年前的一個大學舊生聚會，我們的一個教授朋友提起一個有趣的議題：有研究利用磁力共振去研究學生在學習中文和英文時的不同的腦部活動。當時他說研究結果顯示學習中文會同時用到左，右兩邊腦部。學習英語則只會用到左邊腦。他亦說研究似乎認為有學習中文的學生比起只學習英語的學生在學術成績上一般比較優勝就是這個原因。我們當晚亦圍繞着這題目談個不亦樂乎！
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I recently googled for related information and here were some of links for you to go deeper in this topic:
Chinese speakers use more of their brain than English speakers
Learning Chinese Pays Dividends: Of Characters and Cognition
Why do scientists claim that learning Chinese makes you smarter?
我最近搜集了一些關於這些研究的資料，上面是其中幾個有關的網頁。有興趣的可以從那裡着手再作更深入的探討。
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Those studies showing that English speakers showed evidence of activity in the brain's left hemisphere (temporal lobes)when comprehending English. On the other hand, Chinese speakers use both temporal lobes of their brain! Here is a brief summary of why:
Chinese speakers use intonation to distinguish between completely different meanings of particular words
Learning to write Chinese characters, that are more complex in structure (strokes in all four directions), requires sequential movement of the fingers and hand activates neural activities in the working, thinking and spatial memory of the brain of the learners.
During natural acquisition process of Chinese, students learn basic mathematical concepts, such as counting, grouping, ordering, and identifying similarities and differences.
這些研究指出以純英語用家只會用到左邊腦顳葉來理解英語。而會使用中文的人在理解中文時在左右兩邊的顳葉都顯示出有活動的跡象。簡單來說原因是：
- 中文用戶利用語調/聲調來分辨同一個中文字的完全不同的意義/解釋
- 由於中文字結構比較英文字複雜(涉及四個不同方向的筆劃), 書寫中文字所需的手和手指的活動會激發對行動，思考和空間記憶的腦部活動。
- 在學習中文的過程中，學生同時亦會學習到基本的數學概念，例如計算，分組，排序及對類似和不同的辨認。
When I was in secondary school, I was not interested in English and Chinese, therefore, I put only limited effort in these 2 subjects and of course, my language skills lagged behind my schoolmates and that made me suffered quite a bit after I started my career. That's why I am not going to let my daughters to make the same mistakes again. I tried my best to keep them focus on all the languages as well as Mathematics and general sciences subjects during there current study stages (primary school). This is to build a better foundation for them to pursue knowledge in later stages.
中學時代的我對於中，英文兩科可以說是零興趣，所以亦沒有投放任何努力去學習，亦導致我的語文水平落後於同期的同學，使我踏足社會工作後亦吃了不少虧。我當然不會讓女兒們再犯同一個錯誤。我盡量使她們對語文和數理科都投入相同的注視。希望能令她們打好基礎。
As time goes by, I am seeing more and more importance of languages, mostly being a tool of communications. Now, it is proven that learning languages actually improve your brain power and help you acquire other knowledge. Put more attention to your kids' languages learning if you have not yet do so! Especially, Chinese!
工作的日子越長，越感到語文在與人溝通上的重要性。再加上已經被證實了對腦部發展的幫助。所以大家應該多些關注孩子們的語言學習。特別是中文呀！
Another thing to mention is that the kind of mindset and emotion you have towards saying a sentence in a different language really stands out. For me I speak English and Malay, and I can get the local mindset and approach from its language. It's truly fasinating!
Chinese is not a language, but close :)
I am actually learning a tonal language right now - Thai and I am noticing a big difference in the way I look at the world, because of it. It's changing up my neural pathways for sure! It's so interesting how learning a new language changes everything. I already speak English and Hindi fluently, and Spanish not so fluently. But every time, I learn a new language, I notice a difference inside my mental focus and neural pathways. Thanks for sharing!
I would like to try Spanish if I have some free time.
If you speak English, I find Spanish to be a really easy language to learn. :)
really? Let me check it out!
Absolutely!! Latin-based languages are very similar to each other and easier to learn once you know one. :)
所以我們會說中文的,兩邊大腦應該是滿平均運作的! XD
對. 似乎我們的文化先天的有這個優勢. 要孩子們好好的利用呀.
在国外的下一代很少愿意学中文 我朋友的孩子们大多选择不学 我得把这文章给他们看 ；）
如能這文章真的可以令這些下一代開始學習中文，那還算有點效用。
I think Mandarin Chinese is overrated.
https://steemit.com/education/@llange/what-s-the-best-international-language-to-learn
I was not intended to talk about if Mandarin Chinese worth studying as an international language. This article is to point out the fact that studying Chinese (not just Mandarin) will help development of your brain. In fact, any kind of languages with characters in blocks, picture-style should have similar effects on your brain.
@guyverckw, I believe that what you have written here is correct. I am a native English speaker, and I learned Mandarin Chinese in college. I enjoyed it very much. The language is very easy to learn to speak, fun to learn to read, and challenging to learn to write. Unfortunately, I did not continue to stay fluent (this was many years before the internet), and have forgotten most of it from disuse. It would be a great benefit for all students to learn Chinese as early as Elementary school, and continue learning through High School.
At least you should have been benefited by your Chinese study at that time, right?
Absolutely! It was a lot of fun to learn and practice, and the whole learning process was a benefit in the ways your article mentioned.
increible post me gusta saludos sige publicando mas
Excellent article,I did know this much about how learning a new language like Chinese affects the brain in a good way. Thank you for sharing :)
Chinese are slowly taking over the planet, buying land and businesses all over the place... if you can speak Chinese you can converse with your masters!