The Influence the Chinese Language on Asia

The Influence the Chinese Language on Asia What Role Does Chinese Play in Other Asian Countries? Chapters Chinese Characters in Japanese The Impact of Chinese Culture in Korea The Tumultuous History of China and Vietnam The Four Official Languages of SingaporeIn addition to places where Chinese is spoken as an official language such as mainland China and Taiwan (Republic of China), the influence of the Chinese language can be seen on a number of other places in Asia...Both culturally and linguistically, Old Chinese, which was a monosyllabic and tonal language, was responsible for the birth of a number of different writing systems and languages in Southeast Asia.Its influence was so great that we can even find Chinese words in European languages and in English including: “tea” and “ketchup” which came from the Chinese words ? (tê) and ??/?? (koe-tsiap).While Chinese is now a great language to be able to put on your CV, was this always the case?Why were Chinese characters so widely adopted across Asia?In this article, we're going to be taking a look at the history and inf luence of Chinese languages on a few other Asian languages.Learn also how to speak Mandarin's four tones... NingChinese Teacher 5.00 (10) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LorraineChinese Teacher £10/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JoyceChinese Teacher £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicoleChinese Teacher £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors KatyChinese Teacher £16/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YangChinese Teacher £18/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ChengChinese Teacher £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Chinese Characters in JapaneseA country known for manga, anime, sushi, and samurai, Japan is a country whose culture was heavily influenced by China and the Chinese language.Japan has been considering abandoning the Chinese characters in its alphabet since the end of the 19th century. (Source: pixabay.com)In fact, Chinese vocabul ary is responsible for around 60% of Japanese words yet very few people are aware that Japanese and Mandarin Chinese have so many things in common. There are a number of Japanese things that actually originated from China or Chinese culture.Written Chinese is thought to have made its way to Japan as early as the 4th century. However, there are claims that  Japan had its own writing system known as jindai moji but most evidence appears to be forgeries since examples of the writing system have been based on Modern Japanese, which has fewer vowels than its Old Japanese.Additionally, there are even texts written around the time using the Chinese characters that state that there was no such writing system in Japan before the Chinese characters were brought over. Scholars also believe that it seems highly unlikely that the Japanese would abandon such a writing system so quickly just because the Chinese introduced another one.On the other hand, there are also texts in existence written usi ng the jindai moji from the time period they would have been used and during the 19th century, there were claims that examples of ancient writing had been found.Whatever the truth is, the Chinese characters were widely adopted and although only  the upper echelons of Japanese society learnt Chinese and wrote Chinese characters in order to communicate with one another, that would soon change.Chinese made its most important marks on Japan and Japanese culture between the 6th century during the times of Asuka and Nara and the 12th century during the Heian period.The presence of Chinese in the heart of the Land of the Rising Sun can still be seen most clearly in the written language as many Chinese characters are still present in written Japanese .Also learn about the Chinese phonetic writing system...  These Chinese characters, which are known as Kanji in Japanese, are used alongside Japan’s two other writing systems, Hiragana and Katakana, which are used for grammatical words and th e transcription of foreign words.While often, and rightly, seen as a country in its own right, Japan remains heavily associated with Chinese culture. In fact, Japan has tried, often in vain, to separate itself from its Chinese roots and, as of the 19th century and during periods of modernisation, has tried to rid itself of Chinese characters.Despite well-intentioned and official attempts, Japan has been unable to rid itself of the characters, usually due to the fact that there’s no other writing system to replace them. As a result, there aren't any modern dictionaries in Japan where you wouldn't find a word that comes from a Chinese character.Find out more about China’s linguistic history. The Impact of Chinese Culture in KoreaThe first foreign country to make a significant mark on Korean culture was China.At a time where Chinese culture was revered, the Koreans took inspiration from it. (Source: pixabay.com)As early as the 5th century BCE, the Chinese Empire was seen as a model civilisation by the Koreans and a number of Chinese influences can be seen to this day.Thus, under the influence of the Tang dynasty, one of the most advanced in the history of China, Korea incorporated a number of Chinese traditions.Culturally speaking, the Middle Kingdom influenced the Koreans in the following ways:Agriculture: through the different technologies of the time for cultivating rice and barley.Law: the drafting of the first civil code and the adoption of an administrative model as of the 7th century.China also influenced Korea in terms of language with the adoption of Chinese ideograms.I learned all about writing Chinese ideograms from my Superprof when she was hosting Mandarin lessons London!Until the invention of the simplified Korean “Hangul” alphabet in the 15th century at the time of King Sejong the Great during the Joseon Dynasty (which helped Koreans learn to read and write), “Hanja” ??, the Chinese characters still used today, were used alongside Korea n characters.The influence of Chinese characters can be seen in the “hanmun” texts written using Hanja which formed the basis of classical Chinese grammar.There is very little difference between “hanja” and Japanese “kanji”, which both heavily resemble traditional Chinese characters or “hanzi”, other than a few exceptions that are used to identify the characters as Korean rather than Japanese or Chinese.It’s thought that between 60% and 70% of Korean’s vocabulary is made up of Sino-Korean words.  Ironically, Korean is spoken today in the People’s Republic of China in the border regions of Yanbian.Find out more about Chinese variations and dialects! The Tumultuous History of China and VietnamAt the risk of burning my fingers by writing about the hot topic of “China’s influence on Vietnam”, let’s have a look at the history and relationship between these two countries.This is surely not a topic you will cover in your Chinese classes London or elsewhere!Acc ording to legend, Vietnamese and Cantonese were born from one language. (Source: Vincent Liew)Given how controversial the topic is, it can be quite difficult to find trustworthy information on the subject.  This is generally due to the fact that the reasons why certain people are trying fervently to show that the Vietnamese are Chinese (or vice-versa) are very political.In terms of linguistics, we know that Chinese and Vietnamese belong to two different language families. However, you could say that they’re sort of like cousins or neighbours.Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family while Vietnamese belongs to the Austroasiatic language family. Thus, their structures are different. Diametrically opposed, in fact.So how can we go so far as to claim that their are similarities between the two languages?Discover everything you need to know about the Chinese language...The PhoneticsIn fact, while there are also certain grammatical similarities between Mandarin Chinese in som e cases, the phonetic similarities between Cantonese and Vietnamese are even greater.For example, Vietnamese uses 6 different tones just like its neighbour, Cantonese. While they’re obviously not the same 6 tones, there is still this similarity.While the language is more similar to ancient Chinese, there is a clear Cantonese influence on Vietnamese due to the historical relationship between the two regions.The linguistic links between the two formed in the Guangdong delta by descendants of the Yue in northern Vietnam can be seen in the administrative and technical vocabulary found in certain parts of Vietnam.Some Vietnamese words (around 90% in some cases) can be traced back to Chinese as well as the characters used in “Ch? nôm”.Since Ch? nôm is very complicated, it’s only used by the highly literate elites and has almost been fully replaced by the “qu?c ng?” writing system that uses the Latin alphabet.If there are any tutors who teach Chinese reading this article, don ’t hesitate to share your experiences of teaching Vietnamese students as we’ve heard a number of stories claiming that it can be very easy for them to learn Mandarin Chinese including claims that there are first year university students who’ve managed to reach the same level as second year or graduating students in significantly less time.Find out more about learning Chinese. The Four Official Languages of SingaporeDespite being a small country in both terms of land and population, Singapore is a huge country when it comes to the number of ethnic groups and languages.Singapore is an autonomous republic with no linguistic laws. (Source: pixabay.com)Of all the ethnic groups in Singapore, the Chinese population is the biggest.  In terms of “Chinese” groups, there are:Taiwanese or “Min nan”MandarinsHakkaCantonesePu-xianMin beiBabaHuiThe country is comprised of four main linguistic groups, one for each of the country’s official languages. Mandarin Chinese is the language spoken by most of the Chinese-speaking inhabitants.While there’s a tendency for Mandarin households to also speak English, we can confirm that Mandarin makes up part of the city-state’s multilingual landscapeIf you’re thinking about working in China and getting Chinese lessons, which variety of Chinese should you consider learning?

When to Push or Back Off to Help Pupils Develop Higher Order Thinking Skills

When to Push or Back Off to Help Pupils Develop Higher Order Thinking Skills Higher Order Thinking: Should Tutors Push Those Skills? ChaptersThe Back Story: Teaching VictorHigher Order Thinking and Academic LearningTutors Can Encourage Higher Order ThinkingHigher Order Thinking QuestionsPrivate tutors are in the enviable position of having great influence in helping their students develop, cultivate shape their thought processes.Unlike school teachers who, in spite of their best efforts, may feel constrained by the limitations on their pedagogy imposed on them by the Department for Education, tutors have the leeway they need to encourage students to think about what they’re learning.Anyone who has any formal dealings with the DfE â€" teachers who spend their nights and weekends tutoring, for example, may experience growing frustration with the processes currently in place to impart knowledge and assess mastery of such.Because of the well-publicised propensity these current curriculum standards force for teaching to the test, little room is left for teachers to help students develop critical thinking skills or pr oblem-solving skills.That means that students must learn creative thinking and how to solve problems outside of the classroom.There’s nothing wrong with that. After all, humans are capable of thought long before their first brush with formal schooling.However, the disconnect between the acquisition of knowledge and thinking about it; finding connections from one subject to the next often keeps students from higher academic achievement.That is where private tutors come in.Tutors fill the space between cognitive knowledge and comprehension of concepts. Where there are missing links between academic subjects, say between maths and science, tutors are the ones who point out the complementary nature of those disciplines.The question is: how far should a tutor go to instal and develop students’ capacity for summarizing, classifying and understanding what they learn?Should cultivating thinking skills be a tutor’s primary objective?Or are students truly better served by a tutor restat ing school lessons rather than one asking open-ended questions and employing instructional strategies that will encourage the student to think?How much is too much before the tutor has strayed far beyond the boundaries of what s/he has been engaged to do?This is a thorny issue. Let’s take a look at all of the facets involved in higher-order thinking skills before presenting our thesis.Noble Savage theory â€" that humans, unbound by social mores and general education would be kind, selfless and enlightened in their own right.Victor, having completely missed out on any nurturing as well as  early childhood education, and his entire young life spent being wary of harm, failed to cooperate or perform as expected.The clinicians â€" whose instructional design left a lot to be desired, had put all of their hopes into this abandoned child. Needless to say, were disappointed at being unable to prove their Noble Savage theory.Seeing no further reason to work with him, they shipped the boy t o Paris to be institutionalised. There, Dr Itard rose to the challenge of educating a child that everyone had deemed incapable of learning.It took quite a while for that educator to teach the boy social norms and even longer to teach him empathy. Once those concepts were mastered, Dr Itard resolved to educate the child, now somewhat behaved, in how to speak.Here his pedagogical skill met with abysmal failure and, after all of his best efforts had come to nothing, he turned away from the child altogether, effectively abandoning him anew.In these events, we see perfectly well how much is too much.Victor, desiring â€" perhaps not to learn so much as to please his mentor, simply did not have the psychomotor development necessary to learn how to speak after so long of being nonverbal.Critics of Dr Itard postulate that, had he employed other means of student engagement; maybe if he had taught the boy sign language, perhaps Victor could have learned to communicate.As Victor displayed a str ong affective inclination, music might also have been an effective teaching tool.Besides making a fascinating case for the need for differentiation in education, Victor’s story gives the strongest proof of the validity of Blooms Taxonomy: that there are three distinct domains that educational faculty and staff must address to guarantee student achievement.It also clearly underscores the importance of faculty development in schools so that teachers can recognise and meet students needs.Finally, it offers a cautionary tale to tutors who might be inclined to push their students toward independent thought in a manner for which they are not yet ready.Join the discussion: doimpact students' ability to master higher-order thinking?Reading skills are essential for learning but they don't make a problem solver! Image by balancepft from PixabayHigher Order Thinking and Academic LearningHigher-order thinking is comprised of equal parts of critical thinking and problem-solving.To an extent, e ssay writing is an exercise in critical thinking: the student must take in information, analyse it and draw conclusions from it.While essay writing or report writing provides an opportunity for learners to think critically and draw conclusions, chances to think critically about other academic subjects are minimal.It is quite unfortunate that many perceive critical thinking to be an exercise in which the practitioner must find fault in whatever is being examined â€" in other words, to criticise.Quite the contrary! Critical thinking involves the suspension of personal bias; it requires a dispassionate view of the topic at hand and the ability to discern fact in a sea of fiction.Developing such skills requires a fair amount of time and mental agility.In crowded UK classrooms, the first is decidedly in short supply and the second is a diverse proposition because not every student has the same level of academic aptitude.What about problem-solving? Here, teaching strategies are also lacki ng.Again, not through any fault of hard-working teachers!Today’s curriculum and instruction mandates leave little time for teachers to plan co curricular activities that would permit the development of problem-solving skills.Tutors see the fallout: unused to thinking critically throughout the academic year, learners struggle with higher level thinking outside of the classroom.Tutors Can Encourage Higher Order ThinkingIt would be safe to say that nobody, tutor or teacher, ever went into the field of education to become rich or famous.However, anyone could believe that both tutors and teachers have made education their life’s work because of their passion for learning and a desire to impart that knowledge.Oddly enough, for all that they have the same motivations for instructing, teachers’ and tutors’ overall direction seems divergent.Whereas teachers must follow the learning standards set forth by their schools, a tutor’s imperative is to improve student learning capacities. To that end, one of the most effective tools a tutor can use in determining a student’s readiness for thinking questions is by conducting a formative assessment.Naturally, your initial interview will assess your pupils’ learning skills overall but, as time goes on, your constant evaluation of their cognitive skills should signal when they are ready for more complex concept formation.In providing academic support, tutors need to apply a bit of educational psychology:Define ‘learning’: one does not acquire a breadth of knowledge only through rote learning; understanding and making sense of things also play a vital partMake the lesson relevant: cultivating an interest in subject matter is a step in the right direction; revealing the interrelationships between the student and the material being studied is the hallmark of a master teacherReinforce the learning: find at least three ways to use the new information, preferably through different learning activities.What happens if yo u employ all of these learning strategies,  as well as others,  and your student still doesn’t grasp the concept at hand?This is where a real danger of pushing for a successful outcome lies. As you may have already experienced, it is not a good idea to go beyond that point, lest you risk students’ progress.Perhaps it is time to revise your lesson planning to include more student-centered activities...  you might, perhaps, focus more on the problem-solving aspect of higher-order thinking.Open ended questions are far better than multiple choice questions because they make students think! Image by balancepft from PixabayHigher Order Thinking QuestionsOverseeing writing assignments and helping prepare your pupils for a math test are fundamental tutor obligations to ensure student success.Unless it was specified when you were hired - ‘please teach my child how to think!’ - a tutor’s actual duty lies in providing learning services.Said services should include project-based learn ing, active learning and activities that will foster metacognition â€" the awareness and understanding of one’s thought processes.So, once you complete your initial assessment of a student and determine their learning goals, the course you chart should be pretty clear... right?If we were in it for the money, that assertion would be spot-on.However, upon ethical reflection, we tutors have taken a silent vow to strive for educational success with everyone we teach.Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to not only provide learning support but also provide 21st-century skills â€" a continuum of services that will provide a rich student experience.Content knowledge to appease an assessment system or thinking stems to cultivate higher order thinking?Rote memorization of facts can only take students so far.Asking them the types of questions designed to gauge their depth of knowledge and how they use what they’ve learned is the recipe for fostering thinking humans, but must be done in such a way that they become thinkers, not turned off from learning altogether.Bottom line: knowing when to push, how to push and what to push on is as integral to a tutor’s professional development as it is essential for student development.Your turn to chime in: how would you define higher-order thinking?