<div dir="ltr"><header class="gmail-node-header"><h1 class="gmail-headline gmail-node-title">Time to master Asian languages</h1></header>
<div class="gmail-group-story-timestamp gmail-field-group-html-element"><div class="gmail-story-postdate"><div class="gmail-label-inline">Published</div>Dec 22, 2016, 5:00 am SGT</div><div class="gmail-field gmail-field-name-social-media-buttons gmail-field-type-ds gmail-field-label-hidden"><div class="gmail-field-items"><div class="gmail-field-item even">
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<p>I have noticed that many students in Singapore converse only in English.</p>
<p>It causes me to wonder if our mother tongues have all been reduced to just examination subjects.</p>
<p>This is of concern. In the light of Asia's resurgence, are we
pitching our sails right to catch the wind of change, vis-a-vis our
language policies?</p>
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<p>English has served us well as a language for commerce and technology,
but our grasp of the other languages seems less adequate in plugging us
into the new realities of the future.</p>
<p>Language is more than a code. It communicates customs and habits
through the nuances embedded in it. Speaking the same language helps to
strike instant rapport even between strangers, and enables people to
understand and be understood by each other quickly.</p>
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<p>Asean's 625 million inhabitants speak a myriad of tongues. Together
with India and China, the region easily makes up half the world's
population. Its potential is beckoning and it is imperative that we
prepare ourselves to tap the Asian market.</p>
<p>While English has kept us ahead, this competitive advantage may be
eroded as our Asian counterparts focus on English to complement their
already strong mother tongues. They will be quicker in understanding
contracts and conducting negotiations outside the English domain.</p>
<p>Perhaps we can design a track that coaches students in the various
languages' official terms used in commerce, science and technology from
an early age.</p>
<p>The focus should be on enabling them to experience alternative
cultures in Asia through extended cultural immersion programmes abroad.</p>
<p>This would allow them to better grasp how others think, and network
with future leaders. They could form the backbone of leaders in
different disciplines, with Asian perspectives on geopolitics, the
economy and diplomacy.</p>
<p>A rethink of our language policy is timely, if not urgent.</p>
<p>We will have to bear the blame if we fail to prepare our young for their future, which will be starkly different from ours.</p>
<p><strong>Lee Teck Chuan</strong></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/time-to-master-asian-languages">http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/time-to-master-asian-languages</a><br></strong></p><p><strong><br></strong></p>
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