Heres a simple 'wisdom' for the weekend. The benefits of learning Chinese is not only for daily communication, work, etc. you can use it as a tool to escape a Western narrative. This Western narrative wall is very high, and to be able to cross it is an achievement. Its also a certain liberation. I.e. it can be a VPN that can cross the great Western wall.
???
no need to do that, although certainly helpful for living in China - but just tune in to BBC, Al Jazeera, etc for alternative world views...when they're accessible...
@ michael
Yea, but you bet, better than turning on Al Jazeera is learning Arabic.
Arabic too, as well as Chinese (and indeed many other languages) can be used as tools to escape the Western Wall. Its liberating.
East-West
Yin-Yang
Indonesian is probably 10 times easier to learn than Chinese. But it can also work as a 'key' to 'break on through to the other side', of the wall of the Western narrative. And hence become more human.
Highly recommended now, when the West is going through its lowest phase for decades.
you don need to speak chinese to hear a different narrative. there is only one narrative here and you will hear it on cgtn
@dazzer
Good point. Had a beer or two for the 'weekend wisdom' so it was not thoroughly thought, except for the prophetic inspiration. There was a try though. :) Might as well leave it here.
hahaa
I agree with Peter, for the most part, certainly about other languages, and Chinese, of course, if you live here. Of course there's no alternative to learning a language as a path to understanding alternative, real-world discourses, as anybody who can make practical use of more than one language can tell you, but still, it's not only about language. The rise of English as a practical near-global medium is doubtless important and significant and today, and probably for much of the future, necessary, although it has come out of historical accidents (imperialism, etc.); but on the other hand it tends to smother other possibilities, subtleties, nuances and directions of thought. It certainly doesn't represent any ground-level standard for overall human understanding, although in addition to its global near-domination it has also absorbed a great deal from other media (international scientific discourse, etc.).
I'm not sure what the BBC is supposed to be an alternative to, unless it's, to a real but yet still marginal degree, a western alternative to the US press, for which the French press (Le Monde, Liberation, Le Monde Diplomatique) is better and culturally more informative for English speakers. I'm not too familiar with other European media. Better to have more than one window in your house.
Al Jazeera is valuable, at least in English, yes; as is a good bit of the English language Indian press.
