Reply to What do you think about a Japanese Immersion Public Charter in Ward 7?

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Reply to "What do you think about a Japanese Immersion Public Charter in Ward 7?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There are multiple problems with Japanese - I say this as someone who studied it in high school, lived in Japan, studied it in college - the main one being that the Japanese economy has stagnated for 20-odd years.

If Japanese growth and entwinement with the American economy was happening at the rate it was in the 1980s, Japanese would be very, very worthwhile.  But the country is simply not the growing source of economic opportunity it once was.

Another issue is how xenophobic and closed-off Japanese society is, i.e., even if you studied Japanese ages 4-22 and speak it fluently, you're still a foreigner doomed to live on the margins of society as either exotic or undesirable.  And let's be super honest, that goes double for African-Americans, unfortunately.  There are exceptions, sure, but this is the unfortunate norm.

I'd take it over a number of other languages, but I can see why no one has jumped to make it happen.[/quote]

All that you say is so so true PP.  I know someone who is Caucasian, has studied Japanese and lived in Japan for decades and is completely fluent.  There have been times that she spoke Japanese so well, older Japanese people were offended and said very mean things to her, basically that no one who isn't Japanese should speak Japanese that well (a compliment as well, obviously her language skills are exceptional, but it happens a lot that people get upset and that of course upsets her).  And the things she overhears people on trains and in restaurants say about white and black people nearby... assuming they don't speak Japanese... it sounds pretty ugly and I completely agree that without the economic reasons to think there will be a market for black, brown and white people speaking Japanese, it's really not anywhere near the priority or beneficial language that Mandarin, Arabic and Farsi are.

Not to say there aren't racist and/or xenophobic people in all countries (including the US).  They are everywhere.  But I don't think the US ever owed Japan as many billions (trillions?) of dollars as we currently owe China.  The US will inextricably be linked financially to China for the forseeable future because of that.  Not to mention there are millions and millions more people who speak Chinese than Japanese.

Parents committed to making a quality charter school in DC happen should pursue whatever language they are passionate about and care enough about that they will actually put the work in to open the school.  But everyone should learn from Sela's example and be very realistic about demand, utility, and international presence of the language they choose.  Not being realistic about it can mean a ton of work ends up in a closed, short-lived school.  (Sela is not closed but many other charters are.)[/quote]

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