China - The Real Story... What are you in this for, anyway?

James Fallows of The Atlantic has posted this piece in the wake of the hysteria around new announcements that China's economy has officially surpassed that of the United States: 

The China Story You Should Pay Attention to, and the One You Should Ignore

Skip past anything that talks about a coming dawn of the Chinese Century. Go straight to stories on the complications of China in the here-and-now.

I feel like that also sums up what has been happening to the "trend" of learning Mandarin here in America, and especially the trend of Mandarin Immersion programs.

So, another key piece of advice to parents: SKIP PAST anything that gives you something glib and something that is a shortcut. Go straight to the ones that explain the complications.

Doing any kind of language immersion program is no skip through the tulips. Doing something like Chinese as the chosen language of the immersion program, especially when you are from an English background... there will be complications.

Moreover, get a hold of your own motivations. With China's economy on such a massive and fast rise (not anything that people have not known about for decades...), people are launching themselves headlong without much thought into learning the Chinese language, with their eyes filled with Billion Dollar $igns. And, of course, they want the fast track. They want the easy path to riches, and therefore, the easy path to learning the language.

But longtime "China watchers" of the Anglophile kind, like James Fallows - they've been around for a long, long time. They have some words of wisdom and real insight. Unlike the opportunists who will parrot some easy turn of phrase to get hits from sensational headlines.

So what do you want? You want your children to make mega-bucks someday by learning the Chinese language? Forget it. You've got the wrong mindset, already. Things are much harder and much more complicated than that.

Or maybe you want your children to take the path of someone like James Fallows? Okay, then ask him. Take a look at how long and hard he has been working. And notice his humility. Oh yes, and he's not young. (No offense, JF, just sayin' that as a compliment, really.)

China, the Chinese language, Chinese culture, and all the people who can claim to be from this glorious heritage... we are big. We are larger, more numerous, more diverse and varied, and waaaaay more complicated than you can begin to imagine. Do you love learning? Awesome. Get ready to learn what "Amazing" looks like, each and every day. For the rest of your life. Cuz this is, in fact, a life-long journey.