Tibet to build 251 bilingual kindergartens in 2012

[A777]

http://eng.tibet.cn/2010jy/xw/201112/t20111228_1421108.html

Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region plans to set up 251 new kindergartens offering education in both Mandarin and the Tibetan language next year, the regional government said Tuesday.

The statement was made during an economic conference in Lhasa, in which the government promised to increase the region's spending on education and to promote bilingual preschool education in its farming and herding areas.

[Samantha]

1. My daughter and her husband are both teachers

Their daughter is two years old and totally bilingual, speaking English and Spanish, easily switching as the situation demands, i.e., the person to whom she is speaking. I think it is wonderful.

Sam

[Igel]

3. That's nice.

This is more equivalent to having Israel institute bilingual kindergarden in the West Bank in what used to be Arabic-only villages.

It assists language shift. Language shift assists assimilation. Assimiliation assists ethnic consolidation and, in the case of the Chinese, Lebensraum.

Oh. Did I use a charged term?

[DavidDvorkin]

2. I assume this part of Sinification

Get the kids speaking Mandarin, and Tibetan languages will fade away.

[ellisonz]

4. Free Tibet. n/t