Use Your Mandarin Language Skills on a Job

21st Century Skills - Communication in Critical Languages ... 

(CLICK ON "# COMMENTS" AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE TO POST: Posted by Mr. Wang at 6:20 PM 2 comments: )

The world is a small place.  Global economy brings people together faster and more frequently than ever before.

Why is Chinese one of the critical languages to learn? There are many reasons - political, economical, cultural, etc.  If you haven't been to China or seen people visiting your town from China, you would be surprised to find that many people do travel back and forth and as people move around business opportunities appear. Read the following article about what some Chinese are buying in NY.

• New York Times: Luxury Stores Pull Out Mandarin Phrase Books to Make the Sale 
  

Assignment

What Can You Do With Your Mandarin skills? 

What might you be able to do with your Mandarin language skills? What types of jobs are available both in the US and in China?

Your assignment is to research a career that interests you and that would either involve using your Mandarin skills or where your understanding of Chinese culture  would be a great asset in that career.  You will post your findings in the blog.  Your post should include information based on the following questions:

Questions for Mandarin Careers Research

Job description and duties

• What responsibilities would you have in this job?
• What made you choose this career to research?

Education

• What are the education requirements for this job?
• Is ability in Mandarin a requirement or an advantage in qualifying for the position?

Work setting

• How many hours would you work?
• What would the work environment be?
• Would you travel?
• Would the job be stressful?  If yes, in what ways?

Employment outlook

(You might find the Occupation Outlook Handbook site helpful for these questions)

• Salary and Benefits
• Entry wages: At what salary would a worker in this occupation generally start?
• What is the salary rage for an experienced worker?
• Benefits: Will the worker receive insurance, sick time, paid vacation or any other benefits in addition to salary?

Additional resources

The following websites will help you get started in your research:

• Modern Language Careers at Kent University:
  http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/modernlanguages.ht
• Occupational Outlook Handbook:
  http://www.bls.gov/ooh/a-z-index.htm

If you are having trouble thinking of possible careers to research, check out this list for some suggestions:

• List of careers that use skills in Mandarin

Instructions

1. Research the questions above as they apply to a career that interests you and uses skills in Mandarin Chinese language and culture.
2. Organize and save the results of your research in a word-processing document.
3. When you have completed your research, post your findings no later than ________.
4. Cite the sources of your research in your post.   You may use Citation.com or a similar website to create the citations for the webpages or documents you use.
5.  You must have two or more resources for your information.

Expectations

Research a career of your choice that involves Mandarin Chinese, using the questions assigned as prompts.   On or before _________. you will go to the course discussion area and respond to the prompt with a detailed post including at least two citations of supporting evidence. You will then respond to at least two of your classmates' posts. 

This assignment is worth 30 points.

Google the following possible areas and/or job titles:

Ideas for Careers that us Mandarin and/or Understanding of Chinese Culture

Education

•         Teaching English in China

•          Teaching ESL in the United States

•         Teaching Chinese in the United States (high school or college level)

Travel and Tourism

•         Tour guides

•         Managing exchange programs

•         Transportation managers

•         International travel agents

•         Travel Website Developers

Sales, Business and Marketing

•         Importing and exporting products (What kinds of products are imported and/or exported to China)

•         Marketing Manager for an American company that exports to China or in China for a Chinese company that exports to the U.S.

•         Marketing Researcher

•         Public Relations Manager

•         Media Manager for the Chinese market

Government

•         Diplomatic Service

•          International Government Organizations (CIA, U.S. State Department)

•         Member of State Trade Missions (promoting US Exports or International Trade)

Finance

•         Banker

•         Insurance companies

•         Accountant in firms operating internationally

Law

•         International Commercial Lawyer

•         Immigration Lawyer

•         Lawyers specializing in trade/import/export law

•         Lawyers specializing in copyright and trademark law

Language-related careers

•         Translator

•         Subtitle expert for the film industry

•         International adoption coordinator

•         International performer