Min Xuefei. Department of Spanish and Portuguese, School of Foreign Chinese, Peking University.
In May 1980, "China Youth" published a long letter signed "Pan Xiao", full of confusion among young people, in which he asked: "The road of life, how can it be narrower and narrower?".More than 40 years later, China's youth seem to be in the same predicament again. How do today's young people understand their own position in the times, and how do they find their own way out and direction?
In October this year, Cao Fengze, a young civil engineer, told his journey of not being willing to "involute" and participating in the construction of Africa through the platform of "Cultural Vertical", which triggered the discussion of "Dr. Tsinghua going to Africa", which responded to two new questions: First, how can individuals find new subjectivity and agency in the context of narrowing the upward channel?Second, when Chinese young people set their sights on the wider world, what changes will their way of dealing with concepts and practices bring to China and the world?
This article is based on the experience of Min Xuefei, a teacher from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Languages of the School of Foreign Chinese of Peking University, on the above discussion. Based on the personal experience of cultivating minority language students for a long time, Ms. Min analyzed the development status and "spiritual shackles" of Spanish and Portuguese students, and pointed out the necessity for young people to find another possibility of life under the great changes. Although only students speak small languages, this actually reflects the common plight of all young people in the "big bubble of the middle class in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which is rich on the surface but is actually ridiculous". To break through this predicament, the key is to see a broader world and future, and another "possibility and meaning of life" beyond the so-called "middle-class life imagination" and "global people".
This article is excerpted from the speech of Professor Min Xuefei at the conference "Chinese Youth in the Era of Global Change: From 'Pan Xiao Discussion' to 'Tsinghua Doctor Goes to Africa'", and only represents the author's point of view for readers' reference.
"Great Changes" and the Choice of Minority Language Students
one
Today's theme is Chinese Youth in the Era of Global Change: From 'Pan Xiao Discussion' to 'Dr. Tsinghua Goes to Africa'", so let's start with Cao Fengze's quotes.
1) As an employer, our way of thinking when hiring fresh graduates is as follows:
1) A college graduate of any major in an ordinary school = strictly zero professional knowledge and unknown ability.
2) A college graduate of any major in a good school = strictly zero professional knowledge, intelligence and diligence account for at least the same.
3) A university graduate with a minor language in an ordinary school > a major in a major = has strictly zero professional knowledge and unknown ability, but knows a small language.
4) A college graduate majoring in a small language from a good school = strictly zero professional knowledge, at least the same as smart and diligent and able to speak a small language.
So first of all, we are very fond of minority language majors. No matter how good or bad you are, we want it. The strong are the leaders, the poor are the employees, but you will definitely have a bite to eat, there is no doubt about it.
2) If you don't learn Xi well, learn a small language, and if you don't learn Xi, you can learn a chef if you don't learn well. These two lines will never be unemployed, and as long as you are willing to endure hardships, you can earn a lot more than students of the same grade.
The small language is preferably Spanish and Portuguese, and the market gap is huge, and the premium is very high. Japan, Germany, and Russia are almost meaningful, because there are no colonies, the employment area is too narrow, and there are relatively few choices. Especially Portuguese and Spanish.
c) Secondly, the school is still useful. Our supervisor has a sentence that "we want a master's degree in 985, even if we want to study veterinary medicine", which is very true. Because the master's degree of 985, even if he studied veterinary medicine, it shows that he is smart and diligent, at least the same thing, and it must be easy to get started.
As someone who has gone to university, I think one of the things you have to do is not to pretend to be a foreign guest, especially not to pretend to be a foreign guest in front of me. It doesn't matter if you're studying civil engineering or marketing or accounting or archaeology, you'll graduate with exactly the same amount of knowledge, which is a capital zero. There are only two possibilities for your employer, either they don't look at your major openly, or they pretend to look at your major but deep down they don't care what you study.
What is your most dominant position at this time?Either you have clear evidence that you really have mastered a real skill, such as a minor language, or you have evidence that you have a strong Xi ability, such as your university has a good brand, or you are a graduate student.
II. II. II
In view of Dr. Cao Fengze's unique preference for minor languages, especially Portuguese from prestigious universities, I asked him to give a lecture on personal experience to the students of the Portuguese Department of the School of Foreign Chinese of Peking University, especially the second-year students, when he returned to China for the examination.
That lecture was on the same day as his lecture in "Cultural Perspective", and he had not yet exploded in popularity, so the field at Peking University was a little lonely, of course, everyone who should have come came. After he was on the hot search because of the lecture of "Cultural Vertical", many people expressed regret to me, and I felt that I missed hundreds of millions of dollars because I didn't watch such a popular object in time.
You see, this actually reflects the mentality of many students of small languages: they are completely unforward-looking about a thing, they are passively thrown into or out of the wind, and they don't believe that the doctors and their own teachers next door to them are manipulated by Internet celebrities who are not as good as themselves, even if they are Peking University students.
Three
Cao Gong's lectures are mainly arranged for second-year students.
To explain here, because there are only five teachers (three Chinese, one Portuguese and one Brazilian), there is a recruitment every two years, and there is currently a class in the second grade and a class in the fourth grade. In order to avoid some people smearing and saying that the Portuguese teachers at Peking University are very weak, I have to further explain that the number of Portuguese teachers at Peking University is relatively small because the entry threshold is particularly high, and it is precisely because of the strict guarantee of the quality of teachers and the strict control of the number of students that the Portuguese language of Peking University has become a good existence in a large atmosphere of declining small languages. We have done a good job in academic training, as well as in providing talents for national politics and diplomacy and overseas enterprises, which also ensures the survival and development of this major.
Cao Gong's lectures are mainly for second-year undergraduate students. The seniors have largely set the course. Despite this, several students in the fourth grade who wanted to find jobs, all of whom were women, still came to participate. Under the infection of Cao Fengze's spirit, they have unloaded their spiritual shackles, widely submitted resumes to infrastructure, mining, manufacturing and other enterprises, and have already received offers. And the pay is not bad. At a time when employment issues are so prominent and women's employment is even more severe, this is very rare.
Four
So what is a spiritual shackle?
The Third World, of course. If you want to go abroad, you can only go to Europe and the United States, so that you can have face, how can you go to Africa?Although when they were escorted and college entrance examinations, they all knew which countries were the target countries of the minor languages they Xi learned. Especially the escort students, in order to enter Peking University, they simply portrayed themselves as people who "have the world in mind" in the application materials. But when faced with employment, not to mention Africa, Latin American countries are also "garbage countries". Except in Europe and the United States, people everywhere else are "not people". Moreover, as a "noble" student at Peking University, how can he be willing to die in Africa?
Therefore, the advantage of Cao Gong next door is that he exposes all the ridiculousness of this mentality in a rather playful way, and punctures the big bubble of the seemingly rich but ridiculous life of the middle class in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
I think that students have ideals, and they don't necessarily write these things in their materials because of opportunism, but because they still have real feelings. And I have been learning this language for several years Xi, and I can empathize with it to some extentThe main thing is to let them see the possibility and meaning of another life。In fact, they do not necessarily suffer from living in the Third World for a long time, after all, they can get twice the salary of similar positions in China. But when people talk a lot about their pain, they are in pain. Therefore, Cao Fengze is very precious, because although it is very hard, his spirit is so blooming. Even if most people can't be as nomadic as he is, at least they can be actuarial in everything and reduce the internal friction of the soul.
Five
As mentioned earlier, the Department of Portuguese Language at Peking University has done a good job in cultivating talents for the study of Portuguese-speaking countries. Generally speaking, three or four students devote themselves to academic research every year, such as Portuguese literature, Latin American history, international relations, etc., and at the most time, there are seven students a year. There are also some students who choose employment under the "Belt and Road" system in a broad sense, mainly to national ministries and commissions and related enterprises, and there are four or five every year. For the majors that recruit 16 people in each session, there are still six to eight people who do not choose these two tracks - they are mainly children from middle-class and wealthy families, some of whom have very superior family backgrounds, outstanding personal qualities, and very strong willpower. For such students, we generally say respect, let them go, and don't stand in the way of this kind of "global master".
But there are also some students who have good personal abilities – but not good enough to read JD;The family background is very good - but it's not the kind that can take out 2 million to read a JD without blinking;And unwilling to go to Africa, Latin America - mainly parents do not agree. Their personal choice is very interesting: they usually go to Europe to study business, spending hundreds of thousands. Parents hope that they will obtain some kind of "European and American certification", and they can return to China to become an executive in a foreign company, or enter a consulting company with a European and American background, or a foreign bank, so as to get rid of the relatively "low" third world - at least in China, and become a master.
I didn't care about it before, but this year, I started talking to students. To see what is happening in the great changes, it is like discovering the value of Cao Fengze early. Is it still a good choice to study business in Europe now?The industries that parents wanted them to go into were in declineIn the past, those industries have played a huge role in China's integration into the world, but in the end, they are there to guide Chinese companies on how to cater to the European and American markets.
Now times have changed.
First of all, China's Internet is expanding rapidly and has achieved a leading edge, and there are no decent Internet companies in Europe, so what can they learn?Secondly, China's manufacturing enterprises have finally gone to sea, BYD is going to build three factories in Brazil at once, I watched the groundbreaking ceremony, and the atmosphere is no less than China's investment promotion in the 90s. Third, not only BYD, but Genshin Impact is also very successful......Students love to play games so much, they are simply the chosen ones, let's play Genshin Impact in the future, only use the Portuguese interface, why can't we be happy with education. Private enterprises are very practical, do not engage in showmanship, it is fancy that you are from Peking University, you know Portuguese, and the rest of the things can be learned by doing......It's not impossible to go to Europe to study, if you choose an Internet company, and then the whole group is laid off, you might as well take a lot of compensation to study, but the destination, you may need to think carefully - not necessarily Europe, but Brazil.
Indeed, some students listened to my words and got a good offer, and will continue to contribute to the "Belt and Road" of China's banking industry, and he himself is quite satisfied. I think that after infrastructure enterprises go overseas, the overseas expansion of manufacturing enterprises will greatly benefit the employment of small languages, especially Portuguese-speaking jobs. And Cao Fengze can become the spiritual idol of small language students who are not willing to lie flat and live a mediocre middle-class life. I also very much hope that my students who are "brave enough to go to sea" can get a very good career development, so that they can rebuild the ancient ethics of "hard work and prosperity", a value that has been destroyed by the real estate and financial industries in the last two decades, but which has been the value of the Chinese nation for 5,000 years.
This article is excerpted from Professor Min Xuefei's speech at the conference "Chinese Youth in the Era of Global Change: From 'Pan Xiao Discussion' to 'Tsinghua Dr. Goes to Africa'".The article represents the author's views only and is for readers' reference. Welcome to share personally, **please contact this***