The myth of the “Chinese” language
Middlebury College has allowed a mistake to face the public and its students since 1966. That mistake is the name of the Chinese department’s language courses: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced “Chinese.” Out of the nearly three hundred Chinese languages in existence, only Mandarin — the most widely-spoken language in the world and what is used in most of mainland China, Singapore and Taiwan — is taught here. That’s fine; I myself am currently on track to advance to the Intermediate level. But why not call it what it is? I am proposing a change to Middlebury’s current language course titles from “Chinese” to “Mandarin Chinese” or “Modern Standard Chinese.”