It's Later Than Xi Thought!

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by nosborne48, Jan 17, 2023.

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  1. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    This is pretty big news. China's population fell by about 850,000 in 2022. An actual decline wasn't expected until 2030 or 2050. Once the decline gets going it will be hard to reverse and the Communist Party knows it.

    www.scmp.com
     
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Apparently, by the end of the century Nigeria will be the most populated country on Earth, by a considerable margin.

    Edit: I was wrong, it will be 2nd, behind India.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2023
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  3. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Maybe I should stop learning Twi and start learning Hausa
     
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  4. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    Wasn't population decline the whole point of the one-child policy?
     
  5. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Yes but I think that was implemented in the 1970s during the time of "peak oil" and The Limits to Growth fear that we were going to run out of land and people would starve.
     
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  6. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    That's interesting, most demographs thought it would be India. Any source for Nigeria as most populated country?
     
  7. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I no gree, Dustin. Na Pidgin, E da best. Na so?

    "Although the language was once looked down on as not being a prestige dialect, it is now spoken by all Nigerians alike and is the only unifying language of Nigeria. Nonetheless, it has no official status."

    45-50 million Nigerians dey speak Pidgin. Dem no can all be wrong, abi?

    PS - If you want the ethnic Nigerian language with the most speakers - it's Igbo. :)
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2023
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  8. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    "Comot, Johann! Dat man be wayo!" :(

    I just realized I'm wrong -again. Dustin is right. Hausa -51 million. Igbo - 40 million. Sorry!
     
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  9. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    And, yet, the only African language that can usually be found to study (found easily) is Swahili. Swahili only has 20m native speakers, though 80m combined speakers.
     
  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    @Rachel83az I found Hausa available on - among others - ilanguages.com and mylanguages.com I've never heard of either - are you familiar with them? Any opinion?

    Udemy has a "complete" Igbo package - extensive and fairly expensive at $279.99. Lots of simple ones around but none appear to have this substance.

    Udemy also has beginners' Yoruba on sale at $19.99.

    Seems to me there are plenty of suppliers - but only a very few would be of any depth or rigor. There are some interesting ones that mix culture with language. You can get one-to-one a couple of places - it costs around $8 hr.
     
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  11. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Here's a sourceof uh - something, I guess. This is based on a UN prediction.
    https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/nigeria-to-overtake-china-as-the-second-most-populous-country-in-the-world-by-2100/tvrhcng#:~:t

    And yes, Mac -it says India will be in first place. Nigeria will be second, not first. China will slip to third - from second.

    @SteveFoerster - Any comments, Steve? Do you know something we don't? It wouldn't be the first time. :)
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2023
  12. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    I think you mean ilanguages.org and mylanguages.org. Yes, I'm familiar with them. As far as I'm aware, they're essentially the same thing. They're... not great. https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/5n7m8r/another_language_learning_website_that_features_a/

    Udemy is... well, anyone can put a course on Udemy with absolutely zero oversight. At those prices, I'd just get a tutor. But, if one wants to learn a less-studied language, and doesn't want to engage a tutor yet, better places to start would be Bluebird Languages and uTalk, both of which have Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. Memrise has user-created courses (free) for all three languages, too. Drops doesn't have Hausa, but it does have Igbo and Yoruba. Memrise probably has even more African languages. I'm sure Bluebird and uTalk do as well.

    But some of the "bigger" (more well-known) names don't have anything: Rosetta Stone, Mondly, Busuu, Babbel, even Clozemaster. Though, to be fair, Clozemaster does have a lot of other uncommon/rare languages. Breton, Catalan, Cornish, Maori, Nahuatl, Occitan, etc. But they only have three languages from Africa: Afrikaans, Amharic, and Swahili.
     
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  13. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Not this time! I could have sworn otherwise, but now I only find what you all see, that it will be second, behind India. My bad!
     
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  14. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Not a problem, Steve. Not at all. :)
     
  15. LevelUP

    LevelUP Active Member

    The solution to China's problems is to do a PR campaign and hire this guy as their spokesman.

    [​IMG]
     
  16. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    That's true. I just took one that fit your definition exactly. I'm only down $13, but yes -- zero oversight. Good call.
     
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  17. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    The One Child Policy certainly didn't help but world wide fertility rates are falling below replacement levels so I don't think China's problem came just from communist thuggery.
     
  18. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    The U.S. fertility rate seems to hang around 1.7 and has for decades. Replacement for us is supposed to be 2.1.
     
  19. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    US will supplement any birthrate fluctuations with migration rates that will show constant growth in population.
     
    nosborne48 likes this.
  20. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Yes. Which China cannot do.
     

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