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The Odyssey

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Part of the book series: Multilingual Education ((MULT,volume 17))

Abstract

I was born in a family of intellectuals of the Lisu (傈僳) and Han Chinese in Hebei Province in northern China.

I don’t feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning. If you knew when you began a book what you would say at the end, do you think that you would have the courage to write it?

— Michel Foucault

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The preferential policies include bonus marks in the national matriculation examination, university admissions quotas, flexible admissions conditions and tuition waivers, the Minkaomin policy (the national matriculation examinations in particular ethnic minority languages), establishing ethnic minority universities, the Neidiban (minority class in inland comprehensive universities), the native language requirement in civil servant selection, bonus marks awarded to applicants who have worked in minority areas for years and wish to be admitted to postgraduate programs, and special arrangements to develop senior specialized minority talents.

  2. 2.

    Trilingual education in China’s context refers to the acquisition of three languages: the native language (it is often the ethnic minority language for ethnic minority groups), Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua), and English or other foreign languages. Chinese is a compulsory subject throughout the curricula at all levels and Putonghua often serves as the medium of instruction in mainstream schools. English has been a compulsory subject since junior secondary school and was introduced into primary school curriculum since 2001.

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Correspondence to Ge Wang .

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

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Wang, G. (2016). The Odyssey. In: Pains and Gains of Ethnic Multilingual Learners in China. Multilingual Education, vol 17. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0661-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0661-6_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0659-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-0661-6

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