Market research for the book began 6 months prior to the launching of the textbook program. As Huang Youyi explained: “It may seem that it took us half a year to conduct market research for the book, but in fact it has taken the publishing team almost twenty years to complete their research. It was back in 1987 when I went to Yale to see how they produced textbooks for people who wanted to learn Chinese. This is why I say that the research [for our book] began a long time ago.”
As to how the research was conducted, Wang Junxiao explained that Sinolingua and Yale are responsible for their respective areas and after completing their own parts they exchanged research reports. During the six years in which the book was in production, several problems cropped up, including funding cuts at Yale as a result of the global financial crisis and changes to Yale’s publication team.
As to how disagreements within the team were resolved, Huang emphasized the importance of setting up a mechanism for dialogue and negotiation. “Yale and China’s program negotiation committee had anticipated that various problems would arise,” he said. “We agreed that the production team should take care of their problems in the first instance, but if the problems remained unresolved, they could come to us directly. So basically we have two levels of dialogue, one in the academic area and the other in management. I believe this mechanism enabled us to ensure the progress of the project despite various conflicts.”
Huang is convinced that the team has come up with a first-rate product, arguing that the ease with which low-end products can be reproduced makes it difficult for original ones to find a place in the market. High-quality products are, however, a different matter.
He stated that three things are necessary in order to ensure such an unrivalled product as Encounters: The right idea, an outstanding team versed in cross-cultural exchanges and the courage to make a huge investment.
Huang added that the program has not only brought out a top-notch product, but also improved the ability of the whole team to engage in cross-cultural communication.
As far as the future is concerned for Encounters, Huang believes it will become a global textbook for those who wish to learn Chinese. He remarked that Encounters is merely a starting point and that the goal of his team is to help foreigners learn Chinese language in order to better understand Chinese culture. He is aware that this is very much a long-term project. “Encounters is the first step in the long march of spreading Chinese culture,” Huang concluded.
The Bund turns into beach as the temperature reaches high
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