středa 10. června 2009

AUTOSALON CHINO - Chinese cars on Colombian market

DISCLAIMER: all the photos are linked in from the internet, mainly from the companies own propagation materials, are by no means intellectual property of the author of the article and are presented solemnly for informative and scholarly purposes.

I consider this topic interesting for Europeans and North Americans. The reason is simple - the Chinese products are not as yet penetrating the "developped" markets, but may be, in near future. But their presence in markets such as the colombian is strong - so we may learn a bit about our own automotive future.

It can be reasonable to expect that the Chinese producers may enhance their knowledge and experience or start beneficial joint ventures (e.g. HAFEI motors in case of the 2001 LOBO model contracted Pininfarina for design of the body and Lotus to design the suspension) with other companies to such an extent as to tackle the greatest problems with security and quality. After that, there will be no obstacles left to start penetrating the most cost-oriented niches in the developped automotive markets.

As a source of our investigation we may simply use magazine "AUTOMOVIL" (27/2009, 16.05.2009),printed here by the colombian TELEVISA / MOTORPRESS media group. This particular issue presents overview of most models available on local new / used car markets, including prices. It also presents one larger comparative test of two cheap compact cars of chinese production, and one article introducing the best selling chinese models on the light commercial vehicle market.

The following producers / models are currently marketed in Colombia:

CHANA (Benni - family compact, STAR - light commercial)



CHANGHE (Ideal - family compact)


CHERY (QQ - family compact developped from Daewoo Matiz / Chevrolet Spark)


DFM (Van - light commercial, the front part resembles BMW)


GREAT WALL (Safe - SUV resembling 90s isuzu trooper)


HAFEI (Lobo - family compact, Zhonghyi - light commercia, Minyi - light commercial)




LIFAN MOTORS (520 - small sedan)


LANDWIND (x6 - SUV resembling Opel Frontera)


SAIC-WULING (supervan - light commercial)


ZOTYE AUTO (Nomada - SUV)


ZXAUTO (Admiral - light pickup)



From the above shown models, in Cartagena there are several Chery QQs employed in taxi service, several Hafei Lobos employed similarly. Second, there is a good deal of presence of the minivans, which provide quite unique architecture, combining crew cab and a pick up configuration in size of japanese minivan. Many Chana stars and Hafeis are present and some DFM. The minivans often serve as school buses. I have seen Zotye auto nomada once or twice.

Lets now look at the prices on the market.

First, the small family compacts. Lets start from Chevrolet Spark, which is the size of most small family compacts and the ancestor of Chery QQ. The cheapest SPARK is 21.190.000 pesos. But Spark is an old model. Hyundai Santro cca 23.000.000. Korean Kia Picanto, of the same size,also often employed as a taxi costs 27.250.000. Similar Hyundai i10 26.000.000 pesos, Getz cca 27.000.000 pesos.
Renault,traditionally strongly present at the market, offers two budget options: the ancient but proven Twingo for 24.170.000 pesos, and the sturdy Logan (in Europe Dacia) for accessible 25.750.000 pesos.

If we step up, to models like Peugeot 207, Mazda 2, Nissan Micra, which are the entry models by these producers, the prices are 40.000.000 and more,maybe with exemption of rarely seen and slightly outdated Fiat Palio for cca 38.000.000 pesos.

Surprisingly, Chery QQ is only 1.100 000 pesos cheaper that the cheapest Chevrolet Spark. But Ghanghe Ideal 19.000.000 pesos. Modern Chana Benni 24.000.000 pesos. Hafei Lobo is 19.000.000, version taxi only 20.900.000.

That shows us that the chinese products are priced roughly 5 - 20 % below the price range of their competitors. That is for the family compacts. It seems that Chevrolet inntentionally went down with the price of Spark, as it is the closest of the "reputable" competitors of the chinese, and along with the clear benefits of tradition and service it manages to acquire huge part of the market. The closest asian competitors may not be seen as that different from the Chinese and are also slightly more expensive and the entry models offer at times less atractive design that the chinese. In the slightly bigger car market, Logan has a very strong presence, again supported by tradition, and also by the sturdiness and simplicity of construction which promises less luxury but more reliability then the chinese product. The luxurious editions of Logan, which may cost as much as 35.000.000 pesos also sellvery well.


Light commercial vehicles
In this cathegory it is simple as there is virtually no substantial competition for these products! The prices range from 20.000.000 for the simplest pick ups to some 36.100.000 (DFM van pasajeros 1.3). For a price less than smallest Peugeot, Mazda or Nissan we can buy fully equipped van for up to 11 passengers, ready to be commercially employed as e.g. a school bus!


With such a price range cheap commercial vehicles such as Chana or Hafei might find their niches on especially european markets as well! Its easy to conceive employment of such useful small vehicles in dense environments such as the mediterranean islands.

úterý 9. června 2009

BAZURTO - the local public market


This saturday we made a trip to the local public market, called BAZURTO. I basically joined another group led by a boyfriend of a Slovenian girl, who himself is Colombian and a navy officer by profession, which promised reasonable levels of security.

Why security? Well, Bazurto is one of the places we have been warned about numerous times. We have been told not to go alone in any case. So, for many months the disorganised, dense structure of Bazurto invoked in me associations with the infamous Sherwood full of bandits.

Now, this impression proved to be wrong. I shall now warn everyone, that there is a risk that if a foreigner goes there alone, someone may take advantage of the situation. But, seeing the whole structure as an outlaws hangout is wrong as well. What we have seen there were poor, but completely ordinary and honest people, who were after their daily bussiness. Obviously, the market is important part of local low-end economic structure - so people were actually busy trading!

When we were passing the straight aisles, the expression we could see on peoples faces was that of a surprise, sometimes slight amusement by the unusual sight. As many people are not used to see foreigners there, they probably did not know what to think of us, or how to approach us. For sure they were not waiting to prey on us. .

Its quite logic, isnt it? If one makes his or her living by begging or stealing or otherwise taking advantage of tourists, such a person surely has much better working conditions in the areas frequented by tourists. Only a fool would waste his time in a place where almost no foreigners go. I am quite sure that Bazurto is not a very favourable place for a thief - first, most people who go there are not very rich. Second - I am sure there is a good deal of solidarity amongst the vendors, so it would not be a very smart idea to try to steal from them. People who do not have much guard well what they have.

Maybe a petty thief could pick some pocket here and there in the crowd - a few could make their living like that in such an environment. On the other hand the place offers opportunities to make a little money in a honest way. For instance we have seen shoeless people carrying boxes of goods to the shops. But big time robberies? I doubt it. Few prospective victims, countless witnesses and both the buyers and the vendors need to keep the environment safe so that the economic traffic can continue... I mean he who went there trying to threaten and rob the locals would sooner or later fall a victim of some sort of social cleaning himself.

Thats for the general situation - that does not guarantee that as a foreigner you cant have a bad luck and attract attention of a serious criminal who came here to make his weekly shopping:)

pondělí 8. června 2009

Spontaneity in language learning


In the previous entry I have thought about the phenomena I called "Point Break" in language learning and the way it makes the difference between literacy and iliteracy when it comes to the use of languages.

Now I would like to think more about the question of what is it that spuns the further development of language learning beyond the "Point Break".

I have argued that for many people, the question of learning a language is simply the question of gaining control over some kind of human interaction that goes on in that language. Only a relative minority of people study the language as such, for the very understanding and appreciating of its rules, structures, irregularities and bizzare details.

Now, that said, its quite obvious that many people learn the languages while striving for quite other objectives. Historically one of the first ways people learned foreign languages must have been simply by coping in a foreign society. Such an medieval artisan quite often went abroad while being an aprentice but very few could had gotten any formal linguistic education at all. But being suddenly exposed to a different environment and having to survive within it, I am sure these guys did their best and eventually gained a SKILL sufficient to get around.

Because language IS rather a SKILL than a KNOWLEDGE! Lets say it is a skill of social communication using a special instrument that we were not brought up using. SKILL is something of the ranks of swimming. As the above stated example of medieval artisans illustrates, you can't learn to swim without getting wet, that is without actually getting in to the environment where you'll have to use the newly acquired skill. Now as it makes learning swimming much quicker if you actually dip into a pool, it also makes it a lot easier to learn German if you submerge into German speaking environment. On the other hand, whats the point of learning swimming in the Sahara dessert? Use it or lose it, we have all heard that... so why invest enermous energy into something we will not use? I think this definition of the lack of motivation in student must ring in ear of every teacher.


But lets get back to what we said before, that is, that people mostly learn foreign language in order to achieve quite another objectives. Its instrumental. It was instrumental for the medieval aprentice, as he needed to wander around and learn about the latest things in his trade, not starving to death meanwhile.

That said, we come to the central questions of contemporary teachers as well, that is the question of MOTIVATION. Motivation in fact is nothing else but the external objective that a person wants to achieve through the "instrumental" study of a language. As it was said, few people are attracted to the very beauty of the language itself. So in most cases, motivation is the key element, as where it is missing, the students naturally gravitate back to language ignorance.

On the other hand, even a rather "lowly" motivation (regardless of the general "elevated" rhetorics linked to fostering and thus education) works perfectly, as it attracts the student to the language. Thus, I know people, who learned their English, because the videogames were in English. There are people who learned languages to extend their romantic adventures during vacations, many learned while searching for meaning of song lyrics or simply by spending too much time in front of television and video! It almost happened as an accident to them! But, there are also learners, who learned a language because it was their only bet for survival or better life - that is the story of countless immigrants to the US. The latter invested dedicated effort, the former rather large amount of time and attention to what was going on on the screen. Doubtless, internet is one of the great promotions of language learning these days.


Therefor, the minimalistic tasks for a successfull language teaching could be guiding the students to their "Point Break" and helping them to identify and reinforce their own motivation if necessary, thereby starting a continuous process of learning which should be rather SPONTANEOUS abd SELFSUPPORTING.


The problem with modern language teaching lies in that its quite hard to work with a group of students and to make the very diverse individual motivations work at the same time. Its hard to conceive without vast application of the cooperative approach, which is not so common yet. The often mentioned CLIL (Content Language Integrated Learning) approach in fact tries to ressurect this beneficiary aspect of language learning. The same was once suggested by my vice-dean for the matters of study, who suggested he learned foreign languages most by studiing the books in the bibliography of his final thesis. I have read a lot of books and magazines in a few languages because of my interest in cars.

Without our interest for our very personal content, the spontaneity in learning can hardly be achieved.

Point break in language learning


Well, I would be the last to expect myself to write a text like this. Nevertheless, my recent experience seems to support conviction that I hold for some time already when it comes to language learning.

This conviction could ba characterize as belief, that once you reach a certain level of grip of a language that allows for its use, you start absorbing other knowledge rapidly and naturally. I call this "certain level" the name of a good film: "Point Break".

I will now present several roots from which my conviction stems. Maybe first of all I should mention the general linquistic theory, which sees a language as a system, where elements are defined by their mutual relations. If we so see a language as a system, lets add another theory, the theory of inertia of complex systems.

In general, a complex system is characterized by inertia, because its inner relations are so intriquing that it is quite complicated to induce change. Unless there are simultaneous efforts on a sufficient number of fronts, the system regardless of the effort expended tends to "slip back" into its initial configuration. Only if changes are introduced at several fronts the system can reach new configuration, new equilibrium and thus new inertia and stability.

I first saw this theory applied on social science in work of Geofffrey Canada, an american social worker, who was by then in charge of large social program in Harlem, New York. He explained, that if there is a change to occur in the life of poor inner city youngsters, efforts must not be made only within the education system, or only within street work, or only within family interventions: the inertia will cause negation of a singled-out effort. Only if intervention is undertaken on all these fronts simultaneously, the real change can arrive.

Now I am quite sure the same can be said about language learning. The individual components of the complex system - here the mastery of a knowledge - are the components to this mastery, i.e. knowledge of grammar structures, vocabulary, idioms, phrases, pronunciation and stresses etc. Why am I so sure about it? Because I know stories of people who attained language knowledge "outside" of the official structures of language education. One example might be the czech traveller and writer Martin Mikyska, who learned Spanish while actually travelling around South America. His starting point was by and far a complete absence of knowledge, and a dictionary and a phrasebook. He learned through intensive interaction during the travelling! Other people I know learned English by watching movies and MTV.

Now as a language student we all start from the departure point of complete ignorance of the language desired. As our assets are close to zero on all fronts, the slowly growing isolated isles of knowledge can at first not turn around the inertia of language ignorance. This then causes the frustrating experience of the learner when he - regardless of the effort - "slips back" into the "ignorance point" where the language does not work for him. That said, to make a language work means to gain the ability to communicate and to reach our objectives within given language environment.

This situation persists untill the "Point Break" occurs. At that moment, the isolated isles of our knowledge unify to produce such a general picture of the system, that we can "make it work for us". Once we achieve this, we can interpret all the unknown phenomena in the light of what we already know, or we are able to clear our doubts about the unknown reasonably with the aid of the known.

I call this moment "Point Break", because after this point the whole subjective experience of language learning changes drastically. It ceases to be frustrating and becomes challenging and actually fun. Theoretically, the first step (and the most important one as it means the difference between literacy and iliteracy) of a teachers work might well be to guide the pupil or student to his or her "Point Break".