Main theme of the conference: Can a second language be learned with much less effort than a native learns it as his mother tongue?

The background stories on this theme: In the Spring (April to June) 2008, Jason Tyler Gong (age 24) showed the world (via Chinese media, 5 newspapers and 6 TV stations) that Chinese written language can be mastered in 89 days, gaining the ability to read Chinese newspaper from an initial condition of not knowing a single Chinese word. Those news reports and TV broadcasts on Jason's story are available at http://www.chinese-etymology.com
In September 2008, Henry Miles Gong (age 22) challenged the world (including 100 American universities, such as, Harvard, Yale, USC, etc.) to examine his challenge that he can beat Jason's record and reach Jason's level in 60 days. Henry, indeed, completed his challenge successfully, and his study log is available for the world to review.

The issues for the conference:

1. Are the stories of Jason and Henry hoaxes?
   
   • Both Jason and Henry are available for a detailed academic review on:
     1. their initial conditions,
     2. their current level of language proficiency,
     3. their study logs and the procedure of study.
   • The Chinese news reporters and the members of the Testing committee are available for interview.
   • Over 100 kids (from 4th to 12th grade) are following Jason's studying procedure, and they are available for interview in this conference.
   
   
   
2. As the stories of Jason, Henry and 100 more kids are facts, the answer for the main theme is positive. Then,
   
   • What is the theoretical basis for the premise that a second language can be learned with less effort than a native learns it as his mother tongue?
     1. Must the first language not be a habitual obstacle for learning a second language?
     2. Must the first language be a springboard for the learning of the second language?
     
     
   • Why is the native of the second language not able to do better than a foreigner learning his mother tongue as the second language?
     
   • Is the premise universal? or is it language dependent? valid for Chinese language while not valid for others?
   
   
3. Are there different kinds of nature language? How to classify them?
   Every language must consist of, at least, two parts, syntax (the basic unit for meaning, a concrete object or a concept) and sentence (the composite meaning from the composite of syntax). Then, what are the differences between languages?
   
   • There are, at least, two types of syntax, self-revealing or else.
     1. Self-revealing syntax -- such as, 書 (book) is 聿 (hand made item) + 曰 (intelligent saying). When an intelligent saying is made into a hand made item, it is a book.
        Any self-revealing system must be an axiomatic system which consists of, at least, two parts:
        • There are only a finite number (the lesser the better) of basic building blocks as parts for building its members.
        • There are only a finite number of rules for the construction of its members.
        
        
     2. Non-self-revealing syntax -- such as, book or par-tic-u-lar. Although the numbers of phoneme are finite in English, their composite will not automatically reveal a meaning (especially, if it does not form a known word, such as u-tic-par-lar). The meaning of any English word is coming from a developed phonetic assignment, as par-tic-u-lar was assigned a meaning while u-tic-par-lar is not. In this sense, English is not an axiomatic system. The meaning of words of a non-axiomatic system can, in general, never be self-revealing and must be assigned externally.
     
     
   • By definition, any axiom system can be mastered by only learning its basic building blocks and its system construction rules. On the other hand, a non-axiomatic system must be learned by knowing its member one at a time, that is, there is no short-cut way of learning a non-axiomatic system.
   
   
4. Is the premise -- a second language can be learned with less effort than a native learns it as his mother tongue -- valid only if the language in question is an axiomatic system?
   
   
5. Consciousness of educator -- If a discipline can be learned in days (instead of years) with a newly discovered procedure, can educators' conscious allow them to waste students' lives away by teaching the old way, especially if the public is not knowing the issue?

• Chair: Tienzen (Jeh-Tween) Gong, author of Prequark Chromodynamics
• Vice Chair: Rev. Karen Cheng
• Secretary: Sophia Gong, Professor of Tibetan language, Principal of Trinity Chinese School in San Gabriel, California.