The 19th century was the century of the UK, the 20th century was the century of the US, and 21st century will be the century of China - Jim Rogers (Peter Pham, 2015)Chinese is now considered as an important language worldwide because of its increase in presence in the business world. Chinese are involved in many businesses throughout the world including Hollywood. So, if you want to increase opportunities in the business world, you must learn Chinese as a second language. Here, I would like to mention that the previous American former president Barack Obama has picked up Chinese. Even Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook also learned Chinese as his second language (Linda Mandarin, n.d.).
The reasons of learning Chinese as second language are as follows:-
1. Chinese is the Most Spoken Language in the World
Yes, this is the first and the most important reason why you should study Mandarin. More than 1.3 billion people speak Chinese as their native language accounting for one-fifth of the entire world population (Zier Liu, n.d.).
Not only is Chinese spoken in China, but it’s also spoken in Singapore and Taiwan. Chinese speaking people are living all across the world and if you’re a professional, it’s more than likely that one of your clients, suppliers or colleagues will speak Mandarin (Zier Liu, n.d.).
2. It Looks Good on Your CV
Chinese language skills are scarce in some companies, even for companies that do a lot of business with China. With Mandarin being needed in business, knowing the language will make you an attractive employee. If you know Mandarin, the company you’re applying for will see you as a valuable person (Zier Liu, n.d.).
The demand for employees who know Chinese is skyrocketing. International businesses prefer to hire people who speak more than one language. China has become a huge market, and business leaders are looking for people who can speak Chinese and operate successfully in a Chinese cultural context (Boston University, n.d.).
Furthermore, many Chinese firms and their soon-to-be prominent brands will need to employ many foreign citizens to staff their offices abroad. Proficiency Mandarin will make you a more attractive employment option and give you an edge when competing for an important position (Linda Mandarin, n.d.). As reported by Bloomberg on 27 July 2007, Goldman Sachs Inc, the world’s most profitable investment bank, then couldn’t name the co-head of investment banking in Asia as CEO of its Beijing joint venture as his mandarin was not good enough (Learning Mandarin is a Great Way, n.d.).
3. China’s Economy is Booming
Whilst most leading economies are stagnating, China continues to surpass growth forecasts as reported by CNBC. China is experiencing overwhelming growth, which means the economy is expanding and China’s popularity is booming. China is one of the largest trading partners of the United States, and has recently become Germany’s largest trading partner overtaking the USA (Mae Hoe, 2017). In time to come, China will exert an global economy influence that businesses, politicians and employees cannot ignore (Learning Mandarin is a Great Way, n.d.).
With China’s growth comes the push to know the language. Companies and individuals are in need of professionals who understand Mandarin Chinese (Zier Liu, n.d.). If you are doing business with Chinese people and you are unable to understand Chinese, then it would be impossible for you to understand the deal without translators. If you can understand and converse in Chinese, there would be significant chance to make this deal successful (Linda Mandarin, n.d.). Mandarin will allow you to speak comfortably to your Chinese business counterparts. This helps to foster better bilateral business ties and compete effectively in the business environment of the future (Linda Mandarin, n.d.).
Furthermore, China launched One Belt and One Road Initiative (OBOR) in 2013. The OBOR is a massive trade and infrastructure project that focuses on improving connectivity and economic cooperation among multiple countries spread across the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe (One Belt One Road, n.d.). According to ChinaDaily, Chinese firms have contributed 180,000 job opportunities along the OBOR routes as of March 2017 (Dai Tian, 2017). For more insights, read One Belt and One Road Initiative.
Chinese language is the official language of China and Taiwan, as well as one of the four official languages of Singapore. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (Wikipedia, n.d.). It is further expected to be Asia’s future lingua franca (Mae Hoe, 2017).
4. Target Market
China boasts of a large and growing consumer market. For consumer-oriented businesses, China presents an ideal market. With such a large market in China, finding the ideal target market for your products and services marks the beginning of localising your product or service for the Chinese market as well as presenting new business opportunities. When planning your economic campaigns in China, knowledge of Chinese culture and language will be a huge advantage. The inept use of Chinese language will result in the disastrous failure of your marketing ads and products, and your reputation will suffer. A direct translation of a marketing campaign message from your native language to Chinese isn’t easy. Pepsi, for example, when it began to market to Chinese consumers with a newly translated catchphrase ‘Pepsi brings you back to life’, they soon realised that their translated slogan had a totally different and disastrous meaning. Being fluent in Mandarin is crucial to professional success in China (Linda Mandarin, n.d.).
5. A Step Towards Understanding Their Culture
The Chinese language is a window to the oldest written language in the world, with at least six thousand years of history. While its characters hint an captivating stories behind each word, its language opens your understanding to Chinese politics, economy as well as its social and cultural history. To study the language will mean to understand the people and their way of understanding. In picking up Chinese idioms or wisdom from the likes of Confucius and Lao Tzu, it reflects the values, strength and sensibility of the Chinese civilization (Mae Hoe, 2017).
For those people working in leadership roles or management positions in China, knowing Mandarin Chinese is exceedingly useful. Through the language you can facilitate a positive relationship with team members, better understand their viewpoints and break through cultural barriers (Sara Lynn Hua, 2015).
Understanding and speaking Chinese is also one of the first steps of forming a CQ (cultural intelligence) in China, which is imperative to those doing business there (Sara Lynn Hua, 2015). Whether for business or to establish personal ties, knowing the language and also the culture is not only useful, but endears you to people you want to connect to and help prevent misunderstandings between Chinese and Western associates (Learning Mandarin is a Great Way, n.d.).
6. Brain Exercise
Studies shown that learning Chinese will utilise that portion of the brain that is not typically used when learning any other language. You will be using more of your brain compared to learning any other language because of its tones and characters (Linda Mandarin, n.d.).
English speakers use the left temporal lobe. Mandarin speakers use both! In addition to using both sides of your temporal lobe, bilingual people are said to be better at prioritizing and multitasking than monolingual people (Zier Liu, n.d.). There are also various educational researches that prove that Students who can write Chinese characters score higher in mathematics (Learning Mandarin is a Great Way, n.d.).
7. Easier to Learn
Chinese has a relatively uncomplicated grammar. Unlike French, German or English, Chinese has no verb conjugation (no need to memorize verb tenses!) and no noun declension (e.g. gender and number distinctions). For example, while someone learning English has to learn different verb forms like “see/saw/seen,” all you need to do in Chinese is just to remember one word: kan (看). While in English you have to distinguish between “cat” and “cats,” in Chinese there is only one form: mao (猫) (Boston University, n.d.).
The basic word order of Chinese is subject - verb - object, exactly as in English. A large number of the key terms of Mandarin Chinese (such as the terms for state, health, science, party, inflation, and even literature) have been formed as translations of English concepts. You are entering a different culture, but the content of many of the modern key concepts is familiar (Boston University, n.d.).
Edited by: 浪子
Bibliography
Chinese Language. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language
Zier Liu. (n.d.). 7 Reasons Why Learning Chinese is Important. Retrieved from
http://blog.keatschinese.com/7-reasons-why-learning-chinese-is-important
Mae Hoe. (2017). Why Is It Important to Learn Chinese This 2017? Retrieved from
https://www.aiesec.co.uk/important-to-learn-chinese-2017/
Linda Mandarin. (n.d.). Importance of Learning Chinese Language! Retrieved from
https://www.lindamandarin.com.sg/blog/importance-of-learning-chinese-language/
Linda Mandarin. (n.d.). The Importance of Learning Chinese as a Second Language. Retrieved from
https://www.lindamandarin.com.sg/blog/the-importance-of-learning-chinese-as-a-second-language/
Linda Mandarin. (n.d.). Is Chinese Really Important in the Business World? Retrieved from
https://www.lindamandarin.com.sg/blog/is-chinese-really-important-in-the-business-world/
Sara Lynn Hua. (2015). 4 Reasons to Learn Chinese. Retrieved from
http://blog.tutorming.com/business/why-you-should-learn-chinese
Boston University. (n.d.). Why Study Chinese? Retrieved from
https://www.bu.edu/wll/home/why-study-chinese/
Peter Pham. (2015). An Afternoon With Jim Rogers - Revisited. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterpham/2015/08/24/an-afternoon-with-jim-rogers-revisited/#22294f4b25cc
One Belt One Road. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/one-belt-one-road-obor.asp
Dai Tian. (2017). 180,000 Jobs Generated by Belt and Road Initiative. Retrieved from
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2017-03/11/content_28519694.htm
Learning Mandarin is a Great Way to Give Your Child a Competitive Advantage. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.preschoolofamerica.us/importance-of-mandarin.html
Whilst most leading economies are stagnating, China continues to surpass growth forecasts as reported by CNBC. China is experiencing overwhelming growth, which means the economy is expanding and China’s popularity is booming. China is one of the largest trading partners of the United States, and has recently become Germany’s largest trading partner overtaking the USA (Mae Hoe, 2017). In time to come, China will exert an global economy influence that businesses, politicians and employees cannot ignore (Learning Mandarin is a Great Way, n.d.).
With China’s growth comes the push to know the language. Companies and individuals are in need of professionals who understand Mandarin Chinese (Zier Liu, n.d.). If you are doing business with Chinese people and you are unable to understand Chinese, then it would be impossible for you to understand the deal without translators. If you can understand and converse in Chinese, there would be significant chance to make this deal successful (Linda Mandarin, n.d.). Mandarin will allow you to speak comfortably to your Chinese business counterparts. This helps to foster better bilateral business ties and compete effectively in the business environment of the future (Linda Mandarin, n.d.).
Furthermore, China launched One Belt and One Road Initiative (OBOR) in 2013. The OBOR is a massive trade and infrastructure project that focuses on improving connectivity and economic cooperation among multiple countries spread across the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe (One Belt One Road, n.d.). According to ChinaDaily, Chinese firms have contributed 180,000 job opportunities along the OBOR routes as of March 2017 (Dai Tian, 2017). For more insights, read One Belt and One Road Initiative.
Chinese language is the official language of China and Taiwan, as well as one of the four official languages of Singapore. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (Wikipedia, n.d.). It is further expected to be Asia’s future lingua franca (Mae Hoe, 2017).
4. Target Market
China boasts of a large and growing consumer market. For consumer-oriented businesses, China presents an ideal market. With such a large market in China, finding the ideal target market for your products and services marks the beginning of localising your product or service for the Chinese market as well as presenting new business opportunities. When planning your economic campaigns in China, knowledge of Chinese culture and language will be a huge advantage. The inept use of Chinese language will result in the disastrous failure of your marketing ads and products, and your reputation will suffer. A direct translation of a marketing campaign message from your native language to Chinese isn’t easy. Pepsi, for example, when it began to market to Chinese consumers with a newly translated catchphrase ‘Pepsi brings you back to life’, they soon realised that their translated slogan had a totally different and disastrous meaning. Being fluent in Mandarin is crucial to professional success in China (Linda Mandarin, n.d.).
5. A Step Towards Understanding Their Culture
The Chinese language is a window to the oldest written language in the world, with at least six thousand years of history. While its characters hint an captivating stories behind each word, its language opens your understanding to Chinese politics, economy as well as its social and cultural history. To study the language will mean to understand the people and their way of understanding. In picking up Chinese idioms or wisdom from the likes of Confucius and Lao Tzu, it reflects the values, strength and sensibility of the Chinese civilization (Mae Hoe, 2017).
For those people working in leadership roles or management positions in China, knowing Mandarin Chinese is exceedingly useful. Through the language you can facilitate a positive relationship with team members, better understand their viewpoints and break through cultural barriers (Sara Lynn Hua, 2015).
Understanding and speaking Chinese is also one of the first steps of forming a CQ (cultural intelligence) in China, which is imperative to those doing business there (Sara Lynn Hua, 2015). Whether for business or to establish personal ties, knowing the language and also the culture is not only useful, but endears you to people you want to connect to and help prevent misunderstandings between Chinese and Western associates (Learning Mandarin is a Great Way, n.d.).
Studies shown that learning Chinese will utilise that portion of the brain that is not typically used when learning any other language. You will be using more of your brain compared to learning any other language because of its tones and characters (Linda Mandarin, n.d.).
English speakers use the left temporal lobe. Mandarin speakers use both! In addition to using both sides of your temporal lobe, bilingual people are said to be better at prioritizing and multitasking than monolingual people (Zier Liu, n.d.). There are also various educational researches that prove that Students who can write Chinese characters score higher in mathematics (Learning Mandarin is a Great Way, n.d.).
7. Easier to Learn
Chinese has a relatively uncomplicated grammar. Unlike French, German or English, Chinese has no verb conjugation (no need to memorize verb tenses!) and no noun declension (e.g. gender and number distinctions). For example, while someone learning English has to learn different verb forms like “see/saw/seen,” all you need to do in Chinese is just to remember one word: kan (看). While in English you have to distinguish between “cat” and “cats,” in Chinese there is only one form: mao (猫) (Boston University, n.d.).
The basic word order of Chinese is subject - verb - object, exactly as in English. A large number of the key terms of Mandarin Chinese (such as the terms for state, health, science, party, inflation, and even literature) have been formed as translations of English concepts. You are entering a different culture, but the content of many of the modern key concepts is familiar (Boston University, n.d.).
Edited by: 浪子
Bibliography
Chinese Language. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language
Zier Liu. (n.d.). 7 Reasons Why Learning Chinese is Important. Retrieved from
http://blog.keatschinese.com/7-reasons-why-learning-chinese-is-important
Mae Hoe. (2017). Why Is It Important to Learn Chinese This 2017? Retrieved from
https://www.aiesec.co.uk/important-to-learn-chinese-2017/
Linda Mandarin. (n.d.). Importance of Learning Chinese Language! Retrieved from
https://www.lindamandarin.com.sg/blog/importance-of-learning-chinese-language/
Linda Mandarin. (n.d.). The Importance of Learning Chinese as a Second Language. Retrieved from
https://www.lindamandarin.com.sg/blog/the-importance-of-learning-chinese-as-a-second-language/
Linda Mandarin. (n.d.). Is Chinese Really Important in the Business World? Retrieved from
https://www.lindamandarin.com.sg/blog/is-chinese-really-important-in-the-business-world/
Sara Lynn Hua. (2015). 4 Reasons to Learn Chinese. Retrieved from
http://blog.tutorming.com/business/why-you-should-learn-chinese
Boston University. (n.d.). Why Study Chinese? Retrieved from
https://www.bu.edu/wll/home/why-study-chinese/
Peter Pham. (2015). An Afternoon With Jim Rogers - Revisited. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterpham/2015/08/24/an-afternoon-with-jim-rogers-revisited/#22294f4b25cc
One Belt One Road. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/one-belt-one-road-obor.asp
Dai Tian. (2017). 180,000 Jobs Generated by Belt and Road Initiative. Retrieved from
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2017-03/11/content_28519694.htm
Learning Mandarin is a Great Way to Give Your Child a Competitive Advantage. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.preschoolofamerica.us/importance-of-mandarin.html
Why Learning Chinese Is Important ?
Reviewed by 浪子
on
October 13, 2018
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Reviewed by 浪子
on
October 13, 2018
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