Mandarin is one of the 3 languages our new generation of entrepreneurs should learn, says who? Says Forbes & Times! While in UK, British Council has put Mandarin in the top five most important languages for Britain’s future prosperity, security and influence.
It’s not hard to understand why, with the rising economic prominence of China, and the potential of reaching out to the world’s largest middle class residing in China, learning Mandarin Chinese is undeniably a rising trend in the West.
Starting as early as kindergarten, more and more schools are introducing for the first time Mandarin Chinese into their curriculum. With Spanish being the most popular secondary language currently in English speaking countries, Mandarin Chinese certainly has a powerful growth in popularity to uptake its position. It’s said Barack Obama’s own daughter, Sasha is learning Chinese in school already. In the business world, we are seeing more and more prominent world figures speaking Mandarin under the spotlight. An easy example is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who vowed to learn Mandarin back in 2010, last year he debuted the first public speaking in Beijing TsingHua University for over 30mins in Chinese, discussing about Chinese internet users, and Facebook’s potential future in China.
Moreover, Mandarin is proven to be one of the most desirable language skill in the job market nowadays, for example in UK, there is only 1% of the adult population speaks Mandarin to a level that allows them to conduct a basic conversation. Being fluent in Mandarin is such a competitive edge you could thrive with.
So far, you might wonder if it’s time for you to pick up this language. However, here comes a kind warning – Mandarin is not that easy to “pick up”. Every time when someone approaches our school to ask if it’s easy to be fluent in Chinese, we always compare the whole learning process as “going to the gym”. If you want that toned body or muscles mass, you have to commit to it, and take training seriously. Same for language training, the only difference is the human interaction / communication that brings fun and confidence towards the goal of getting fluent. That’s why joining a dynamic speaking class is very important to set your learning methods right. Even if you are doing self-study, make sure you practice with native speakers or other learners to bring the use of language to live.
Resources:
The original post can be found on Forbes.com here.
Mark Zuckerberg’s video can be found on YouTube.com here.
Practical Mandarin course in London can be found here.
