China. A beautiful and fascinating country. It is the biggest country in the world by population (one in five people in the world are Chinese). The second largest country by land area (second to Russia). The second largest economy in the world (second to USA) and growing. Some argue it’s already the largest.
Home to ancient traditions, breathtaking views and sceneries both natural and man-made. Its history traces back thousands of years. Indeed, China was one of the world’s earliest civilizations, and a cradle of civilization.
The Chinese language is the oldest written language in human history, with at least six thousand years of history.
If all this hasn’t yet convinced you that learning Mandarin Chinese is one of the best investments of your time that you can make, here are some more reasons why you should learn Mandarin Chinese:
Career and business opportunities
China is the second largest economy in the world (some argue it’s already the largest) so it is increasingly becoming a more valuable skill to be able to converse in Mandarin in order to open up potential career and/or business opportunities. Currently there is already large demand for people who can speak both English and Chinese and this demand is only going to grow in the near future. Many large companies from around the world, especially American and European companies, have already begun to work with Chinese companies in joint ventures or partnerships. People who can bridge the gap between English and Chinese are rare and sought after. Therefore if you are one of them, you position yourself for success in your business or career. China continues to grow and will undoubtedly play a major role in the direction of the world’s future economic landscape.
Opening up new social horizons in both friendships and relationships
There’s something like 1.4 billion Chinese people in the world so imagine how cool it would be to speak their language. It’s like unlocking that one-fifth of the planet that is currently inaccessible to you because you cannot communicate with them. By breaking the language barrier you can experience a whole new world, socially and also for you single people out there, romantically J.
Opens up a whole “new internet” for you
Most of us in the English-speaking world rely on Google so much that if we can’t find something on Google we think it doesn’t exist or is not on the internet. However there is a whole new world of Chinese websites out there and the only thing preventing you from unlocking these is the language barrier.
For example did you know that China has it’s own microblogging platform known as Weibo which has over 200 million users. China has it’s own version of Facebook (renren.com), it’s own version of Google (baidu.com), it’s own versions of Youtube (youku.com and tudou.com) and even it’s own version of eBay (taobao.com).
So what this means for you is a whole new world of videos that may not be on Youtube. A whole new world of friends and news which may not be on Facebook or Twitter. A whole new world of websites and resources that may not be found via Google. Plus for all the shoppers out there, a whole new world of shopping and potential bargains on online Chinese shopping sites.
Opens up a whole new world perspective for you
As you now know, China’s history traces back thousands of years. Being one of humanity’s oldest civilizations, there is an enormous treasure trove of wisdom, wise-sayings, traditions, world view and culture that is awaiting you once you can scale and overcome the “Great Wall of Chinese”. Even better, one way to experience this rich ancient culture is to live in China for some time. In fact, it’s increasingly common for people from around the world to relocate to China to work as an expat or to move there as a student.
TL;DR
The point is, China’s role in the future of humanity is certain to be large and pivotal. Therefore it would be a strategic move to learn Chinese (as President Obama points out).
There are many more reasons but basically to sum up, it’s because it opens up a whole new world of opportunities and possibilities, which is the reason why I once again reiterate to you that learning Mandarin is one of the best investments of your time that you can make.
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