Monday 24 June 2013

What are the Push Factors for Learning Chinese?

By Aron Smith


What kind of returns would learning Chinese get me? Do the benefits outweigh the efforts and costs? These are typical questions that people might ask when deciding whether or not they want to learn Chinese.

Wikipedia stated that there are 935 millions native speakers of Chinese in 2007 and the figures have exploded to a 1.1 billion in 2010. As of today, the numbers are still on the rise, and Chinese language is becoming one of the most widely spoken language today. Spanish came in second in 2007 with 387 millions speakers and is also one of the more popular languages being learned today.

Financial gains wise, as China continuously grows to become that global financial superpower it sets out to be, employment opportunities, business outcomes and chances of co-operation with Chinese in China are becoming increasingly closely linked with speaking the Chinese language and understanding the Chinese culture. Learning Chinese reveals the fascinating and rich culture embedded in Chinese history, and helps us gain perspective from the point of view of Chinese speaking people. This invaluable insight to understand how Chinese people think and feel with regards to certain actions would prove tremendously useful when building ties with your Chinese counterparts.

Learning the Chinese language also makes traveling to Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and other places more exciting as Chinese is spoken and understood in these countries. You will be able to soak in and be immersed with the traveling experience whole heartedly if you can speak and understand the language.

Knowing some Chinese especially goes a long way in helping overseas exchange students adjust to their new environment when they study in China or other Chinese speaking countries. The language will bring you the help you need, as well as maybe getting you some popularity amongst all the other students. Chinese greatly admires and are impressed by foreigners speaking Chinese. You could even use your knowledge of the language to find yourself some part time job to earn a little money.

We have to bust the myths that have been surrounding the Chinese language learning community, that the language is a difficult one to master and be proficient in. Chinese actually have some differences to English that makes it easier to learn:

There are no subject-verb agreement to learn in Chinese

There are no tenses and there are no singular and plural forms in Chinese

Chinese has no inflections (verb, noun, articles etc)

"Why learn Chinese" is no longer a question, but rather it's now a matter of "How should I learn Chinese". And with a good Chinese learning program, a good dictionary and a good supportive forum, most would gain mastery in a short time.




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