It is often said that the best way to understand a country and its people is to learn the language – I could not agree more. This strikes even truer when it comes to China. Having been in existence for over 5,000 years, the Chinese culture is rich and steeped in history. Learning Chinese will not only help you better understand this culture, but the language itself will open your mind and force you to think in ways you never have before – giving you an unforeseen appreciation for the profound beauty of this fascinating language.
One of the reasons of utmost importance why countless people learn Chinese is due to China’s newly found position in the world economy.China is also becoming a vast market place and quickly becoming the economic powerhouse of the world. It was only a few weeks ago that China inevitably and officially overtook the US economy (Read More). This should come as no surprise considering everything we buy these days seems to come from China! The Western world simply cannot compete with their seemingly infinite ‘flat-lined’ supply of labour. Why does this mean you should learn Chinese I hear you ask? Learning Chinese will provide you with the understanding of both the culture, the people and the country, which in turn will present each and every one of you with an invaluable opportunity to enter the Chinese market yourselves and reap the benefits of what China has to offer – like the old saying goes…‘if you can’t beat them, join them!’
Although English currently seems to be the preferred business language, I genuinely feel this is due to change very quickly given China’s rise to economic dominance. When Western corporations decide to take that leap in becoming a multinational enterprise and enter the Chinese market, they often do not want to recruit Chinese managers to run their newly established Chinese facility. This is not because Chinese managers lack skill or business acumen, but because the foreign enterprise wants their Chinese facility to be run like its Western counterpart. This is all well and good, but finding a foreign manager to embrace the Western company’s ethos, but who also possesses the ability to communicate with his Chinese staff and manage the vast cultural difference is an inherently difficult task. This is purely due to the sheer fact that very few Westerners speak Chinese, especially those at management level. This potent combination of business acumen and knowing Chinese will effectively turn you the greatest asset of any company currently operating, or planning to operate in China. Get your business head on, learn the beautiful Chinese language, and in turn become one of the greatest assets a foreign enterprise operating throughout China could have ever wished for!
No one is in doubt that the Chinese language is on the increase around the world. The sheer number of higher educational institutions, primary schools and online learning resources now promoting learning Chinese is enough to prove this point. Learning Chinese is also not as difficult as you may think – provided you are given the correct tools and guidance to learn it. As someone who has gone through the process of living in China from a very young age, learning the language and finding employment here, I cannot stress enough the benefits that can be found in learning this life-changing language.
谢谢！
