10 Reasons Why You Should Learn Chinese

Most of the people who speak English do not bother themselves to learn Chinese because either they feel it is difficult and time-consuming or feel, “Why do I learn a new language when everyone speaks English.” But let me tell you, I have lived in China for three and a half years, and I observed that not everyone speak English there, most of them do not have a reason to learn it. The rest of the people on the earth who do not speaks Chinese certainly do have some good reasons to learn the Chinese language. Below are some of the Reasons Why we should learn Chinese:

1. Mandarin Chinese, the most widely spoken and fastest-growing language in the world

There are over 900 million people in the world who’s native language is Chinese, and it is the most widely spoken mother tongue in the world. It is also the official language in China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Myanmar. I know most of the blog posts you find about learning Chinese will have this as the first reason to learn Chinese. But rightly so; if you are going to learn another language, why not to discover the one that almost 1/4 of the world already speaks. You might think “I will never go to China” but you might go to Singapore or Taiwan where Chinese is also widely spoken. Not only that, but Chinese migrants are living all over the world, in Europe, Australia, and the USA to name a few. In many of the states in the USA, people learn Spanish because of the high population of Spanish speakers, would not it be nice to speak to your Chinese neighbors?

Student’s data show that the number of Chinese students make up 20% of all international students studying in the UK. And while they may be in the UK to practice their English, a ‘你好‘or a’谢谢‘once in a while it might feel them like they are in the home country. Chinese language courses are also being taught in many schools in the USA because chances are those kids will need to speak it (even just a little) in the future.

The truth is, the Chinese language becoming more popular, not meaning to brag but I know this from looking at Written Chinese, and the amount of people who every single day ask ‘How can I learn the Chinese language?’ ‘From where shall I start?’ If you feel the above describes something you may be thinking, take a look at here.

2. To Be able to Travel in China

After arriving in China, one of the things that happened to me was that I became pickier when it came to food. The level of my spoken Chinese very poor; I was not able to read Chinese. I always needed someone who could read and speak Chinese. Eventually, I ended up pointing to the pictures at the restaurant, or worse, not going to the restaurants alone because I knew I could not order food. And do not kid yourself, there are many places in China where people do speak English if you choose to experience the ‘real’ China, there probably would not be people who speak English. Even in a big city like Shanghai, many people cannot speak English apart from ‘Hello’ and ‘Look, Missy.’ I am not criticizing anyone, I lived there, and it was my responsibility to learn Chinese instead of trying to survive on speaking English. On the other hand, those who can speak English will probably be beyond themselves with excitement and help you any way they can. Just do not expect it, that’s all I am saying, and learn the basics at least.

3. To Better Understand Chinese History and Culture

I honestly believe that to understand Chinese culture and history fully, you need to learn Chinese. Learning Chinese offers a better understanding of one of the rich and certainly the oldest history and culture in the world. Million of the people travel to China to see the shrines, walk the Great Wall of China and indulge in the beautiful food markets in Bejing. I am not saying that you need to learn enough Chinese that would able you to read the works of Confucius, No, you just need to grips the basics of written Chinese that will make you able to comprehend more about Chinese culture and society. You will understand another culture’s point of view.

4. The Chinese language is Becoming the Language of Business and Tourism

The Chinese language is increasing in demand, mainly because people would like to deal more efficiently on a global scale. When it comes to business, there is a good chance you will meet a Chinese business owner who exports or import Chinese products and that’s the reason you will need to know the language which can give you an edge. There is a mass of foreigners in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou alone looking to import and sometimes export products to and from China. Besides that Chinese are traveling abroad more often, especially to Australia, USA, Japan and Thailand. If you work in tourism, it is surely worth speaking a little Chinese to accommodate the big spenders if you work in the tourism industry and are considering learning Chinese checkout cchatty.

5. Use Resources and Mobile Apps for Learn Chinese

There are plenty of significant resources, apps, online courses, and great books out there for learning Chinese. Textbooks are even better if you are traveling, videos, an audio and online course can educate you about Chinese learning. Mobile apps probably the way forward and there are plenty on the market designed to enhance the language skills of the learners. These apps designed for the acquisition of Chinese language skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing skills through mobile technology. However, To choose the online course I would highly recommend our line learning Chinese platform of cchatty.

6. Use the Chinese language to make beneficial connections with people

Learning Chinese has enormous benefits for career development, but sometimes, it may not be the work benefits that attract you to start learning a foreign language. Learning Chinese gives you a basis to form a close friendship and an opportunity to learn about new values, norms, perspectives, and different ways of life. This language will open the door for you and will make you able to connect with Chinese people and to understand their culture on a meaningful level.

7. It is Good Brain Exercise for You

Just like physical exercise, mental exercise has immediate positive effects. Researchers at Penn State revealed that learning Chinese is healthy for people’s brains. It utilizes areas of the brain that learning other languages does not and helps the brain to get stronger. There are many differences between learning Chinese as compared to English, such as the difference in tones and characters. The researchers think that learning Chinese takes more brainpower, because the Chinese speakers use both left and right temporal lobe, while the English speakers use only the left temporal lobe. If you are interested in learning written Chinese characters that will help you with to keep your mind sharp and to improve your visual recognition. Studies from the University of Chicago found that multilingual people have better decision-making skills. People who speak more than one language are better able to pick up non-verbal communication in any given situation. So if you want to be a Mathematics genius (Chinese children have a great understanding of Mathematics than English-speaking children) or keep your brain healthier and yourself organized, Chinese is the language for you.

8. More Job Opportunities

It is fair to say that more and more foreigners are arriving in China looking to find work as a teacher or to start their businesses. At the same time, learning Chinese is not essential for teaching, it would probably benefit your relationships with colleagues and the parents of your students (if you keep their kid happy, the parents will love you forever, or at least until you leave for another job anyway). If you are serious about learning Chinese and about passing the HSK exam, this will definitely enhance your career, and it is something you can put on your resume. On a global level, China expanding their business and aims to turn around the term “Made in China.” in a more positive ideal and working alongside the Chinese to achieve these goals will be imperative in almost every industry.

9. It is an interesting language

I become more intrigued and enthralled by spending more time on learning Chinese. I am making more and more connections when learning new characters; I realize that a particular character is used in many different bigrams (2 characters that make a word), or when you can guess the meaning of a character just by looking at the radicals and when the penny drops it is just utterly amazing. More and more people who learn Chinese feels this way, they learn Chinese literally for their enjoyment and fun, and I cannot blame them. It is challenging and sometimes writing the same character 100 times makes you feel crazy, but if you keep going, you will soon realize that this is an interesting language.

10. To enjoy Chinese Movies and TV shows in their original style

Are you waiting for the next episode of the drama? Why not consider watching some Chinese historical dramas instead? China has a reputation for entertaining, high-quality shows, and by learning the language, you can enjoy these too. The drama, “Ode to Joy” is the one who captures the attention of the Chinese audience.

Are there any other significant reasons of why we should learn Chinese. If your reasons are different than above, share them in the comments section.