Benefits of Learning Chinese

By Ling-Ling Lisa Shih
From Ling-LingChinese.com

Learning a foreign language is a rewarding but challenging journey that requires dedication, time, and consistent practice. Mandarin Chinese is often regarded as one of the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn. With its unique writing system, tones, and unfamiliar linguistic structure, it may seem like a daunting choice.

So why choose Chinese?

Despite its reputation, learning Mandarin offers tremendous personal, academic, and professional benefits. As one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, Chinese opens the door to rich cultural experiences, global career opportunities, and meaningful connections with millions of people. Moreover, while certain aspects of Chinese can be challenging, other features—such as the absence of verb conjugations, grammatical gender, and plural noun forms—make it simpler than many European languages in some respects.

In this article, you will discover the many advantages of learning Mandarin Chinese and why the effort invested in mastering the language can yield lifelong rewards.

The Benefits of Mastering Mandarin Chinese

First, Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world.

• In Proportional Map of the World’s Largest Languages, Arika Okrent shares this interesting data about the languages of the world: “there are 7 billion people on earth and about 7000 languages, but more than half of the world’s population speaks one of just 23 languages.” She uses  Alberto Lucas Lopéz ‘s map of a World of Languages to illustrate that Chinese speakers outnumber any other language speakers

Why learn Chinese? One compelling reason is the sheer number of people who speak the language. As the chart below shows, approximately 20% of the world’s population speaks Chinese. By learning Chinese, you can communicate with nearly one-fifth of humanity, making it one of the most valuable languages for global communication.

According to Okirent’s analysis of the full resolution version of  Lopéz ‘s map, Mandarin Chinese alone is spoken by approximately 848 million people. Even without including speakers of other Chinese varieties, Mandarin speakers outnumber English speakers by nearly 500 million, making it the most widely spoken native language in the world.

Mandarin Chinese is spoken not only in Mainland China and Taiwan but also in Chinese communities across Southeast Asia, North and South America, Europe, and many other parts of the world. Its widespread use makes it an important language for international communication and cultural exchange.

In addition, Chinese is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, underscoring its significance on the global stage and its role in international diplomacy.

Second, learning Chinese broadens your cultural horizons.

Language and culture are closely connected, and studying Chinese provides a unique opportunity to explore a civilization with more than five thousand years of history. As you learn the language, you will gain a deeper appreciation of Chinese traditions, values, literature, and ways of thinking. At the same time, examining another culture often leads to a greater understanding of your own. This cross-cultural awareness can enrich your personal growth and help you become a more effective global citizen.

Third, learning Chinese can improve your career prospects.

As China plays an increasingly important role in the global economy, employers are seeking individuals who can communicate across languages and cultures. Whether you are interested in business, technology, education, government, tourism, or international relations, Chinese language skills can help distinguish you from other candidates and create valuable professional opportunities. In an increasingly globalized world, knowing Chinese can be a powerful asset for career advancement.

In Business

Knowing Chinese can give you a significant advantage in today’s global economy. Many international corporations operating in Chinese-speaking regions prefer to hire individuals who can speak Chinese and understand the local culture.

China has the largest population in the world and one of the fastest-growing major economies. It is also the second-largest economy globally and one of the United States’ most important trading partners.

In an increasingly interconnected world, global business knowledge creates valuable opportunities for international careers. Developing language skills such as Chinese can strengthen your professional profile and prepare you for success in the global marketplace.

• Global Edge Global Business knowledge provides opportunities for an international career.
• See Global Professional Search: “language and culture at work–Tomorrow’s Marketplace is Hiring Your Global Skill Set Today.”

In Government and World Organizations

      

China is playing an increasingly important role in global affairs. As a result, Chinese is regarded as a critical world language, and governments are actively seeking specialists who can work on issues related to China.

Proficiency in Chinese, along with an understanding of Chinese culture and society, is highly valuable in public service and international relations. A number of government careers require or strongly prefer candidates with Chinese language skills, including roles in diplomacy, intelligence analysis, national security, trade policy, and international development.

Here are some examples for Federal Foreign Language Careers:

• Language Officer
• Linguist and Language Analyst
• Foreign Language Instructor
• Foreign Service Officer
• UN Careers

In Education

China’s growing political, economic, and cultural influence has created a strong demand for well-trained Chinese language teachers. As more people around the world choose to study Chinese, instructors are needed not only in government programs but also in K–12 public and private schools, as well as in colleges and universities.

Those interested in this career path can pursue relevant degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels in fields such as Chinese Language, Chinese Studies, or East Asian Studies. With appropriate academic training and language proficiency, teaching Chinese can become a rewarding and impactful profession.

Below are examples of Chinese language teaching job postings in the United States:

• Chinese Teaching Jobs posted by The Chinese Language Teachers Association, USA
• Chinese Instructor Jobs Posted by Indeed.com
• Job Posts by National Center for K-16 Chinese Language Pedagogy
• HigherEdJobs on Chinese Teaching

Teaching Opportunities overseas: You will have plenty of opportunities to teach English as a second language in China while obtaining a valuable cultural experience and developing your Chinese language skills.

Here are some resources that can guide you to such opportunities.

• Teach in China A program offered through the Council on International Education Exchange.
•  Wang & Li Asia Resources
• Recruit for China: Teach Students in China

In

Translation/Interpretation

• You can also pursue a career in translation/interpretation or pursue these interests on the side.  Qualified translators and interpreters are sought after by private companies, translation agencies, courts, and hospitals. (Here is a list of  Top Translation Agencies.)

Other Language-Related Careers

• The above list is not exhaustive. You can also increase your career prospects in journalism, law, medical fields, and many other fields of study by a knowledge of Chinese language. (Here are Ten jobs you didn’t know you could do with a foreign language.)

Fourth, foreign language is one of the core courses required for college admission and graduation.

• 
  
  In High School Course Requirements for College Admissions, Allen Grove points out, college applicants need to make sure to complete a standard core curriculum. According to him, a typical high school core curriculum looks something like this (for example, Bard High School Early College Cleveland requires a minimum of 3 years of foreign language study) :
  
  

• Many colleges and universities require at least two semesters of a foreign language as an integral part of the humanities and liberal arts core curriculum.

Fifth, you can have the options of pursuing the following field of study in college.

• A major in Chinese language and Literature or a major in Chinese language and Culture
• A major in an area of your primary interest and a minor in Chinese language
• Double Major (2 languages or 1 language + 1 other discipline in the area of your interest, for instance, double major in Chinese and Business)
• An educational Certification with Teaching Chinese as a Second Language
• One of the following interdisciplinary majors:
  • East Asian Studies
  • Chinese Studies
  • Humanities Program
  • International Business
  • International Studies

Last, but not the least, learning Chinese is intellectually challenging and beneficial for your cognitive development. 

• Brain Benefits of Learning a Second Language
• Learning Chinese Pays Dividends: Of Characters and Cognition

You Can Learn Chinese as Easily as Any Other Foreign Language

Don’t let a starkly different language system deter you from learning Mandarin Chinese. You can learn Chinese as easily as any other foreign language. In some respects Chinese is much easier than other languages. There are no tenses in Chinese verbs! Whether you drink today, you drank last night, you have drunk whole day, or you are drinking right now, you only use ONE verb form in Chinese. Besides no tenses (as seen in #1 below), Chinese grammar is simpler in many other respects:

1. No tenses: The verb form never changes. The tenses are indicated by the use of particles to express if an action takes place in the past, present or future.
2. No conjugations: There is only one verb form in Chinese.
3. No articles: No articles such as in Spanish–le/la/los/las to worry about in Chinese!
4. No plurals: For instance, either one table or two tables, the Chinese word for the word “table” would be written the same either it is singular or plural.
5. No gender: no masculine, feminine or neuter words. For instance, in Spanish, the word “casa” (home) is feminine; in Chinese, this word, as in many nouns, is genderless.
6. No adjectives declensions: Chinese adjectives never change in form. Won’t you say Chinese adjectives are much simpler after comparing them with German adjectives?
7.  Simple Subject-Verb-Object sentence patterns: Chinese sentences, in general, follow simple Subject-Verb-Object sentence patterns.

Chinese characters may appear insurmountable, but there is logic behind seemingly unfathomable-looking Chinese characters. Most of the characters are logical combinations of a frequently appearing radical (the meaning component) and a Sound component. It may take some time to acquire the knowledge of all 214 essential radicals that are associated with the meaning of each word. However, as you increasingly learn the most frequently used radicals, learning how to read and write Chinese gets easier. For example, 妈 (ma) is made up of 女 and 马 （ma). 女 （nu） is the radical meaning “woman”, 马 （ma) is the phonetic part of this character. 女(Nu) is used in words that are associated with female, (such as “aunt”, “sister”, girl, etc.) Once you get a handle of the essential radicals, it will help you learn Chinese characters. Like grammar, even characters, in some respects, are simpler than other Romanized European languages. In English, you have different names for meats (venison, mutton, pork, beef, etc.), Chinese simply add an animal name with the word meat “肉” （rou), for instance, mutton (羊肉: yangrou) consists of these two parts:  羊（”yang”: sheep）+ 肉 （”rou”: meat). You have different English vocabularies for different months, but in Chinese, you simply add a number (1 to 12) before the word “month” (“yue”：月) and that accounts for 12 months of a year!  The vocabularies for the days of a week are likewise created this way as well (except the Chinese word for Sunday).

The following videos further debunk the theory that Chinese is too hard to learn. With willingness to put in the time and effort, you can master Chinese language (Chinese characters, vocabulary, and grammar) without too much difficulty.

Below are videos that recap the reasons for Learning Mandarin Chinese:

          走一千里路，是从脚下第一步开始的。

In a nutshell, learning Chinese reaps many benefits and YOU ARE CAPABLE! As Confucius said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” When one realizes that learning is limitless, they will never get bored! As one of the oldest languages and cultures that have evolved over thousands of years, Chinese will enrich your life. Either you are native or non-native speakers, you can always challenge yourself to reach new heights!

Get yourself ready to meet the challenges in this increasingly globalized world. When opportunities come, you are ready!

Related Article: Why Learn a Foreign Language

“I will prepare and some day my chance will come.”

― Abraham Lincoln

“Fortune favors the prepared mind.” — Louis Pasteur

“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can, there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.”― Sarah Caldwell

“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.”—Malcolm X

“One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.”—Benjamin Disraeli