Chinese has firmly established itself alongside English as one of the most important languages for 21st Century learners. As Chinese grows in popularity, it is becoming apparent that an international education is incomplete without the opportunity to learn Chinese.
Mandarin Chinese is the first language of 873 million people and the second language of 178 million people. International schools and state schools across the globe are more aware that students deserve the chance to learn Mandarin Chinese.
Since September 2014 secondary school children across England have had the opportunity to learn Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is now approved by the Department for Education as was one of five modern languages. Furthermore, the British government has invested over $13 million into the Mandarin Excellence Programme which aims to have 5,000 British students become fluent Mandarin speakers by 2020.
‘Mandarin Chinese is one of the fastest growing languages in the world, and it links brilliantly with other curriculum areas such as geography and history.’
As Katharine Carruthers, director of the Education Confucius Institute explains, ‘
Educators and policy makers in the US have also come to realise the value of empowering school students by offering lessons in Mandarin Chinese. The American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages reports that Chinese is now the fastest-growing language, with a growth rate of 195 percent. Education systems aiming to prepare their students with the skills for success in the 21st Century are now making Chinese available on their schools’ timetables.
For adults who attended school at a time when the idea of learning Chinese would have been preposterous, there is no need to despair. Access to education on the internet is powering the future of education. YouTube, video tutorials, language learning apps , student chat groups, interactive flashcards and even NetFlix have made learning a foreign language easier, and more enjoyable, than ever.
If you are going to invest time in learning a new language, you’d do well to choose the language spoken by over 20% of the world’s population!
Learning Chinese also provides other benefits including personal development, professional growth, new business opportunities, career advancement, rewarding travel opportunities and the chance to potentially make 1.28 billion new friends!
If you are tempted to take the next step towards developing your individual potentially, advancing your career and developing new relationships, you should check out the Domino Chinese ‘Introduction to Chinese’ course – it’s fun and completely free .
What have you got to lose?