No matter how difficult learning a new language can sometimes be, learning Mandarin is one of the best investments you can make.Whether it is for a new academic pursuit, a promotion or a new career, there are no other hobby out there most likely to have the same payoff.
Here are a few facts explaining why you should learn Chinese.
1. Chinese is easy.
For a number of reasons, Chinese has been described as a difficult language to learn. Among the most common ones is the alien nature of its writing system. The characters are the hardest thing about Chinese. However, Chinese has no tenses, no cases, no genders and simple grammar.
Grammatically speaking, Chinese is one of the easiest languages to learn. Unlikes most European languages, it does not feature complicated constructs like cases and genders. It also conjugates tenses in a very simplistic way. Hence, unlike Korean or Japanese, the language is free from complicated grammar.
Tones are not so difficult to learn as well. With respect to tones, while important, they are not necessarily critical to understanding. In fact while dealing with non-native speakers, Chinese people tend to use context more than tone in order to understand what is said in any given circumstance.
Considering how long learners of other languages focus on verb conjugation and genders, it is easy to understand why Chinese learners can rapidly integrate to a new community and quickly enjoy daily life conversations.
2. Learn Chinese better.
In the past, learning languages was a laborious process involving huge dictionaries, endless vocabulary lists and cassettes. Luckily, there are now much simpler ways to learn Chinese. Whether it is through videos or Web classes, online learning on your device is anywhere at anytime. Check out our online videos as an example.
Also, digital communications are replacing pens and paper. Today, the student only needs to recognize a chinese character in order to type it, rather than learning how to physically draw it with a brush or a pen.
A number of popular character and/or languages input methods are used on devices and computers and they have grown to become the primary way that Chinese texts are created.
3. Chinese language opens up a world of opportunity.
China's economy is booming. China has transformed itself from an impoverished third world country to become what is arguably the largest global economy.
Chinese language skills are rare among foreigners and that makes the language an easy asset for any local business on a global economy scheme. Due to the lack of people in the western business world who can speak both Chinese and English, there is a huge demand for these skills.Through learning Chinese, one could make him/herself a very attractive hire.
4 Communicate with a billion+ people.
China has a huge non-English-speaking population. Aside from the obvious economic and job-seeking benefits of knowing Chinese, there are plenty of other benefits to opening yourself up to communicate with all of those who call China home.