From getting better job and business opportunities or gaining a new cultural perspective to making important intercultural connections or friendships while traveling, learning a new language has many benefits for us as people who live in a globalized world. Especially if that language is Chinese.
Studying this language opens the doors to a whole new world. You can learn about different fields such as Chinese arts, history, or politics, but at the heart of this language, there are a lot of things that can’t be found anywhere else.
Also, Mandarin is the most spoken language all over the world. Even though its main distributions are mostly in countries like China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Indonesia, no matter where you are in the world, I can assure you that you will find at least one person who speaks Chinese.
If you’re still not sure about learning Chinese, here are 10 reasons why you should learn Mandarin Chinese.
Reasons Why You Should Learn Mandarin Chinese
1. It will open many doors for you.
Yes, as we said before, Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world.
Learning Mandarin will give you a headstart no matter if you are self-employed or work in an international company because it’s more than likely that you will find yourself clients or suppliers that speak in this language.
This also means that you’ll find lots of Mandarin speakers all over the globe, and speaking Mandarin will give you the opportunity to establish connections with them.
You can get a great advantage from this because that means that you will be establishing connections with people from one of the most important countries in the world’s economy, especially now that this country is rapidly growing and expanding (and will continue to do so).
Learning Mandarin can also give you a great advantage in the job field as many companies are now hiring people with Mandarin knowledge because they know that this represents a connection with one of the most giant and important countries in the world.
2. It looks great on your CV
That’s right! Even though this might sound a little bit cocky, It’s true. Do you know a lot of people who can speak Chinese? That’s what I thought – The Chinese-speaking population is the third largest in the U.S., but there still are not so many Americans who speak Chinese.
And this is why it’s always something that impresses people when they see your CV.
If you have a great skill in any field and you’re looking for a job in a company, knowing mandarin can uplift it and give you a great opportunity as this skill is always a green flag for some contractors, not only because Chinese language skills are sometimes scarce in some companies, but also because people who learn this language shows different skills such as intelligence and hard work.
So if you’re looking for a job, knowing this language can give you a plus and make you become a first-option employee. Nowadays, most companies, even the biggest ones in the world, are looking for people who stand out and help them to have better connections in the world.
3. Getting to know all of the Chinese mysteries… in China
If you are thinking of traveling to China, this is the biggest benefit for you. Knowing this language allows you to discover this country on your own which means that you will not be the typical tourist.
You will be able to discover Chinese culture in a deeper way while interacting with native people. Chinese people love when a foreigner makes the effort to learn their language, so they will probably make special considerations to welcome you with food, gifts, and even free tours!
But you won’t only be able to travel to China, remember that this language is also widely spoken in other countries such as Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia, so you will have the opportunity to travel and communicate fearlessly in all of these countries as well.
Remember that some of these countries are super cheap for American people, so with Chinese, now you have the opportunity not only to travel to some of the most culturally rich countries in the world but also to do an amazingly low-budget trip!
4. It’s easier than it seems
Even though most people believe that Chinese is a super complicated language to learn, let me tell you the truth. It isn’t. However, it does take a lot of effort.
Unlike most languages, Chinese lacks grammatical complexity as it doesn’t have genders, or tenses and conjugations, which is something that most languages focus on.
This can be a little bit tricky at first because we’re used to thinking this way, but when you start understanding the way that Chinese people express themselves through context, you’ll be able to not just start being more fluent in this language, but also you will start to understand how Chinese people think and handle relationships.
This is a great way to counteract any cultural shock that learning a new language might bring and you’ll notice how easy it is to communicate in one of the “hardest” languages to learn.
Also, you’ll be able to communicate with Chinese people and connect to them at a deeper level, which will give you access to new friendships and relations.
Also, you can get access to this language with things such as listening to music or even watching movies or series!
5. You don’t need to learn the Chinese characters or tones at all
The fact that there are more than 80,000 Chinese characters, can make thinking of learning Chinese an impossible thing to do. But don’t let yourself be fooled.
Chinese people only use about 3,500 characters in conversation, so even though you might dismiss this language by thinking that you’ll have to learn all of these random images, you don’t need to understand them all to have great fluency in it.
When it comes to the characters, all of them are a well-organized system of radicals and phonetic elements, so once you understand how they work, you can understand at least the context of what you’re reading (And, isn’t it how this language works?).
Also, technology is making writing in Chinese easier than ever, so now you don’t even have to write them at all.
When it comes to the speaking part and achieving the correct intonation patterns, as we said before, Chinese is a merely contextual language.
So even though getting to master the correct intonation can be an amazing thing to achieve, the reality is that Chinese people use context more than tones in order to understand what’s happening when someone is talking to them, so, even if your pronunciation is not perfect, they will mostly understand you.
6. Amazing brain benefits
When you learn a new language, your brain makes wonders. The Chinese language uses different areas of the brain that other languages don’t. English speakers normally only use only the left temporal lobe when speaking in this language.
Several studies have shown that people who speak Mandarin, actually use both. This means that Mandarin speakers often take intensive brainpower when writing, speaking, and thinking in this language which means: a well-oiled brain.
Remember that there are also several studies that prove that being bilingual provides better cognitive skills such as multitasking or getting better at prioritizing and arranging ideas.
Also, being bilingual can help you counteract the effect of age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s or dementia while giving you a better understanding of the world we live in.
7. You can get improvement in your art skills
Have you thought about this before? The Chinese language is one of the languages that still uses the pictographic way of communicating. Being able to write -even a few- Chinese characters, can help you develop and practice your painting skills as you need a steady hand to draw these symbols.
Also, when you learn the Chinese language, you must almost involuntarily get yourself into the Chinese arts as this is an essential part of their culture.
This means that besides writing the characters, you will be learning a lot about painting, performing arts, sculptures, poetry, and music, which will broaden your perspective and appreciation of arts, and why not? even awakening a spark to become a more artistic person.
8. It’s one of the oldest languages
When it comes to a language that is ancient and still useful, Chinese is the one to think about. This language was first discovered roughly in 1250 BCE in a set of oracle bones during the Shang dynasty.
Obviously the language has changed a lot ever since, but even though the Chinese spoken these days is not the same as the one discovered 3300 years ago, this is a language that is full of history and you get to understand a lot about it when diving into it consciously.
Also, if you get a little bit into the development of modern Chinese, you will see that a lot of things haven’t really changed, and even though nowadays there are a lot of variations of the Chinese language, the essence of the old people who spoke Chinese a thousand years ago, still lives in it.
Imagine not only being able to communicate with that one-fifth of the planet that speaks the modern version of mandarin, but also being able to understand the mind of one of the oldest and richest cultures!!
9. Studying or working abroad
We cannot forget to talk about how important it can be the Chinese language when it comes to the career path you choose to build, especially if you want to build it abroad.
Getting into learning the Chinese language, opens a lot of opportunities for everybody from an early age.
The Chinese government is very invested in getting people to know their language and their culture as they are constantly looking to expand into each corner of the world. Because of this reason, there are several programs that open the doors of China to people who want to dive into the culture or travel abroad to their country.
No matter if you’re a student, an intern or you’re looking for a working opportunity in China, there are lots of programs provided by the different universities and companies around the country that allow you to live, study, or work in the different cities of their country while developing your life path no matter what this is.
It’s important to say that if you manage to speak a little bit of Chinese beforehand, they will surely keep an eye on your application as they are mostly looking for people who are engaged and want to get to know their country better.
Also, China is a wonderful country to teach English, so if you’re an English speaker native and want to teach your language, you have almost a guaranteed opportunity in this country, with their different programs like “Teach in China” which is offered through the Council on International Education Exchange for native English speakers.
The coolest part about this, is that besides the cultural experience you gain, these kinds of programs also offer you accommodation and food so you will be living a great experience no matter at what stage of your life you decide to apply.
10. Mandarin sounds cool
Have you ever noticed how people get amazed when someone who’s not Chinese can speak the language? This is because, throughout time, this language has gained the popularity of being a super complicated language to learn, so it doesn’t matter if you’re still in your beginner’s stage.
If you are able to communicate a little bit in Chinese, people will be mostly amazed by you. People and Chinese native speakers often acknowledge Chinese learners as very persistent and intelligent for learning this language.
So apart from giving you great opportunities in life, this language also allows you to impress people and get a little bit of recognition, especially if no one else around can speak Chinese as well – Who doesn’t like a little bit of that?
Learn Chinese with TruFluency
There are a lot of different options to start learning Chinese. If you’ve decided that you want to start your Chinese learning journey, we have a great option for you.
At TruFluency Chinese Classes we want to bring you the opportunity to learn Chinese in a very engaging way in the comfort of your home. Also, we manage to have prices as cheap as $45 per lesson.
Our native teachers will help you develop your Chinese speaking skills in a way that you will sound like a native from the beginning.
Also, they will focus on developing your conversation skills in a safe environment to make mistakes and correct them right away, so you won’t have to worry about poorly learning something and not being able to correct it in the future.
Forget about tedious language classes that focus on things that you won’t use in a real-life environment!
Take a look and start learning Chinese with us! Or you can sign up for a 2 hour trial class for only $49!
