China currently has a population of over 1.3 billion people. While English is still the most widely spoken language in the world it is hard to ignore the fact that learning Chinese is a key element for success in the future. Given the fact that China possesses the fastest growing economy in the world it is ignorant to believe that we only need communicate in English and expect the rest of the people in the world to follow us. By failing to foresee this need to learn Chinese we could be shortchanging ourselves and possibly risk getting left behind in terms of lost business opportunities.

As I mentioned in a previous article I had wrote, the number of people learning Chinese in the United States still lags far behind French and Spanish. In sharp contrast, the study of Chinese has increased tremendously in Asian countries. For instance in Japan it ranks second behind English as the most studied language in schools. This could signal that Americans are still unreceptive to the idea of learning Chinese or fail to understand the importance of this language in helping them compete on the global economic stage. This dilemma has has caught the attention of politicians in Washington. The US government responded a few years ago by listing Chinese as a critical language and provided millions in funding for schools to increase the number of Chinese classes being offered. They also increased the number of teachers to help increase the exposure in the US to learn Chinese.

As a result we are now starting to see a trickle down effect. In previous years we mainly saw Chinese families taking their children to learn Chinese as a way of maintaining their cultural heritage. Times are changing as more non-Chinese parents are enrolling their children in classes to learn Chinese. These countries believe by being proactive it will open more doors and career opportunities for their children in the future. This could not be further from the truth as China is the United States biggest trading partner. Learning Chinese will help give anyone who is interested in doing business in China a clear advantage in terms of economic opportunities. Chinese is not only spoken in China but is the business language used other Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

There are other benefits of learning Chinese other than pure economics. It can open up opportunities to study in China and learn Chinese culture. Secondly, it helps you build discipline and knowledge. Thirdly it helps develop your creative and critical thinking skills.