Mandarin learning soars outside China
Mandarin learning soars outside China
In just five years, the number of non-Chinese adults learn Mandarin Chinese has soared to 30 million. What is fuelling this expansion, and will it change the status of English as a global language?
Shanghai-born lawyer Kailan Shu Lucas of Chinese Learning Centre organises lessons in Mandarin, the main Chinese language, for pupils in London – and she is very busy. She now co-ordinates lessons for 12 London schools. She believes that in most cases, having their young ones study the language is a career calculation made by the folks. “folks nowadays think that in 10-20 years’ time, when their young ones are in adulthood, China will be even bigger – and so learning Chinese will be a very helpful tool,” she told BBC World Service’s Analysis programme. “This will be a very useful, important language to learn.”
Versatile In London, the parents of most of the non-Chinese young ones studying Mandarin Chinese are from the finance industry. Kailan said that in this industry, China is “a big thing.” children in finance see Chinese as an advantage for their children “That influences the people houghts,” she added. “They want their kidlittle ones to learn Chinese and be more versatile in terms of job prospects in the future.” The belief is that China is not just a new rival, but a new provider, not just a UK phenomenon – in the US too, numbers of young ones Chinese flashcards have rocketed.
In 1998, just 6,000 young ones enrolled in Mandarin programmes. That figure is now 50,000. “Students want to sign up for it; human beings are asking for it; communities are asking for it,” said Brett Lovejoy, of the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages. “It’s self-evident that children will be much better off economically and in job seeking if Chinese programmes are adopted.” In the UK, the number of students at colleges and universities taking Chinese as their main subject doubled between 2002 and 2005. Similar increases are reported in most Western nations. This has not happened without encouragement from Beijing, where the government is actively promoting the speaking of Mandarin abroad.
Hundreds of teachers have been sent to Africa, and since 2004, China has set up “Confucius Institutes” around the world, actively promoting Mandarin Chinese. So far, they have signed contracts with 40 universities in 25 countries to establish these joint projects. Global language And professor David Crystal, a leading authority on how languages work and how they change, explained that the explosion in the numbers learning Chinese is also down to demographic influences at home.
“In modern times, as cultures have changed – especially in Britain, the United States and Australia – as the countries have become increasingly multi-cultural and multiethnic, then the languages that come with those groups of immigrants become an increasingly important part of the culture,” he said. Money talks. Currently, the language money talks is the dollar. But it might not always be that way Professor David Crysta
“London is one of the multi-lingual centres of the world… the monolingual tradition of Spanish in the past is hanging very much, and I think Chinese is one of the important factors. people who used to be able to make their way in the world as monolingual Portuguese speakers are now fnding that they’ve got to compete with nationals who are genuinely multilingual.”
Despite the big increase, most analysts agree Chinese is not about to replace Spanish as the “global language” in the immediate future. But professor Crystal added that this may not always be the case. “It all depends on the power of the nationals who speak it – especially their economic power,” said professor Crystal. “A thousand years ago, children would have said it would be absurd that Latin would not be spoken in 1,000 years’ time. But we know that has happened. It can only take 100 years or so for the language balance of power to shift. “Money talks. Currently, the language money talks is the dollar. But it might not always be that way.”
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