First, I would like to tell you, there is no language called Chinese. ‘Putonghua’ is its dialect that emerged as the Lingua Franca among the speakers of various mandarin and other varieties of Chinese.
Nelson Mandela has said “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in the language he speaks, that goes to his hearts.”
Hence, before trying to understand about China, first we need to understand its language i.e., understanding Chinese national language is very important.
There is a misunderstanding with regards to China’s national language: Only one language is spoken all across China which is Mandarin. So, let me tell you, there are many languages spoken in China besides Mandarin- Tibetan, Mongolian, Korean, Cantonese, Hakka etc.”
I know you have a lot of questions: why do we need all this information? What is the use?
Few reasons to know more about China:
Many experts in the world believe that China is emerging as a superpower.
In today’s interdependent world, China has emerged as the most important pillar in the global supply chain. Every nation in this world is dependent on China for everything from salt to steel and chemicals to communication.
Along with India, China is also a founding member of BRICS.
Even though in the present situation when the anti-China sentiments are at its height in India, in reality, we cannot afford to totally decouple or get disassociated with China. We need to understand our civilizational interaction and friendly exchanges to promote a better relationship for mutual benefit.
Here are 5 top reasons why you should learn Chinese:
1. 1.2 Billion native speakers: I am writing this because we have 7.6 billion people in the world, among those 1.2 billion speak Chinese as their native language. That’s basically one in every six people in the world who speak Chinese.
2. It’s not as hard as you think: While ‘mastering’ Chinese might take a while, getting to an intermediate level where you can hold a conversation isn’t as hard as you may think. Chinese is a tonal language. But don’t worry if you can’t get the right tone for some words. It doesn’t matter much since the context of the sentence will allow others to understand you.
3. It can boost your career in business or tourism: Tourism in China is huge and getting bigger day by day. Tour operators are hiring and training the staff to serve the growing number of Chinese tourists.
4. Open up your future: Currently China is the most powerful player in the global economy. According to the Centre of Economy and Business Research, China is poised to surpass the GDP of U.S.A by 2030 not too far from now. Chinese youth, like Indian youth, also feel very positive that the world is becoming a better place for them.
Mitali Choudhary
Visiting Faculty, Chinese
SIFIL