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| Ten Reasons to Learn Chinese | 1. Chinese, is one of the Sino-Tibetan languages, or more correctly it is a group of various dialects of which Mandarin (Putonghua) is one. There are more native speakers of Chinese than any other language in the world. To put this in perspective there are about 915 million speakers of Mandarin, compared to Spanish, the fourth most widely spoken language in the world with around 400 million speakers.
2. In order to learn to speak Chinese you are not obliged to learn Chinese characters. Pinyin is a technique of writing Chinese in the roman alphabet. Hanyu pinyin spells the sound, and comprises tone marks to assist in giving the precise pronunciation.
3. Chinese literature. The dialects are not regularly comprehensible but the written language is shared between them all. Although you do not necessitate to learn to read Chinese characters to speak the language, by doing so you open the door to an very dissimilar and rich literature.
4. The Chinese economy is the fastest growing economy in the world. Speaking Chinese a little will give you a competitive edge, if your company invests in China or is thinking doing so.
5. Language and culture are linked and learning something of the Chinese language will help give an approval of the cultural heritage of China.
6. China is easy to get to the foreign visitor in a way that it has not been in the past and travel to and within China is becoming easier, but to make the most of this opportunity for travel, language at a fundamental level is significant. Mandarin is spoken throughout China.
7. China is becoming increasingly significant in the world and may be the leading economic power in the not so distant future.
8. Food. You can eat in the tourist restaurants in hotels but if you want to see more of China it is better to try the food and experience the culture in local restaurants.
9. Like any other language, it is probable to learn some words and expressions in Mandarin, sufficient to be polite without spending years in further education.
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