So why should Children learn to Speak Chinese?

Opportunity with China!

To take advantage of this huge economic shift and opportunities, learning to speak Chinese is a great way to give your children an advantage in the increasingly competitive business world. Not everyone in the world speaks English.

1.     China is emerging from a period of stagnation and again taking it's place as one of the great powers of the world. China currently has the second largest economy in the world.

2.     China has become the factory of the world and is moving up the technology food chain. Look at the balance of trade between the US and China. Per Nobel Prize Winner Robert Mundell China will become the factory of the world, in my opinion it already has. Now products are built, as well as designed in China.  

3.   Chinese culture is over 5000 years old.  By learning the Chinese Language, Chinese you will learn another culture. Learning a language gives you a better understanding through the grammar and even how the words are derived of the culture behind them. There is a lot of Chinese Poetry that lose some meaning when translated.

4.     China is a huge export market for the US. 1/5th of the world's population lives in China.  Overseas Chinese dominate the economies of many countries in Asia, and speaking Mandarin gives you an edge in doing business with them.  Countries with large overseas Chinese populations include Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.  China has become one of the largest trading partners with the US. Over 16,000 US companies sell products in China. Trade is not only from China to the US, but also the other way. $41.8 Billion in 2006.

5.     The world is becoming a global economy.  Per a famous book, the world is becoming flat so communication, ideas, and goods are traveling faster and faster between countries including the US and China.  Learning Chinese gives you the opportunity to take advantage of this change.  It's a great ice breaker when working with people from China if you can say a few words in Chinese. This helps especially when dealing with business people on the other side of the world via conference call.

6.     Learning another language gives you another viewpoint. The word he uses, that is ll of meaning, is Kaleidoscope. It does seem to help mentally as you develop new areas of your brain. It also helps as people age. I once had a fun talk with a programmer explaining how learning a new computer language helped keep his mind fresh.  It will also help you when ordering Chinese food.

7.      Learning Chinese will give a student a competitive advantage.  Chinese is the fastest growing Foreign Language being taught in US schools. I like Mayor Daly's quote: "We want to give our young people opportunities to advance ... and [Chinese] is a great opportunity to survive in today's economy."

8.      Mandarin Chinese is the most taught foreign language after English in Japan. If the Japanese are learning it, shouldn't people in the US? Mandarin Chinese is the most used language on the Internet. 

Learning Chinese has become easier. ChildBook.com offers products for Children to learn Chinese from DVD's to books with songs especially designed to help teach Chinese. A recent addition was a series of textbooks, workbooks, and CD's called Practical Chinese that is also called “The Effective Way of Learning Reading, Writing, and Speaking Chinese” as well as free fun stuff for Children for Learning Chinese such as coloring pictures and game instructions.

• New books, software, and online methods now make it easier to speak Chinese.  Practical Chinese for example is a great 10 Level Program for Learning Chinese that was written by a native speaking Chinese Parent (and Chinese Teacher), to teach her own kids in the US.
• More and more school districts are adding Chinese Programs.  Childbook’s School finder can help.

What happens if they want to do business in that Giant Market, Full of Opportunities, China?

1. If they had Chinese-speaking parents, do they get a Translator because their Chinese is lousy? Because they’re Chinese school was basically a place for babysitting? That their parents thought it would hurt their English ability if they learned Chinese?

2. Do they use their Kindergarten Level Chinese with an accent, or take classes in Chinese as an adult? Hopefully, they won't have an American accent. Or will they ask their parents, Why did you not force me to learn Chinese? It would have helped me so much now!

3. Or are they lucky that their parents took the time to read them Chinese books as Children and spoke to them in Chinese, knowing they would learn English at school anyway, and they now speak Chinese like a native?  Or perhaps they had one parent who spoke to them only in English, and another in Mandarin Chinese. Or their parents don’t speak Mandarin, but sent their kids to Chinese School to learn or other methods.  You don’t need to have Chinese speaking parents to Learn Chinese.