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Why Learn Chinese?
To be equipped for future opportunities is the top reason per more 60% of our survey takers. Family, traveling, and Chinese Culture are other major reasons. Our view is Learning Chinese gives your kids get a seat at the table in increasingly competitive world. To be fair, we also have a Top Ten Reasons for
not Learning Chinese.
Sections:
Top
10 Reasons to Learn Chinese!
1.
To be equipped for future opportunities, by giving
your kids the Chinese Advantage!
Learning
to speak Chinese is a great way to give your children an advantage
in the increasingly competitive business world. Between equal foreign
competitors courting a Chinese company, who will the company choose
to associate with: a Chinese-speaking foreigner or a foreigner with
a translator? 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, and has a huge growth rate of averaging
10% per year. To take advantage
of this huge economic shift and opportunities.
2.
Made In China is a fact of life.
From
iPhones and other cutting edge technology, to cheap products sold at
prices that are rock bottom. China makes it all. 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. If
your involved in manufacturing, knowing Chinese is helpful.
3. Export Opportunity To China!
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
4. The
world is becoming flat
(a
global economy)
China
is a 12 hour flight away. Using Skype, calling China costs a few cents
per minute. As Thomas Friedman has written, 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 if you can speak the same language, adding a translator in negotiations
is another barrier.
5.
Chinese
has become a must in government!
The
Austrian Prime Minister, Kevin
Rudd is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.. The US Treasury Secretary,
Timothy Geitner
studied Chinese and attended Beijing University. The former
Utah Governor, Ambassador to China, and Presidential candidate Jon
Huntsman is fluent in Chinese (he learned it as a missionary in
Taiwan and has an adopted child from China). Timothy Geitner, US Treasury
Secretary is also fluent in China. China is also investing around
the world.
6. Chinese Culture!
Chinese
culture is over 5000 years old. By learning the Chinese Language,
Chinese you will learn another culture and another way of looking
at the world. Learning a language gives you a better understanding
through the grammar and even how the words are derived of the culture
behind them. And with 20% of the world's people in China, would
it be helpful to be able to communicate with them?
7.
Learning another viewpoint!
When
a child uses a word, this word also triggers associations in the
brain, brought about by the other languages the child knows.
Maybe this is why it seems people who know languages seem smarter.
The numerous mental associations playing in their brain, opens new
ideas. 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. At the very least, it will help you
when ordering Chinese food.
8.
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."
Students can get higher grades in when they take Chinese subjects
in school because they started early at home.
9.
If the Japanese are doing it, should the US Follow?
Mandarin
Chinese is the most
taught foreign language after English in Japan. If the Japanese
are learning it, shouldn't people in the US? The Japanese have a sharp
scent on who or what is arriving. Mandarin Chinese is the most
used language on the Internet.
10. Family and Community
My
daughter's ability (she is mixed) to talk to my in-laws in Mandarin
is a gift I am glad my wife and I gave her. If you have relatives
who don't speak English, but only Chinese, it's so great to be able
to speak with them in Chinese. If you also live within a Chinese
community, it's nice to be able to relate to neighbors and friends
speaking their language. I can't tell you how proud my wife
is that my daughter got selected to be the announcer for her Chinese
Choir (in Mandarin Chinese)! There are big
Chinese communities all over the world. Whether for business
or to establish personal ties, knowing the language is not only
useful, but endears you to people you want to connect to.
As
adulthood rolls in and the need for knowing Chinese becomes crucial,
hopefully children will tell their parents "Thank you for taking
the time and effort to have me learn Chinese."
Ready
to start?
Browse
Learning Chinese Materials now.
Top
Ten Reasons for not Learning
Chinese
-
We
are native speakers, but our kids refuse to speak Chinese!
They refuse to speak to us in Chinese, and want McDonald's to
eat!
Some
Children, unfortunately, who have native speaking Chinese parents,
refuse to learn Chinese. This is often done in the teenager
years as a method of defiance and establish their power as they
become adults. With defiance issues at that age, consider sending
them to a full immersion environment. Our daughter was
starting to speak Chinese with English Grammar, which frustrated
my wife. The more frustrated my wife became, the less
my daughter spoke Chinese. My daughter got to spend a
summer with cousins in Taiwan, and nobody would speak English
to her. Within a day, she was even speaking some Taiwanese,
not to mention the Mandarin Chinese.
-
I
am so worried about my kids Learning English and Learning Chinese
will hurt their English.
The
truth is scientific studies have shown that children have an
amazing ability to learn more than one language, such as Chinese.
If you are a native born speaker, have one parent speak only
English and the other Chinese. This way the kids are forced
to learn and speak both. My wife speaks Mandarin Chinese
to our daughter and I English, and it's worked out great.
We have not had the issue of having her mix up the English and
Chinese. Their is so much English in the US, especially
when they start school, that not getting enough English is not
an issue. I have seen students who only speak Chinese
at home, start public school and become the best in their class
at English and want to become a writer. They are also
taking Chinese as their foreign language in High School. Kids
have an amazing ability to Learn a foreign language, as long
as they are given the opportunity.
-
It's
easier to just speak English to their kids. Why rock the
boat and they are doing so well academically anyway!
Kids
have an ability to quickly learn a second language without an
accent that adults don't. There are so many adults I have
met who are learning Chinese in College. It would have
been a great favor if their parents had them learn Chinese when
they were younger.
-
Learning
Chinese is a waste of time and is too hard!
Some
US born Children and even their native parents believe this.
There are many reasons on why to Learn to Speak Chinese. Studies
have shown that being truly bilingual can help a child develop
their brain in new ways and make it easier to learn other languages.
As well as understanding the Chinese cultures better, such as
why the number 8 is a lucky number in Mandarin, and 4 is not.
-
It's
not fun like other studies in the US!
Usually
kids have this belief. And it takes time away from their other
studies and video games. Usually parents think their children
have better things to do, and everybody knows English anyway
around the world!
-
Learning
Chinese Characters is too hard.
There
is Learning Chinese Software and some great books that make
learning Chinese characters easier.
-
Neither
my wife or I speak Chinese! There is no native speaker
at home.
Many
parents are finding online tutors to help them. They are
also hiring tutors to visit them. Some parents are even
learning Chinese with their kids. Many curriculum and
other Learning Chinese tools are specifically designed for non
native language learners of Chinese.
-
I
am worried about my kids hating my guts when they grow older
for forcing them to Learn Chinese.
It's
important to work with your kids so they are not being forced
to Learn Chinese, but actually enjoy learning it. Picking
the right curriculum that matches their learning style is very
important.
-
I
don't have Time! We have Piano, Soccer, and more!
Time
management is always a challenge with young kids. Prioritization
and asking your self, and I doing the right work. Creating
a weekly schedule and a dedicated time for Learning Chinese
helps. Doing a time sheet for a few weeks to see where
you time goes can also help. By starting a foreign language
early, you will actually be helping your child in high school
to give them more time, instead of learning a foreign language
from scratch.
-
I
have no idea where to buy Learning Chinese Materials from!
I
can help there. ChildBook.com
has a full range of Learning Chinese materials. And lots
of free advice and tips are available!
Being
bilingual in Chinese will only help your child:
-
Being
bilingual gives your child more opportunities! And by knowing
a second culture, they can also relate better to other people.
-
By
planting these seeds today, our children are more likely to become
the productive, well-rounded future citizens we are hoping they
will turn out to be.
- With
your support, now is the best time for your children to learn Mandarin
Chinese.
- Your
commitment now will truly give them an advantage later on.
Ready
to start? Browse
Learning Chinese Materials now.
Joke
I used when I was teaching ESL:
What
is a person who knows three languages?
- trilingual.
What
is a person who knows two languages? - bilingual.
What
is a person who knows only one language? - American.
It's
a joke that though funny on
the surface, it does make you think. My ESL student loved the joke
once I explained it to them (humor often does not translate).
What
if Kids don't Learn Chinese?
What
happens if they want to do business in that Giant Market, Full
of Opportunities, China?
1.
If they have Chinese-speaking parents, will they bring the parents
in to transact business for them?
2.
Will they do business using their Kindergarten-Level Chinese with
accent?
3.
Or take classes in Chinese as an adult? Hopefully, they won't
have an American accent.
Will
they ask their parents, "Why did you not force me to learn Chinese?
It would have helped me so much now!"
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.
Tips for Learning Chinese
It's
become Easier For Kids to Learn Chinese!
Our Dream:
We
hope that parents take the time and effort to have their kids
Learn Chinese.
The best time for Children to learn another language is before
puberty, so they speak like a native and learn very easy. We provide
quality
books, CDs, and DVDs and other items that are fun and educational
for helping children learn more
about the Chinese
Language and Culture.
We offer these materials both for children who have native speakers
in the family, as well for those whose parents don't speak Chinese.
As
parents and also as owners of ChildBook.com, we have made the
commitment for our child to be brought up bilingual, learning
both English and Mandarin. We feel this ability will help our
child in the long term, so our child can make the most of the
opportunities that life presents.
How
about you?
Download
PDF slides (2.2MB)
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PPT slides (3MB)
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Why it's important to Learn to Speak Chinese and some of the reasons or excuses that people have for not learning Chinese. Feedback is appreciated. Learning a foreign language such as Chinese is a big decision and it's important to pick the right foreign language.
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