Explaining the position of China in the contemporary global
context is unnecessary given all the statistics provided by various sources as
to the success of China. Suffice it to say that China is the 2nd
Largest Economy of the World, which would explain the rest quite clearly.
One of the basic lessons in English is the WH questions. The
very same lesson is used to explain the importance of learning Chinese in the
contemporary world where opportunities are many but the potential of candidates
are less due to a fatal flaw: disinterest in both China and Chinese.
The WH questions will be answered alphabetically for
anyone’s ease and better comprehension.
WHAT?
Learning Chinese is not simply learning the language or
phrases that would matter in the course of a daily routine. It is also about
learning the culture of China, its people and history. Like Hindi, Chinese has
a musical undertone and a great history to it. However, the tonal quality of
Chinese is far more complicated than any language that exists or existed. The
tone rests on the characters of the word and the character is based on the
history and the beliefs of people. Such is the relationship between the
language and history of China. Many artifacts and historical reports show that
Chinese Calligraphy is rooted beyond the realms of the Ancient Egyptian
civilization. The calligraphy used had been transformed through ages to the
present characters which are modified for the ease of modern
communication. Without learning the
story behind the calligraphy and the word itself, there is no point of priding
one’s self that they are learned in Mandarin. Therefore, learning Chinese is
more profound than what is on the surface. It is not the same as learning English,
French, Hindi or any other language. Once a proper comprehension of Chinese is
grasped by a keen learner, they would know the roots for Japanese and Korean,
helping them learn two more languages in the process.
WHEN?
Now would be a good time to learn Chinese if not before.
China may not have always been as prominent as today throughout history, but
today, China holds the white Queen of the World’s economic chessboard. It is only a matter of time until it
check-mates the present oligarchy. Even today, many people have not inculcated
the interest of Chinese in them despite the growing poignancy of China in the
world. In the recent future, China is foreseen to be, by most economists and
academics, a ruling power of a possible bi-polar system. In order to sustain in
a probable circumstance, it is vital that Chinese is known to either maintain
control of China or support it.
WHERE?
It is not a secret that China is inhabited by the world’s
largest population. Not only in China, but all around the world, there is at least
a 2% habitation of people who are descendants of Chinese origins. Therefore, it
is safe to say that Chinese is ever and omnipresent. At the roadside, on a
regular day, it is not surprising to meet a smiling Chinese person anywhere
anyone goes. Would it not be awkward to avoid such acquaintance due to the
illiteracy in Chinese language? Chinese people now hold a quarter of the
world’s population from a 7 odd billion total world population. Hence, today,
Chinese is needed everywhere. There’s no specific place for the Chinese
language as it is not restricted to a particular territory.
WHO?
A few years back, the answer to this question would have
been prominent and emerging businessmen and diplomats. Today, the situation is
at a turning point. It does no harm for anyone and everyone to be literate in
the Chinese language. An example for the
imminent need in Chinese can be seen in a local context. Bills have been passed
by the Sri Lankan legislature to enable students who are facing the G.C.E
Ordinary Level examination to choose Chinese as an optional subject from the
three categories provided. Chinese was already an option for G.C.E Advanced
Level examination since 2011 in a limited number of schools which is now
widening. Private institutes are frequently visited by many businessmen and
entrepreneurs who have understood the scope Mandarin could offer. Likewise,
even against their conscience, some people are forced to understand the
importance of learning Chinese with China’s development in the global arena
which ultimately results in them learning Chinese.
WHY?
Wasn’t the response to this question provided in all
preceding questions? Statistically, China is world’s 3rd largest
country by land area, the largest population of the world resides in China, it
is also the 2nd largest economy of the world and China prides itself
as the nation that has the largest army in all three armed forces from the
world. With the unofficial Chinese empire spreading worldwide, it is important
that Chinese is known in order to communicate with the majority of the world.
Since the beginning of the 21st Century, Chinese began to be the
most spoken language in the world, Spanish and English bagging the 2nd
and 3rd places respectively. The
future is not going to lessen the prospects; rather, it is going to expand and
overwhelm. In such circumstances, not knowing Chinese would be the equivalent
of social suicide. In order to guarantee
a stable and a promising career, fluency in Chinese is a blessing. As mentioned above, since Chinese origins
cover a quarter of the world’s population, the Chinese language would be
important to communicate within the global community. In order to reach out,
both English and Chinese can be deemed essential. Today, English literacy is
hardly even mentioned in job descriptions as it is a vital and a fundamental
qualification in any candidate. The day when Chinese would also be deemed in the
same position as English would not be far. In order to get a better position
and rise above other candidates, it is promising to be fluent in Chinese. To
all the fans of culture and travel, knowing Chinese would open realms yet
untraversed. Chinese is not known to have a complicated grammar structure;
therefore construction of sentences in Chinese in a sense of tenses is fairly
easy compared to almost all other languages in the world. Chinese does have
around 60,000 characters of which only around 3000-6000 characters are used
today but further observation of Chinese would prove that several sounds are
frequently used to convey the same meaning though the characters would differ.
If there is still a seed of doubt concerning the importance
of Chinese language in the 21st Century, now would be the best time
to snoop around and clear your conscience. After all, BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!
