For years now, the rich, famous and powerful have been trying to get their children to learn more than just English. For the majority of them, their choice is to learn the chinese language. Why Mandarin? After all, if you look around you, you’ll probably only know a handful of people who understand Chinese well enough to use it in a business setting. Well, it’s simple. Chinese is already the most spoken language in the world. Chinese already has around 1.2 billion speakers worldwide. That number alone is reason enough for you to consider to learn Chinese, or teach it to your kids, especially in a world where China’s presence in the global market is growing day by day.
Two is Better Than One
Most people learn one language growing up. Some learn a few words of another language when they’re already adults, but that’s just about it. And while it’s easy to say that you probably won’t be using a second language every day, there are many benefits to learning a second language like Chinese.
For starters, when you learn a language, you don’t just learn its vocabulary and syntax. You also learn about their culture and history, so, in that sense, you’re already more knowledgeable than you were before. Plus, learning a new language also involves problem solving, which, for kids, is essential to help develop their growing brains. Put simply and crudely, bilingual kids just have better-developed brains.
Why Immersion Is Necessary
It’s okay to learn how to speak Chinese through books, dictionaries and videos, but the best way to learn a language is to hear it first hand from a native speaker. If you invest in immersing your child with a native tutor, your child will learn these three things.
- They’ll pick up the language faster without needing to translate everything to language. It’s as if their second language becomes their mother tongue, which isn’t surprising since they’re exposed to it on a daily basis.
- Not only do they pick up on the language faster, but they will also adopt a proper enunciation, so they won’t look or sound “off” when they speak Chinese. It will be as if they are a native speaker.
- As mentioned earlier, kids who learn and know more than one language just have better brains. This is a scientifically backed fact.
While not everything the rich and famous are doing is something you should follow, it wouldn’t hurt to follow their decision to teach their kids Mandarin. After all, the rich get richer as they have a better view of various trends and global events. If nothing else, you’ll be setting up your child to be much smarter than his or her peers.
