“Because it’s to hard” Well, yea…it can be if you approach it with a bad attitude, or you have the wrong learning tools, or little discipline. Anything worth learning takes time, practice and perseverance. But remember, knowledge is power and in tomorrow’s world, you may just need to know Chinese somewhere in your career or personal life.
“It’s useless, we live in an English world, they should learn English” Guess what? They have learned English and well. The business world has called for them to know English and us to know Chinese for the best interest of our economy and world relationships with each other. More employers today are looking for bilingual or multilingual job candidates. We are assimilating at a faster rate more than ever before. With America as a melting pot, learning Chinese enables us to communicate in interpersonal relationships, show cultural sensitivity and appreciation.
“I think it’s a dying language, and I won’t ever need to use it?” Really? Well, think again…Chinese is the second most spoken language in the world. It is used in most Asian countries and growing in use in American. If you ever plan to travel, study abroad or get called there for reasons other than a job, you will need to know at least enough Chinese to get by on a daily basis. If you don’t, how will you know what you are eating, where you are going, and what to pay for your purchases or services? How will you get by on ignorance?
“I don’t even know where to learn Chinese anyways” With little effort involved on your part, you can access good information on learning Chinese either online or within your community. There are many excellent teaching sources online. With a little help from your favorite search engine, you can find at least one, two, or a multitude more of teaching tools or courses designed just for you. And they are at your own pace of learning. Practice is a must. If you’re a social type, then check with area schools and universities for the programs they offer. Also, once you have began your lessons, seek out others interested in Chinese and practice your skills with them.
In all actuality, there is no good reason not to learn Chinese or any other language for that matter. You will always use it. Even if it just feeds your brain, it’s good for you. The world we live in today demands continual learning for success, for self-improvement, for cultural assimilation. Even simple doing’s like a vacation or a meal in a Chinese restaurant. There may come a day when learning the Chinese language is not an option. If the adults of tomorrow are learning Chinese now, then why shouldn’t the adults of today do it… improving themselves and their human connections as well? It is desirable and commendable to be bilingual. You just never know where your own future road make take you.