Is Chinese Really a Good Language to Learn for Business?

Learn Chinese for business and you could take advantage of China’s booming economy and accelerate your career prospects.

With over 845 million speakers of the language and global demand expected to grow over the next few decades, there’s no better time to learn.

China is also one of the largest trading partners of the US and continues to be popular among employers across the world. The business potential of learning Chinese is so promising that even Facebook’s co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg has invested time and effort into building his skills.

However, with its different sounds, different writing system and tonal system, Chinese is widely considered to be one of the hardest languages to learn.

So is it worth the effort? Should you choose Chinese for business or learn an ‘easier’ language instead? Let’s take a look.

Why should you learn Chinese for business?

Here are a few of the most compelling reasons to learn Chinese for business.

You will create a better impression

When you can speak even a few words of Chinese (and use them), you will show respect to your colleagues and start to foster a sense of trust. For a business culture that depends on guanxi (personal connections between people doing business), this is vital. It can improve business negotiations and help you bridge that international language gap.

You will become a more attractive hire

If you have your sights set high in the business world, learning Chinese for business will set you apart from your competition. It will help you attract the attention of international employers and get hired more easily. Because Chinese skills are in such demand, you could also end up commanding higher wages and climb the career ladder faster by learning business Chinese with an app like Mondly.

You’ll boost your brainpower

Learning a new language like Chinese offers your brain new challenges that can help improve your memory and skills of cognition, encourage you to ‘think outside of the box’ and promote optimal performance.

“Because language-learning and use is so complex — arguably the most complex behavior we human beings engage in — it involves many levels,” says Knowable Magazine, “You have speech sounds, syllables, words, grammar, sentences, syntax. There’s so much going on; it really is a workout for a wide brain network.”

You’ll gain insight into Chinese culture and history

Learning Chinese will open up a world of cultural opportunities. With these skills, you’ll better understand what makes the Chinese mind tick and help you connect on a deeper level with your Chinese colleagues.

You’ll get around more independently when visiting China

If you are planning a business trip to China or a Chinese-speaking country, knowing the basics of the language will allow you to explore your surroundings more freely without needing a translator to help. This will give you more independence and help you deepen your cultural experience.

Why shouldn’t you learn Chinese for business?

Despite the clear benefits of learning Chinese for business, there are several reasons why you might want to reconsider.

You’re scared of a challenge

Learning Chinese with Mondly can help ease the learning process and allow you to build your skills in the language more naturally. However, because Chinese can be more challenging for speakers of other languages, fluency isn’t something that you can achieve overnight. If you’re not willing to put in the practice and you don’t enjoy a challenge, you might prefer to study another language for business such as Spanish.

You’re too focused on being perfect

If you want to speak a language perfectly from day one, Chinese might not be the best option for you. The tones take time to understand and master so you need to be willing to make mistakes. With the help of the Mondly app, you can practice in the privacy of your own home without needing to worry about making mistakes.

You’re not only focused on the Chinese market

Chinese is unlikely to become more popular than English for global business communications so it might not be the best choice if you are looking further afield than China. If you’re planning to live in a Chinese-speaking country or spend the majority of your time working with the Chinese then download the app and go for the challenge!

How to start learning Chinese for business

So you’ve decided to go ahead and learn Chinese? Here are our top tips:

1. Learn Chinese with Mondly

Download the Mondly app and discover free daily lessons that can kick-start your Chinese language learning experience and boost your skills. Innovative bite-sized lessons help you learn the language as you learned your native tongue. As a result, you’ll retain what you’re learning and build your skills faster. You’ll also find it easier to understand native speakers, read Chinese characters and start communicating more easily.

2. Learn pinyin

Pinyin is a way of spelling out Chinese words using a romanized alphabet instead of Chinese characters. It helps learners to understand the sounds of the language faster and build their confidence. Once they have done this, they can move to the next level of language learning with greater ease.

Pinyin is also used widely in digital communication as it is the easiest way to type out Chinese characters accurately.

3. Figure out the grammar

The great news is that Chinese grammar is very straightforward for learners. This is especially true if they have previously learned a romance language such as French or Italian. With the Mondly app, you can learn this grammar naturally.

However, you can also find some excellent Chinese grammar resources online if you want to accelerate your skills.

4. Boost your knowledge with business vocabulary

Mondly introduces new words of Chinese vocabulary naturally and uses spaced repetition to help you retain this new information.

However, if you want to deepen your knowledge and accelerate your learning, you can find some excellent business Chinese vocabulary lists online. Why not explore useful words such as essential terms, email etiquette, occupations and so on?

Master business Chinese with Mondly

Learn Chinese faster and more easily by downloading the Mondly app. You’ll get access to a range of state-of-the-art language learning features. This includes daily lessons, specialized language content, speech recognition, intelligent suggestions, practical topics and much more.

Invest in your team- add Mondly to your corporate benefits package today. Contact us at business@mondly.com today.