Why You Should (Probably) Learn Chinese
My intuition tells me that in 30 years…
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Not speaking Chinese will be similar to not speaking English today.
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Only speaking English will be similar to only speaking Spanish today.
Without Chinese, traveling and conducting international business will be more difficult. The majority of content published on the future ‘Internet’ will be inaccessible.
From Nicaragua to Namibia, Chinese immigrants are planting roots. In some places the family-owned Chinese-food restaurants are more prevalent than the European/American expats who set up shop. As I travel through Africa, I see more and more Chinese businessmen in suits.
China’s GDP recently passed that of the USA. The RMB has been accepted by the World Bank as a global reserve currency. Namibian banks exchange RMB for N$ with 0% commission.
In Namibia I can practice German (Namibia was a German colony) and Chinese with people I meet in the café. Have you heard of the 516 Confucius Institutes spread around the world, and the 40 in Africa?
My African Internet provider is not AT&T, but HUAWEI, who seems to produce half of the cell phones as well.
Jack Ma’s ‘The Alibaba Story’ YouTube videos get as much attention as Jeff Bezos ‘The Amazon Story’ (and YouTube is banned in China!) Mark Zuckerberg is learning Chinese. Have you seen the Chinese-Canadian motivational speaker, Dan Lok, trying to put American Grant Cardone out of business?
Yes, corruption and environmental issues are prevalent in China, but it was the same in the late 1800’s United States… as it manufactured its way into becoming the most economically powerful nation in the world.
With a population 3X the size of the United States, the UK and Australia combined, China is poised for much more growth, influence, and innovation.
My intuition tells me that learning the Chinese language, while never becoming a requirement, will be a valuable asset to those looking to remain on the forefront of technology and culture in a rapidly changing world.
