Why learn Mandarin Chinese?
In Europe and the United States alike, a growing interest in Mandarin Chinese is leading to big changes in public and private education, with various schools for adults and children now incorporating this language into their curriculum. Many parents are currently encouraging their children, aged as young as four or five, to learn Mandarin, in an attempt to boost their prospects in the face of an increasingly competitive workforce.
Chinese growth
Despite a marked increase in popularity of Mandarin Chinese, it is interesting to view a spate of news articles and blogs advising adults and children alike not to bother learning this challenging language. Fluency in this language is impossible, their authors say, without spending many years in China; Mandarin (which utilises over 2,000 characters) is too difficult to learn in one’s free time; the tonality of the language (an array of pitches are used to convey different meanings) is a hurdle most students will fail to overcome. Even eight hours weekly spent on the subject, they claim, is not enough for top-grade fluency to be achieved.
Yet the statistics cannot be argued with: currently, some 40 million foreign students are studying Mandarin in China and by the year 2020, the Chinese government predicts that this number will rise to 100 million. According to Malaysia-chronicle.com, ‘China is now the number one producer of wind and solar power in the entire globe’. It is also the number one nation in the world in terms of trading when import and export totals are added; it boasts more foreign currency reserves than any other country; China consumes more energy than the U.S. and is the leading manufacturer of goods. There is no doubt that the study of the Chinese language can open many doors, many of which are simply not immediately foreseeable. Owing precisely to the difficulty of Chinese, children have a better chance at achieving a good conversational level if they start young. Moreover, bilingualism is not the only valid goal for budding students; even having an intermediate speaking level can go a long way in sectors such as the tourism industry.
Increase in Chinese tourism
Recent developments show the growth of Chinese investment in Europe. In late 2013, Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, attended a Sino-CEE summit in Romania, where he and dignitaries from 16 other countries pledged to forge tighter economic ties in the near future. Chinese tourism to Europe is also on the rise, with countries like Spain receiving some 33 per cent more visitors in 2013 than in 2012. Many Chinese tourists favour countries like Spain and Italy as popular tourist destinations. As noted by planetcruise.co.uk, the Mediterranean is one of the ‘most popular cruising destinations’ for tourists from across the globe. In addition to economic reasons, there are more factors attracting children and adults alike to hone their skills in Mandarin. Recent studies indicate that speaking this language has an entirely different effect on the brain than speaking other languages. The study, undertaken by researchers at the Wellcome Trust in the UK, has revealed that the tones, sound and complicated characters used in Mandarin Chinese employ both temporal lobes in the brain (speakers use only the left temporal lobe for the English language). As Languageboat.com states, ‘learning Chinese may train a host of cognitive abilities not utilised in the study of other languages’.
It is hardly a source of surprise to find that learning Mandarin has such vastly different effects on the brain than other languages, all of which descend from a system developed in Mesopotamia thousands of years ago. The origins of the Chinese language are of a completely different nature and although learning this language for the first time can undoubtedly be time-consuming and challenging, it is also an entertaining and, some would say, beautiful, melodic way to boost one’s economic future and brain power.
Eve Pearce
Quote of the week: 8 Mar 2014
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10 cool words that don’t exist in English [Infographic]
A while back, we discovered this infographic of words that don’t have a direct translation in English. We loved it so much that we decided to see if there were any more words like these and create our own. So here it is – 10 cool words that don’t exist in English. Please do share any other suggestions as we’re sure there are many, many more…
As always, you’re welcome to share this post with friends, or embed the infographic on your own website, if you’d like to.
Infographic created by Alex, who did all the research, and Luke, our fab graphic designer 🙂
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10 reasons to visit… Romania
As you know, we love travelling and learning about all kinds of cultures around the world, so we decided to start the ’10 reasons’ series – every now and then we’re going to give you 10 reasons for which you should consider visiting a new country.
This month I chose Romania because it is my home country and because I can think of a lot more than ten reasons to visit this beautiful country. So, enjoy your read and please note that the reasons are not stated in any particular order – all are equally important.
1. Breathtaking mountain landscapes
Romania is one of the ‘lucky’ countries which gets to enjoy both mountains and sea, but the truly amazing landscapes are definitely to be seen in the Carpathian mountains. There are two main roads that traverse the mountain chain and they are Transalpina and Transfagarasan. These roads reach the altitude of 2042 metres (6700 ft) and take you through endless curves and sheer drops – make sure you pull over to take photos.
2. Transylvania
This might be the best known area in Romania, mainly because of the Dracula myth that is supposed to have taken place here. I’m not going to tell you about how you can have vampire encounters (Dracula is as real as Edward Cullen so don’t get your hopes up), instead I’m going to tell you that this is a very special part of Romania, having many colourful medieval cities with beautiful architecture as well as friendly people and delicious food – but more about this in the following points.
3. Black Sea resorts and summer fun
My hometown is on the Black Sea shore and I can promise you, it is like Ibiza down there. There are parties almost every day of the week during the summer but the weekend is when it gets really loud and fun. Most Romanians go there for a couple of weekends during the summer for festivals and other party-related events. You can even go on your own, you will make a lot of friends. During the day, you can lay on the beach and get a nice tan to show off when you go back.
4. Finger-licking food
If you decide to take a trip to Romania, make sure you are ready to come back home with 5-10 pounds extra, as the food over there is delicious – from the national food cabbage rolls (or stuffed cabbage) with porridge made out of yellow maize flour, to any kind of pies and cocoa sponge cake to Turkish influenced cuisine, everything you will eat there will taste amazing! On top of that, most Romanian women are really good cooks.
5. Ski- and winter-resorts
Now, I’m not much of a skier but I can tell you that you can have a great time skiing or snowboarding in the winter in the Romanian mountain resorts. The best known area for this is Prahova Valley, which is basically a river making its way thorough the chain of mountains and there are about 7-8 small resorts where you can get your share of winter fun, winter landscapes and mulled wine (what, did you think there’s no alcohol involved?).
6. The Danube Delta
If you’re more the nature-loving/sleeping-in-a-tent-is-fun kind of person you might want to take a trip here. This place is a naturally formed delta, where the Danube flows into the Black Sea. It is known for its wild places because it is pretty difficult to live there all year round given all the water and muddy islands. There are some men-built resorts where you can stay if you don’t enjoy the wilderness that much but the true sense of this place is that you can have that bonding-with-nature kind of experience.
7. The beautiful girls
Don’t get me wrong, this is not a ‘place’ you can visit, they don’t have them all lined up behind a window (although, you can find that in Amsterdam – so I’ve heard). It’s just that Romanian women are known to be beautiful and that is mostly because they take much interest in their appearance and they enjoy going out in cafés, pubs or clubs – so that makes them something you might want to experience seeing in Romania.
8. Bucharest nightlife
Speaking of clubs, this brings me to the capital of Romania – Bucharest. This big city has a vivid nightlife and fancy, luxurious clubs with music that plays till the sunrise. The custom is that you go to a club where you party & drink til 5-6 a.m. and then you go and have some Turkish kebab or shaworma (a kind of wrap) as a hangover cure. The place where you can find most of the clubs is the Old City Centre, which is very beautiful to visit during the day as well.
9. Northern Moldavia
If you are more the museum-visiting type, this area is one that you would enjoy. There are a lot of old monasteries (some date from the 14th-16th century) where nuns and monks still live nowadays and that are part of the UNESCO world heritage because they are represent the Romanian tradition. They are usually surrounded with vegetation so that can be a place to find peace and serenity even if you are not religious. Be careful of the dress code – you have to wear trousers (or a long skirt) and something rather decent for the top part.
10. The people
I’ve saved the best for last. One important reason you should visit Romania is to find that the people there are welcoming and warm, that you can make long lasting friendships very quickly and that even though Romania is a country that has had many struggles in the past, people are still good at heart and they will welcome you in their house as a friend, not a tourist.
And of course before you go, don’t forget to learn some Romanian, and take uTalk with you in case you get stuck while you’re there…
If you have any suggestions for our next ’10 reasons to visit…’ post, please let us know!
Ioana
Quote of the week: 1 Mar 2014
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