Most Chinese children learn English. So why should British kids learn Chinese?
Many children learn Chinese already
As the numbers of young children who learn Chinese in British schools continue to increase, the seemingly sudden popularity of this new language learning option may cause some parents a certain amount of confusion. Why do experts recommend that British pupils begin to learn Chinese, when so many children in China already speak English fluently or are becoming so?
In February 2006, Reuters estimated that there over 500 million English speakers in India and China, or rather more than the number of "mother-tongue" speakers from Britain and the United States. It is believed that, within the next ten years, the number of foreign students studying English as a second language will peak at around 2 billion.
While English may be the undisputed global language of the moment, it seems likely that English-only speakers may, within the next 10 or 15 years, find themselves upstaged by global citizens who can speak English and another language. It is certain that, whether or not kids learn Chinese today, they will face a different world—featuring a changed and changing linguistic landscape—by the time they reach adulthood.
"English Next" report advocates that children learn Chinese now
Last year, the British Council released a research study which concluded that Britain's lack of students fluent in a foreign language will eventually impair the nation's competitiveness in the global marketplace. The report, entitled "English Next," positively brims with reasons why kids should learn Chinese.
The report emphasises the economic advantages which more and better language education can provide and the risks which go along with remaining a multilingual nation with a monolingual mindset. The recent and rapid rise of the Chinese economy, which overtook Britain's as the world's fourth largest economy in 2005, has led the British Council to encourage kids to learn Chinese today, anticipating that their broader experience and greater knowledge may open for them excellent opportunities in the globalised workplace of tomorrow.
On the other hand, the main author of the "English Next" report, David Graddol, notes that if English becomes an almost universal skill, being a native English speaker does not, by itself, offer much advantage. However, if one can speak several languages, that ability will certainly open doors, and kids who learn Chinese will put themselves at the top of the multilingual list. Today, almost 1.4 billion people speak Chinese—almost three times the number of English speakers.
Valuable lessons await kids who learn Chinese
One should be quick to note, however, that the benefits for kids who learn Chinese, or any other language, are not merely defined by numbers—these advantages are not limited to an edge in economic competition or geopolitics. Anthony Seldon, master of Wellington College, stressed the tremendous value of teaching Chinese to children during an interview with the BBC. Alluding to the effects of rapid globalisation and the economic rise of China, Seldon suggests that our educational system bears a responsibility to prepare children for the demands of their future.
"We are trying to prepare people for the world they are going to live in," Seldon said. Seldon's current school, Wellington, and former school, Brighton College, both have strong, and in Brighton's case mandatory, Chinese programmes.
In May, 110 British headmasters traveled to China for a week-long programme called "Chinese Bridge for UK Schools" hosted by China's Vice-Minister of Education Zhang Xinsheng. In the program's opening ceremony, Zhang remarked that "Languages are carriers of different cultures… Language exchange will help maintain cultural diversity and boost the world peace and development." He went on to say, "If children of Britain can read the original version of Journey to the West and ours read Harry Potter, their childhood will be more colorful."
Michael Levine, the director of the Asia Society in New York, similarly notes that, when kids learn to speak Chinese, they expand their level of cultural awareness, and awareness of themselves. "Language is a look in," he told The Christian Science Monitor. "One doesn't need to be proficient in Chinese languages in order to do business in China. But the exposure and the motivation to show that one understands and respects the Chinese culture is really half the battle won."
Opportunities abound for kids to learn Chinese now
Pupils and parents alike are recognising the opportunities and advantages that come with studying Chinese and schools are starting to respond. Working with the HSBC Global Education Trust, the British Council has developed and made available a battery of programs designed to make learning Chinese an option for a much larger percentage of the population.
British schools can now find a partner school in China, sharing educational experiences and even collaborating on projects in sport, art and music. The British Council also offers a fortnight-long immersion course for English teachers or students in China and has sponsored a Chinese-speaking competition, with entrants aged 13 to as young as 7. And it is clearly better to start early: "Teaching Mandarin to our pupils from a young age offers them the best preparation for an exciting future. The earlier they start the better," affirms Manchester High School for Girls' headmistress, Christine Lee-Jones.
The rapid changes around the globe present new directions and new needs to children of all ages (not to mention adults), and new chances to bring children up with a broader and a bigger world—and to bring that big, broad world to them. Kids who learn Chinese and English will find they are soon ready to join the global conversation and take advantage of the many wonderful things the world has to offer.
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