More of us need to say 'nǐ hǎo' to Mandarin Chinese

Languages are crucial for work and life in the global race, and Mandarin Chinese is one of the front-runners, says Vicky Gough.

At the end of last month, George Osborne vowed to invest £10 million in UK schools so that more pupils can learn Mandarin Chinese, just like his daughter, Liberty.

But should we really be encouraging more of our young people to say ‘nǐ hǎo’ (‘hello’) to Chinese? ‘Shì de’ (yes), we should!

The reality is that languages, in general, are crucial for work and life in the global race, and Mandarin Chinese is one of the frontrunners. Not only is it already spoken by more than a billion people worldwide, but China is recognised as the world’s second biggest economy with many expecting it to wrest the top spot from the US by 2050.

If knowing the local language is the tangible tool that provides a vital understanding of local culture – and therefore essential business etiquette in a country such as China – it really can be the ice-breaker for those looking to trade or indeed clinch that high-flying job in a competitive marketplace.

But despite all the signs seemingly pointing in Mandarin’s direction, this year’s official GCSE statistics indicated that only 3,710 students took a GCSE in Mandarin Chinese in comparison to 157,699 who took French and 90,782 students who took Spanish.

Moreover, research for the British Council in 2013 highlighted that only 1 per cent of UK adults can speak Chinese even though that same study revealed Mandarin to be the second most vital language for the UK’s future.

So, if it truly is the case that Mandarin Chinese is more and more important for the UK’s place in the world and China is becoming more and more important on the global stage, does something need to change and if so, how do we do it?

While the overall number of UK school pupils learning Chinese is still low when compared to other important languages like French, German and Spanish, there are promising signs of growth – a striking contrast to the drop most of the other languages suffered this year.

The number of entries to Mandarin Chinese at GCSE level in fact grew by a mammoth 18 per cent over the past year – a hugely encouraging statistic in itself but particularly when read alongside the rather more dismal picture of an overall decline of 4.65 per cent in language exams across the board.

That said, it cannot be denied that, on the whole, we still have a way to go when it comes to boosting language learning in the UK, particularly if we want to ensure that less common but important languages such as Mandarin Chinese become a realistic choice for a critical mass of head teachers and their pupils.

With teacher supply being identified as the most pressing issue for teaching Mandarin in the UK, it is fantastic to see investment in this area and policymakers, educators, businesses and organisations continuing to pull together in this respect, but more needs to be done.

"It cannot be denied that, on the whole, we still have a way to go when it comes to boosting language learning in the UK."

At the British Council, we already have lots of ways that schools can help encourage language learning, including Mandarin Chinese, amongst their pupils, whether it’s through employing a foreign language assistant, partnering with a school in another country or taking on a challenge such as our annual British Council/HSBC Mandarin Speaking Competition.

Let’s do whatever we can to ensure that more of our young people realise the benefits that learning Mandarin Chinese can bring and that more of ourschools are able to realistically make this a language of choice for their pupils.

Vicky Gough, schools adviser at the British Council

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/11912898/More-of-us-need-to-say-n-ho-to-Mandarin-Chinese.html