There have been media reports that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has listed Chinese as one of the most difficult languages in the world, and the United States has listed Chinese as one of the most troubling languages in the world.
However, with the rapid development of China in economic and the growing influence of the world, in order to understand Chinese culture or to conduct trade exchanges in China, countries all over the world set off the upsurge of learning Chinese!
In fact, many foreign celebrity descendants are also learning Chinese from an early age.
For example, President Trump`s granddaughter, Arabella, can be said to be a small messenger of Sino-American friendship, paying tribute to the Chinese people in a fluent Chinese language.
Wall Street mogul Rogers did not want to fall behind, posting frequent videos of his two daughters speaking Chinese.
At the age of 4, Prince George not only studied English, math, ballet, but also Mandarin.
Princess Elizabeth of Belgium is now learning Chinese as well as French and Dutch.
Amazon founder Jeff? Bezos` four children and Facebook founder Mark? Zuckerberg`s daughters also speak Chinese.
However, due to the difficulty of Chinese, many Australian students learn Chinese in the middle of the situation!
Australian experts warn: "We have to get more non-Chinese people to learn Chinese. Otherwise we will lose more because of this lack of ability. "
The number of non-Chinese students learning Chinese is low.
The number of students studying Chinese in Australia was 172832, or 4.7 percent of the total, according to a 2016 report by the Australian-China Relations Institute.
But if they can opt out, more than 50 percent of primary school students will not continue to study Chinese in secondary school, the report said.
There are fewer students who can continue to learn Chinese until the 12th grade!
"by the end of grade 12, only 4149 students (2.4 percent of Chinese students, 0.1 percent of the total) were still studying Chinese," the report said.
In fact, more than 1.2 million Australians are of Chinese descent, and China is Australia`s largest trading partner, but few young people choose to learn Chinese.
The Australian-China Relations Institute held a seminar this week at the University of Science and Technology in Sydney to discuss why the language learning rate continues to "continue to decline", especially for non-Chinese background students.
Bob Carr, the college`s director and former governor of the new state, said a "challenging statistic" was that only 380 non-Chinese students across Australia had been studying Chinese.
Encourage you to learn Chinese, otherwise you will lose a lot of money.
Bob Carr indicates:
"the situation is very worrisome. China buys 1/3 of our exports every year, and we need to know about this country. We need to have our own Chinese experts. "
If all the students are counted, the number will rise to 4000.
`Australia is lazy and lazy,`he said. `Chinese immigrant families let their children serve as a repository for our high schools.
"We have to let more non-Chinese people learn Chinese. Otherwise we will lose more because of this lack of ability. "
Bob Carr recommends that education reforms be needed, including "greater incentives for students who work hard to learn Asian languages." Maybe we should give them credit for two courses? "
"We need to motivate students to learn this difficult language," John Meng, secretary of the NSW Association of Chinese Teachers, said in an interview.
"what`s happening in China is very important, and it`s getting more and more important," he said. By building up our ability to speak Chinese, we will be able to improve and increase our understanding of the two peoples. "
Participants said there was no consensus on the importance of developing Chinese language across Australia and that there were no national projects to fund the development, leading to no significant increase in the number of people learning Chinese since 2016.
Teachers and students remain optimistic
Although the relevant data show pessimistic, but students and teachers remain positively attitude.
Zac Mcleod, a 15-year-old student from Rouse Hill High School, said he would choose to continue studying Chinese.
"I hope to be a caregiver in the future and to eliminate language barriers. This may save lives in time when the patient is injured. "
Kate Wang, a teacher at Rouse Hill High School, said that the growing number of students choosing Chinese, like Zac, is not due to "more typical reasons" such as economic or political opportunities.
"our students are talking about the cyber security of paramedics, nurse, in Australia. Let the community increase cohesion. "
So if possible, even if Chinese students study abroad or live outside, do not forget our mother tongue! Parents should also attach importance to English learning as well as Chinese learning.
Because studies have shown that learning bilingualism can not only train your brain`s thinking and improve your thinking ability, but also broaden your horizons, quickly understand the world, and enhance your self-confidence as a skill to enhance your charisma. In the future to enhance competitiveness in employment!
Hurry home and read Chinese!
