Financial benefits of being fluent in Mandarin
I’ve been to China several times with my day job and every time I go, I’m amazed at how increasingly relevant the country is becoming. I keep telling Jeanine that we should make sure Sam learns Mandarin as a child because will certainly help him as an adult.
There was an article a couple of weeks ago in The New York Times about American graduates finding jobs in China. It profiled a number of adventurous twentysomethings to show why it’s better to be there than here:
Shanghai and Beijing are becoming new lands of opportunity for recent American college graduates who face unemployment nearing double digits at home.
The article is good, but Xin Lu at Wise Bread wrote a post taking it a step further by offering 6 tips for those who are really interested in working in China:
Globalization is happening whether we like it or not, and if you are adventurous enough, working in China is a good opportunity to advance your career and also gain some perspective on the most populous country in the world.
So if you’re twentysomething and looking for the how-to, then check it out. China is the current land of opportunity… and actually, you really don’t even need to speak the language. You’ll likely learn on the job.
Have you been? Do you agree? Would you move there for a job?
Photo credit: stock.xchng.
Mandarin is absolutely a necessary job skill to be competitive in today’s economy. I took Mandarin in college because I could see where the world economy was headed – and that was back in 1998. Unfortunately I don’t get to practice on a regular basis, so I’m not fluent anymore.
Having gone to China to teach English, I would recommend it to anyone. China has so much history, the food is amazing (far better than anything that passes for “Chinese food” in the States), and the people are really kind. And if you like to haggle for a good price, China is totally the perfect place to shop. I want to go back – it was awesome.