Interest in Mandarin grows along with Chinese economy<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Mandarin language courses are mushrooming across Greater Jakarta
\nas Indonesian businesspeople, impressed by China's rapid economic
\ngrowth, rush to establish contacts with Chinese businesses.<\/p>\n
The Wen Hua Mandarin Institute and the Han Lin Mandarin Course
\ntold The Jakarta Post that many of their students were studying
\nthe language in order to establish ties with Chinese
\nbusinesspeople in China and around the world.<\/p>\n
\"Most of our students who are executives at Jakarta-based
\ncompanies say they want to study Mandarin to broaden their
\nbusiness contacts with Chinese people,\" said Wen Hua's program
\ncoordinator Tanny Chenying.<\/p>\n
Tanny, a Chinese citizen who started the course in 2003,
\nbelieves the students' interest reflects how Indonesians have
\ncome to understand the importance of mastering Mandarin, the
\nofficial language of the People's Republic of China.<\/p>\n
She said Mandarin had become a second international language
\nbecause it was being used by Chinese people around the world.<\/p>\n
\"Based on the size of China's population, at least 1.3 billion
\npeople speak Mandarin, while the number of people who speak the
\nlanguage outside of China could be double that number,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Tanny said that aside from attracting Indonesian
\nbusinesspeople, the course was also popular with expatriates
\nworking in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"We have Australian, French, Korean and American students
\nattending our evening classes. All of them say they are motivated
\nby economic reasons,\" she said.<\/p>\n
She gave an example of a Korean student, an executive at
\nSamsung Indonesia, who was studying Mandarin so he could ask his
\ncompany to transfer him to its branch in China.<\/p>\n
\"He said he wanted to experience working there,\" Tanny said.<\/p>\n
Iwan Lee, the president director of the Han Lin Mandarin
\ncourse in Bogor, said that aside from business interests,
\nlearning Mandarin could also help businesspeople better
\nunderstand the widely varied Chinese culture.<\/p>\n
\"To understand a culture, you must first master the language.
\nTo understand Chinese culture, you have to be able to read and
\ncommunicate with Chinese people to see how they think and act,\"
\nsaid Iwan, whose course is also attended by traders of Indian and
\nArab descent. (006)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/interest-in-mandarin-grows-along-with-chinese-economy-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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