How to learn business Chinese?
Chinese is one of the languages with the highest demand today. How does a language get high demand and a great position in world language Ethnologue?
There are many factors which contribute to this phenomenon.
A few of those factors are –
The position of the countries where this language is widely spoken, in the world economy
China is at a leading position in the world economy scenario today. It has taken over many business conglomerates of other countries. This has made the Chinese language one of the most sought-after languages in the world.
The standards of education in these countries
Many universities in China attract students from around the globe. There are some excellent courses which are exclusively offered only in the Chinese medium. Students who are truly enthusiastic and wish to excel at any subject that they opt for, are more than willing to learn Chinese right upto the advanced levels to secure admissions for such courses.
Cultural heritage
The more any country advertises and markets its cultural heritage in the world, the greater are chances of its language being chosen as a passion to pursue by people. Philologists, archaeologists, architects, language enthusiasts find Chinese truly fascinating or enthralling, citing the richness of its religious scriptures, the ancient temples, its political and economic historical growth, etc.
Tourism
When tourism of a place is highly developed, language of that place also acquires a greater importance. It is also the efforts by the governing bodies of that country to promote their language extensively that contribute to a language’s growth.
Career Opportunities that this language offers
Chinese multinational companies accommodate a huge portion of the world corporate sector today. By this way, career opportunities that open doors to skilled individuals, too, are on the rise. People struggle or make rigorous efforts to get jobs or to get attached or associated with these business ventures in one or the other way. Even Chinese language experts or Chinese language instructors have a great demand in these times.
If one wishes to learn Chinese suitable for communication at workplace or in a corporate circle or in a highly sophisticated social or business environment, one needs to learn business Chinese. Of course, the business model of Chinese comes only after one is thorough with the basic Chinese. When one is already very well acquainted with the core Chinese vocabulary, can one set on the journey of learning business Chinese.
Now, the questions that arise into many minds are, “Where to learn business Chinese from? What resources are available for the same? Which resources are trustworthy?”, etc.
There are some resources that one can trust to learn business Chinese from:
Newspapers
Newspaper articles are an excellent and trustworthy resource to develop vocabulary. There are no chances of one learning words incorrectly if one follows this resource. One must, but, be involved in active reading; that is, just reading out an article does not help; one must refer to a dictionary every time one comes across a new word while reading to expand one’s vocabulary extensively.
Business magazines
Business magazines contain a lot of business or economy related vocabulary. One must be willing to involve in active reading. Also, it is advisable that one forms a list of newly learnt words, their meanings, their pronunciations, and must try to form sentences of one’s own using these words.
Journals
Weekly or monthly journals are a lot more interesting since they cover the latest topics which are highly discussed or are trending. An individual who is always interested in participating in social gatherings, or is a regular member at office meetings, seminars, conferences, or is a public speaker will find this resource highly useful.
Business blogs
Many bloggers choose to write on subjects or topics related to economy, business ups and downs, professional ventures, upcoming new companies, latest trends in the corporate sector, etc. Reading blogs of this nature from time to time adds a lot to one’s knowledge of the business sector as well as helps one improve one’s business Chinese language skills tremendously.
YouTube podcasts
Podcasts imparting knowledge about business Chinese, or teaching jargons (words related to or characteristic of a specific field or sphere) are truly useful for developing one’s language skills.
Books for learning business Chinese
There are books available in stores as well as online for learning words from the business models of Chinese language. These books are a lot effective.
App based lessons
Online language learning apps are also available nowadays and they provide various modules such as lessons for beginners, for intermediate and advanced level learners, business models, etc.
Online business Chinese learning courses
There is one resource, which is, but, excessively more effective than all the above resources for one reason. Learning from experts is always more beneficial than relying on self-learning alone. When one learns Chinese language from a Chinese language expert, learning can be flawless as contradictory to the guesses that one makes in self-learning. Chances of pronunciations of words being correct increase manifold as against in self – learning. An Online Chinese learning course can be taken without wasting any of one’s precious time and money for commuting. Audio-visual online Chinese learning sessions facilitate direct (real-time) communication between an instructor and a student in contradiction to learning through podcasts or from blogs or articles. Edtech platforms offer many courses in Chinese ranging right from Chinese for beginners, intermediate and advanced Chinese, business Chinese, Chinese for travelers, Chinese for clearing the HSK (the Chinese Proficiency Test), etc.
Finally,
The last thing is to be consistent in how you learn. Once you find a method of learning, stick to it. By sticking to a regular routine, you are more likely to remember what you have learned and can expand your knowledge of Chinese with new content.