I think that China's position is unique amongst other countries in the region. China is the world's second largest economy and predicted by many reliable sources to surpass America to become the largest economy within the next 5 years or so. This means that China will have a bigger say in economic, political and even social terms in the course of the future, just like England and America have had over the course of the past century or so.

Japan has definately peaked, so now it's China's turn to shine. In all SE Asian countries, English is the language of business and most educated people there can speak it. Few foreigners bother studying those languages as I've pointed out before, but China is different. In no other Asian country have I found so many foreigners who can speak the local language [Mandarin Chinese in this case] as here in China - it's partly due to the increased interest as a result of China's rise but also the fact that it remains far more difficult to get around in China with English than in most other regional countries, as a general rule.

Actually the USA is the world's second largest economy. the EU is the biggest. That said much of your post rings true.

Though the rise of China bit seems a bit fairy tail-ish, I think it will be way more modest than that if it even continues beyond the next ten years . You mention the USA and UK, but their rise required a massive amounts of war and bloodshed. They also faced far fewer major internal problems, in a world with far more energy resources, and all this was in the age before the methane/co2 threat. Add to that the huge protectionism of the time and that this all before the dominance of global finance over national economies.

Anyway, a bit off topic.

Hollywood, coca cola, McDonald's, the Beatles......are exhibits of a dominant culture.

i think, it is not too late to start Chinese language study until Chinese pop culture becomes trendy, for example, appearing on major commercial media in the English speaking world. :-)

As to the claim that 'the world's second largest economy' will overtake the US in 5 years, you might have to admit that such claim is a bit too ambitious if you have been watching credit expansion in 'the world's second largest economy' - a 200% of GDP since the GFC.

while I myself do speak fluent Chinese, i do not think not being able to speak Chinese is really a drawback. sometimes, body language does a better job. :-)

How many of those who say that speaking Chinese is not needed have:
- Actually worked in their life ?
- Actually worked in China in a business which is not English teaching, tourism, or running a cafe where 50% of customers are foreigners ?

I'm not gonna enter into the debate of who will be the dominant economical or cultural power in 10 years. Just give some experience-based facts from China's business life, to answer the question of the first poster:

Unless you look for the jobs I mentioned above (in which case the previous answers are valid, but these jobs are usually either short term jobs for young people/students or capped at some point in terms of revenu), I would say: Yes, you need to learn Chinese, as it clearly makes a difference. In short: it makes you more valuable on the job market and broadens your scope of accessible jobs.

Desirability for a foreign company:
- China scares foreign companies (and this will not change soon), and some skills are not yet findable in China (it is evolving, but not that fast, and with great differences depending on the region where you are), so foreign companies are still willing to hire expats. Among the skills they will be looking for is of course Chinese language.

Desirability for a Chinese company:

- Some companies with development strategy abroad are looking for foreigners to support their sales, or their market entry, or their cultural/legal/etc. understanding of the target country. All the people I know who are occupying such a position have been recruited among other for their fluency in Chinese, which enables them to deal with the daily work with their colleagues in their native language. Employees are not willing to change their working language just to make 1 or 2 people welcome in the company

Government
- One of the key to succeed in business in China is relations with government. Government people are often very nationalists, they are not English-trained, they are aware of their power (China: you love it or you leave it), so they don't see why they should speak another language than Chinese to you. On the other hand, they appreciate talking with Chinese-speaking foreigners, as they understand it as respect for their culture (vs. economic colonialism from the West) and as a sign of long term commitment to do business with them. (These are actually true with any business partner, but I would say especially with government people).

Personal economics:
- You can add to your salary the salary of the translator that you don't need any more if you speak Chinese
- You can add to your productivity the time you won't spend listening/reading to translations or being translated yourself. That's a lot of time.
- You can add to your mind health all the advantages of understanding what's happening around you and of not getting mad because of recurring misunderstanding (how many times have I seen foreigners starting to shout at people just because they actually missed some points in the discussion or the instructions...)

well, if people work in china do not notice chinese is not needed, is not really working in china, unless you are in a very narrow field, like, journalism, academic research....

let me tell you, there are always an interpreter when talking really business with 'government people' in china, even the official you are dealing with speaks fluent english. you would do exactly the same, having an interpreter in between, even if you could speak fluent Chinese. It is more a tactical move.

now, if you really work in China, you would know the 'local business protocol'. the company would always assign at least one runner/minder, sometimes a team, on business trips. the minder is not there just to carry your luggage or umbrella when it rains or otherwise, it is actually a way to tell your counterpart that you are really here to do serious business. if you come solo, they would think you are just a joke. :-)

Yes. And this is why:

1. if you live or reside in a foreign country, it is plain arrogant not to know the other language. It will make people scream "foreigners out" in due time.

2. People think English as a lingua franca is irreplaceable. Nonsense. Sure, English has established a strong foothold due to its presence in many technologies and the spread of today's media helps carry it around (as did Latin once, as did French once). But the fitness of a language is also closely related to the fitness of its cultural and economical origin. Both US and UK are economically on the decline. English has only been a lingua franca for about a hundred years. In history, nothing lasts forever, but to contemporaries it seems like it will. Latin was toppled even though it was widely spoken in the entire Eurasian continent and beyond. Chinese may well become an important language in the century ahead as China gains cultural and economical influence. Characters may have to be abandoned.

3. Learning a foreign language is never a waste of time. It helps you understand language in general, stretches the brain and will make it easier to learn more foreign languages. I am fluent in five and find it surprisingly easy to pick up new ones now, even if they're not at all related.

4. It unlocks an entirely new world, new cultures, new people... It stretches your understanding of the world and its inhabitants. Language and culture are not easily separated.

5. As mentioned above, it increases your desirability to be employed and/or to make more money. It helps you cut it in tomorrow's real world.

6. You are able to communicate your culture to the Chinese. Think of how important it will be for your own people that the Chinese understand your culture when/if they take over the world in any way. Not feeling superior or inferior, but acknowledging and accepting each other's differences, and reach out to the other are key to cultural and economical co-operation without losing independence.

7. You could hook up with people from that country more easily.

Learning Chinese is useful.

But do you need to? Or to rephrase, is it essential?
Definitely no.

The argument about cultural imperialism is flawed, and is directly relevant to the original question.

The question was never "do you need to", it was "should you". And yes, I think you should, if you want to reside, live or travel in China.

Of course you do not need to do anything. If we completely descend into the realms of relativity, you don't need to learn or do anything. Because in the end you will die and what will it matter.

Cultural imperialism is nonsense because it contains a notion that it's driven. This is about organic growth.

Timely article on why learning a second language is useful.

msn.careerbuilder.com/[...]

bluppfisk

By attaching your values to the discussion. This makes it subjective, when most others have responded in an objective manner.

Not a criticism, but an observation.