"Learn Chinese" redirects here. For the song by Jin, see Learn Chinese (song).
See also: Chinese school and Confucius Institute
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Chinese as a foreign or second language is when non-native speakers study Chinese varieties. The increased interest in China from those outside has led to a corresponding interest in the study of Standard Chinese (a type of Mandarin Chinese) as a foreign language, the official language of mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore. However, the teaching of Chinese both within and outside China is not a recent phenomenon. Westerners began learning different Chinese varieties in the 16th century. Within China, Mandarin became the official language in the early 20th century. Mandarin also became the official language of Taiwan when the Kuomintang took over control from Japan after World War II.
In 2010, 750,000 people (670,000 from overseas) took the Chinese Proficiency Test.[1] For comparison, in 2005, 117,660 non-native speakers took the test, an increase of 26.52% from 2004.[2] From 2000 to 2004, the number of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland taking Advanced Level exams in Chinese increased by 57%.[3] An independent school in the UK made Chinese one of their compulsory subjects for study in 2006.[4] The study of Chinese is also rising in the United States. The USC U.S.-China Institute cited a report that 51,582 students were studying the language in US colleges and universities. While far behind the more than 800,000 students who study Spanish, the number is more than three times higher than in 1986. The Institute's report includes graphs and details on the popularity of other languages.[5]
As of 2008, China had helped 60,000 teachers promote its language internationally, and an estimated 40 million people were studying Chinese as a second language around the world.[6]
Other than Standard Mandarin, Cantonese is also widely taught as a foreign language. It is the official language of Hong Kong and Macau and has traditionally been the dominant language among most Overseas Chinese communities. A number of universities outside Hong Kong and Macau offer Cantonese within their Chinese-language departments as well, especially in the UK and North America.[7] Taiwanese Hokkien is taught at the International Chinese Language Program,[8] Taipei Language Institute[9] and other schools.
^Liu lili (27 June 2011). "Chinese language proficiency test becoming popular in Mexico". Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
^(in Chinese) "汉语水平考试中心：2005年外国考生总人数近12万",[1] Xinhua News Agency, January 16, 2006.
^"Get Ahead, Learn Mandarin". Archived from the original on 16 November 2006.
^"How hard is it to learn Chinese?". BBC. 17 January 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
^Clayton Dube (31 July 2009). "Chinese language study is rising fast". Retrieved 12 September 2013.
^York, Geoffrey (2 January 2009). "Papua New Guinea and China's New Empire". globeandmail.com. CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
^"Chinese University of Hong Kong". Retrieved 12 September 2013.
^"621A(T) 台語一 Taiwanese I". ICLP@NTU (Taiwan) 臺大國際華語研習所. Retrieved 25 July 2019. This is an introductory textbook to Taiwanese language, which is suitable for those of intermediate to advanced Mandarin competency. It brings together 24 lessons containing introduction to pronunciation, vocabulary, sentence patterns and daily conversation in a variety of topics such as classroom language, self-introduction, numbers, time, sports, entertainments, etc.
^"TLI Textbooks中文自編教材". Taipei Language Institute. Retrieved 25 July 2019. Taiwanese Textbooks台語教材介紹 生活台語 生活台語(實驗課程) 圖畫故事
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