subject: Chinese Learning To Improve Our Lives [print this page] What better way than to introduce each other's language in their respective education systems. The proposal to institute an exchange program me of scholars between the two countries and cooperation among universities also has a similar logic to it. There is an urgent need in both countries to know each other better. People-to-people contact must supplement interactions among state officials and could help build mutual trust. One way to facilitate such interaction is to create avenues to learn each other's language and familiar rise with the cultural coordinates of the respective societies.
Culture, of course, is a manifestation of a country's soft power. There's fear in some circles that Beijing could use its soft power to promote its political and economic interests. These fears are exaggerated. It is in India's long-term interest that there are avenues and platforms to know more about China. Learning Mandarin is just one of them.
There needs to be more initiatives public and private to understand Chinese culture and minds. The economic benefits of knowing the language of a people who are soon to become the world's largest consumer block are too obvious to be stated here. But even from a strategic perspective it is useful to be familiar with developments and debates within China. Beijing, with its emphasis on teaching English and even languages like Hindi to Chinese citizens, is doing precisely that.
Statistically speaking, having knowledge of a second language increases one's salary in Poland by an average of z.375, but not all languages are equal. Dziennik Gazeta Prawna says that while certain languages can add thousands of zloty to a workers income, others do not add much value.
With English virtually a business requirement in Poland today, many companies are looking for employees who are fluent in less popular languages and rewarding them accordingly. A survey in 2009 by Sedlak & Sedlak shows that Chinese is the most sought after language in Poland. Employees who can speak Chinese earn a sizeable z.8,000 average salary.
Other languages that are highly valued by businesses in Poland are Swedish, followed by Arabic and Dutch, each earning workers an average of over z.6,000 if they have a good command. Not all languages add value. Knowing Greek, Belorusian and Ukrainian leaves the worker with close to an average monthly compensation.
However, knowing several languages should increase one's wage. According to the study knowing a single foreign language correlates to an average monthly salary of z.3,800, while adding a second one increases that to z.4,300. The third foreign language correlates to z.5,100 and knowing four pushes earnings up to a z.7,200 monthly salary.
