Learning any foreign language is beneficial for you, but it often comes with plenty of persistence and effort.

Sure, learning Chinese is not an easy task. Despite it being so, anyone who has managed to master the language will tell you that it is worth every bit to learn Chinese.

Why is that so? The following 5 reasons will convince you to love the language enough to actually take the time to learn it!

1. Learning Chinese is not as hard as it seems

The Chinese writing system looks alien to most people because it looks drastically different from most Western languages such as English.

However, once you get past the initial unfamiliarity, you’ll find that learning Chinese might not be as difficult as you might think.

2. Chinese is a global language

If you don’t count the people who live in China, around 37% of the world’s population speak Chinese.

And that number is looking to grow exponentially. If you narrow down that list to the professional world, as well as in school, the chances of encountering people who speak Chinese go up considerably.

While Chinese isn’t likely to overtake English anytime soon, the notion that only very few people outside of China speak Chinese is extremely exaggerated.

You’ll be able to converse with more people and make a lot more friends if you decide to learn Chinese.

3. Chinese-speaking countries make for excellent tourist destinations

If you want to go on a vacation somewhere that’s culturally diverse and has a rich history, one of the must-visit places has to be China.

If you learn Chinese, your vacation or tour becomes so much better because you’ll be able to appreciate the locations more. Not to mention, it can get quite annoying to have to rely on the services of a translator or app all of the time.

If you understand Chinese, you can focus more on enjoying your travel, and less on trying to figure out what others are saying.

4. More career opportunities

If you want to have a successful career in Singapore, or the rest of the world for that matter, learning a foreign language helps, A LOT.

When you’re fluent in multiple languages, you become a valuable asset for your company. More than that, you will expose yourself to many more opportunities that many others can only dream of having.

5. Better job security

The more languages you know, the more valuable you are to your company.

With the demand for Chinese speakers continuing to grow, you owe it to yourself, and your future to start learning Chinese today. Otherwise, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to take advantage of China’s rapid global growth.