Are you business savvy? If you are, you would know the legendary investor, Jim Rogers.
At an international business forum, Jim talked about the huge importance of learning Chinese to anyone interested in building a future in business.
“Chinese will be the most important global language in the near future.”
Jim Rogers practice what he preaches: He has made sure to bring up his daughters in a Chinese-immersion environment, by moving to Singapore. He has paid close attention to their learning and it has paid off. Now his daughters, Happy and Bee, speak fluent Chinese.
Chinese speakers have even said that they are able to pronounce words better than some native Chinese speakers.
What do you think?
In this video, Bee Rogers does a Mandarin tongue twister. And it is not easy! Try it for yourself:
Ménkǒu yǒu gè rén,
门口 有 个 人，
There is somebody in the doorway,
Shǒu lǐ ná gè pén,
手 里 拿 个 盆，
taking a basin on the hands.
pēng de yì shēng xiǎng.
砰 地 一 声 响。
Bang!
shì pén pèng le mén,
是 盆 碰 了 门，
Is it the basin hitting the door,
háishì mén pèng le pén?
还是 门 碰 了 盆？
Or the door hitting the basin?
Jim utilized three different language-learning tools for his daughters to get them to this level:
1. Jim hired a Chinese tutor for Happy and Bee, so they would be able to learn at a customized pace and be corrected in their tones with a native speaker. One-to-one tutoring is immensely helpful when it comes to pronunciation and general comfort-ability with spontaneous conversation.
2. Jim also provided an immersive environment for his girls: He moved them to Singapore, so they would be steeped in all things Chinese. Culture, daily life, language, food, style, and more. Immersion gives you the full package when it comes to language. You get to not only expand your vocab and practice on a daily basis, but you’re also able to build relationships and create memories in a Chinese environment.
3. Jim also sought and found a school in Singapore for his daughters. This daily classroom instruction provided additional immersion and consistency in practice for the girls.
There are a few take-aways from Jim’s method and success with teaching his daughters Chinese.
1. Tutoring is a win-win. You’re always going to learn more with customized instruction.
2. The more vocab, the better. Immersion is always ideal, but if you can’t spend the money to travel overseas, then immerse yourself in local clubs, university language groups, or other hangouts where you know Chinese will be spoken.
3. Consistency is key. When you’re learning a language, you need to practice on a daily basis. No matter where you are in the world, if you practice, you will improve!
1. How to say “Tongue Twister” in Chinese?
A. 绕口令 (ràokǒulìng)
B. 诗歌 (shīgē)
C. 谜语 (míyǔ)
Jennifer Zhu is a professional Chinese teacher from eChineseLearning. She has many years of Chinese language teaching experience and received her B.A. and M.A. in “Teaching Chinese as a Second Language.”
General Chinese (Beginner Level)
General Chinese (Intermediate Level)