The British government has started a ￡10 million Mandarin Excellence(普通话优秀) Program. The program will see over 5,000 British students towards fluency(流利) in Mandarin Chinese by 2020.

The program is led by local schools and supported by University College London. So far, 14 schools have taken part in the program. Hundreds of secondary school students in England have taken lessons in Mandarin Chinese. Over the next three years, they will spend eight hours studying Mandarin Chinese every week.

Nick Gibb is an officer of the British government. He said a high level of fluency in Mandarin Chinese would become more and more important. “Language skills are important for jobs and life. Mandarin Chinese is spoken by the largest number of people in the world. It is also one of the languages that is the most important to our country’s future. If the United Kingdom wants to remain competitive(竞争的) in the world，we do need far more of our young people leaving school with a good command(精通) of Mandarin Chinese,” Gibb added. “We hope that our young people could be given the chance to study the language. We want them to be fluent in both spoken and written Mandarin. The Mandarin Excellence Program will help us do this. It will not only open the students’ eyes, but also give them a great advantage when they enter the world of work.”

British kids, in fact, are not alone. In America, about 200,000 students are studying Mandarin Chinese. It is believed that 800,000 more will join them over the next couple of years.

For many native English (英语母语) speakers, Chinese is one of the most difficult languages to learn in the world because of different reasons. 【小题1】 Second, they do not use the same grammar. Third, pronunciation style and sound between the two languages are even different.

Many people want to study Chinese, 【小题2】 However, after years of hard work they would still find it difficult to speak like native Chinese. Usually, 【小题3】 if they want to be good enough to read the morning newspaper without too much difficulty. However, the language has tens of thousands of characters. 【小题4】

Moreover, because the written forms of Chinese words have nothing to do with the pronunciation, they should be learned separately (独立地). However, because there are more than 67% of the words having two or more characters, 【小题5】

In today’s highly-connected world, there are many reasons for learning a second language. Here are a few of them.

★【小题1】

Learning another language allows you to talk with people who already speak that language. Communicating in someone’s native language does two things. It shows respect and it allows you to connect on a deeper level. You might be surprised at how open people are when you speak their language.

★You have access（机会）to more information.

【小题2】 Such as music, movies, TV shows, books, new programs, websites and more. It may take a while, but one day you’ll be reading or listening to something in the language and suddenly realize that you can understand it easily.

★Traveling is easier and more fun.

Traveling is much easier if you speak the language of your destination（目的）. It will help you discover more about the place. Locals know the hidden treasure of their city better than any tourists.【小题3】

★You can better understand the world.

Learning a language isn’t just about learning words and grammar. 【小题4】 Learning new languages can broaden your horizons and bring you closer to people of different nationalities.

★It makes you smarter.

Learning a second language improves your memory and strengthens your problem—solving abilities. 【小题5】 The more you use your brain to learn, the more powerful your brain will become.