Due to the lack of people in the Western business world who can speak both Chinese and English, or any other language, there's a huge demand for these skills. Through learning Chinese, you can transform yourself from a low value employee into somebody who is critical to the success of a project in China, thereby making yourself a very attractive hire.
It is a fact that organizations who have managed to master the Chinese language and to understand China's customs and etiquette are far more successful in reaching their fore set goals than those who failed to do so. Moreover, understanding Mandarin, its culture and etiquette makes it so much more easy and fun to become befriended with your colleagues and clients, to help to build your 'guanxi', benefitting both you and your company.
Language influences culture, so learning Mandarin not only helps you to communicate with Chinese colleagues and clients but also helps you to understand how Chinese people think and feel. Equally important, when you at least try to learn Mandarin, you show your colleagues and clients respect. And that will definitely shorten the distance between them and you.
Being able to do your daily shopping, book a restaurant, talk to your neighbours, it all makes your life so much more convenient and richer. And through the language you will also learn to appreciate China’s history and culture. You will literally sense the beauty of its porcelain and poetry, its arts and calligraphy, its food culture, all of these still so present and visible in nowadays China. Understanding Mandarin enhances your daily life in China enormously!
We all know we have to keep our brains well trained and studies have shown that Mandarin speakers use both sides of their brains, instead of just one like non-tonal languages speakers. Indeed, Chinese takes more brain power and as we all know, use it or you loose it! Learning Chinese definitely is important to keep your brain healthy and strong.