Why do YOU learn Chinese?

[MegaZero]

To all non Chinese people, why do you learn Chinese? It it because of work? Or is it because of pure interest?

I was born a Chinese speaker and both of my parents are Chinese but for some reason, I am unable to READ or WRITE Chinese.

So, why do you learn this awesome language?

[Hedonologist]

Out of pure interest, and other reasons, although I assumed in 10-15 years it will give me a bonus for work as well. I've simply been interested in it for years, and if I learn it I will be able to gain access to information sources I wouldn't have before. As well as communicate with more Chinese people.

[melaniephenderson]

Similar to you I have Chinese parents as well but am unable to read or write Chinese. Sadly though even my spoken Chinese leaves a lot to be desired.

I moved to an English speaking country when I was younger and my parents always spoke in English to me so I eventually forgot all the Chinese I knew.

So I've been learning Chinese in an effort to hopefully become fluent again in a few years!

[ssonicblue]

I study Chinese because, even as an American, Chinese culture has had a huge impact on my life.

I first read the Dao De Jing when I was in high school, and it spoke to me as no other philosophy book had before. The message of knowing how to live life in order to make living life easy is just incredibly wise, and to this day I am motivated to learn Chinese in the hopes of one day being able to read that book in its original language.

Then, when I got to college, I found my college's 武术(wu2shu4) team. I fell in love with the art, and it became the primary influence on how I spent my time.

I hope to go to China in a few years, and if I'm lucky, maybe I'll find a job that allows me to spend time there regularly.

[JohnSword]

I was born a Chinese speaker as well. Although I was taught Chinese in school, as I got older my proficiency in the language is starting to go downhill.

Recently I've been starting to relearn the language, since bilingualism is an asset when it comes to finding employment. 

[Daimashin]

I am a Chinese born outside of China so I only speak Chinese but don't know how to read or write. I feel that as a Chinese I need to learn to understand the language.

[eppie]

Hi Daimashin   I'm sort of your opposite as I first learn to read and write Chinese characters and never really know how to pronounce it correctly.  I opted to learn the characters first because my husband told me that all Chinese will  understand the characters even if they speak Cantonese or Mandarin or other Chinese dialects - it's still the same when they write it.

Anyway to answer the topic... I want to learn Chinese because my husband is a Filipino-Chinese and all my children are studying in a Filipino-Chinese school here in the country.  I want to connect with them in that level but unfortunately all my kids are very naughty and always making fun of me when I speak in Chinese (I think I'm really bad at it) so I'm looking for other options to learn the language.  Also, there are more opportunities (employment and business) here for those who speak other languages (aside from English) especially Mandarin.