Why Learn Mandarin as an Adult? Honest Reasons

If you are weighing whether Mandarin is worth your evenings, ask what the hours would buy you. Mandarin is rewarding, and it is also one of the larger language projects an English speaker can take on. The reasons that hold up for adults are personal and specific: a family you want to talk with, a life or job in Taiwan, trips you want to take with more than a phrasebook, or a wish to read. Reasons that rest on a statistic about world population tend to fade by the third month.

This essay lists the reasons that last, then puts them next to the time cost so you can decide with open eyes.

The honest cost first

The US Foreign Service Institute (FSI) puts Mandarin in its hardest category for English speakers and estimates 2,200 classroom hours to reach professional working proficiency. That figure is for a demanding goal, and for diplomats studying full time with teachers. It is not a prediction for you.

A better guide for a working adult is TOCFL, Taiwan’s official proficiency test. Its suggested learning hours outside a Chinese-speaking region are 240 to 480 for Level 1 (A1), 480 to 720 for Level 2 (A2), and 720 to 960 for Level 3 (B1). At five hours a week, 480 hours is about two years. That is the price of a basic, usable level. Our guide to how long it takes to learn Mandarin works through the numbers at different study intensities, and is Chinese hard to learn explains where the hours go.

Keep those numbers in mind for every reason below.

Reasons that hold up

Family

This is usually the strongest reason. A Taiwanese partner, parents-in-law, or children who speak Mandarin at school give you a daily audience and a daily deadline. You will also meet the language as people really use it in Taiwan, with its own vocabulary and rhythm. A few hundred well-chosen words will already change how you are received at a family table, and you get to use them the same week you learn them.

Living or working in Taiwan

Even in a city where some people speak English, daily life runs in Mandarin. Reading a lease, speaking to a landlord, talking with a doctor or sitting through a work meeting in Mandarin is a different life from the one you have as a visitor. If you plan to stay for years, the hours repay themselves in independence. See studying Mandarin in Taiwan versus China if you are still choosing where to study.

Travel that goes beyond the surface

Even at Level 1 you can order, ask directions, shop and make small talk. You will not be fluent, but people respond differently when you try. This reason is real, and it is also the one most able to be satisfied by a modest amount of study, so you may find that a few months is all you want.

Reading

Some adults want to read: novels, poetry, news from Taiwan, or old family letters. This is a long road, since reading depends on knowing characters, and it is a deeply satisfying one. Reading in Traditional characters connects you to a large body of writing published in Taiwan, Hong Kong and in older texts. We explain why in why learn Traditional Chinese characters.

The pleasure of the project itself

Some people simply like learning something hard and slow. That counts. Learning a language in adulthood is a long, calm discipline, and it mostly asks for regular time. If this is you, you do not need a practical reason, but you do need a routine you enjoy.

Reasons that do not hold up

• “A billion speakers.” The number is large and has little to do with your life. What matters is whether you will speak with a few particular people or work in a particular place.
• “It will make me richer.” Language skills help some careers a great deal and others very little. If you want a business case, name the job and the city, and ask whether Mandarin is on the requirement list. A TOCFL certificate can help in Taiwan, as our note on TOCFL certificates and employment explains.
• “It is the future.” A prediction is a weak reason to commit hundreds of hours. A concrete plan is a strong one.
• “I want to be fluent in a year.” At typical adult hours, this will not happen, and expecting it is the usual cause of quitting.

How to test your own reason

Try this. Write down the sentence “In 18 months I want to be able to …” and finish it with something you could do on a particular day: chat with your partner’s mother for ten minutes, read a menu without help, pass TOCFL Band A. If you can finish the sentence without effort, your reason is probably strong enough. If you cannot, spend a week using the free first lessons of any course and see what you miss.

Then check that your hours match your target. Two years at five hours a week is a realistic route to Band A Level 1 and the start of Level 2, and a calm daily habit will get you there more reliably than short bursts of effort.

Related reading

• How long does it take to learn Mandarin?
• Is Chinese hard to learn?
• Why learn Traditional Chinese characters
• Study Mandarin in Taiwan or China