Learning Curve Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway - Chinese DragonEvery now and then, I’m reminded that I should be more diligent about teaching Stephen Mandarin Chinese. A UK government report earlier this month recommended that state (public) schools teach “economically useful” languages, such as Mandarin.

One way of making language teaching in secondary schools more engaging will be through offering a wider range of languages, including Mandarin, which is increasingly valued by employers. The language is growing in popularity in independent schools, in recognition of the growing importance of China to the British economy, but is available only in a small number state schools.

Business leaders are now calling for more Mandarin teaching. They expect sales to China to be worth 10 per cent of their global revenues, equivalent to nearly ?200 billion a year, by 2009, making China Britain?s most important export market.

A survey of 500 business leaders conducted by the Hay consultancy group found that many companies believed that poor language skills and a lack of understanding of the Chinese market were holding Britain back.

Hindi, Urdu & Bengali: Lonely Planet PhrasebookSally Low, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, hoped that the report would go further. She said: ?The needs of business are changing. In an increasingly globalised economy, Mandarin and Urdu are in more demand than the traditional French and German.?

What’s Urdu*? I’m more behind than I thought! Not only have I got to teach Stephen Mandarin, I’ve got to get on the ball with Urdu.

*Spoken in Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan