China alone has more than 1 billion inhabitants. Worldwide there are more than 800 million native Mandarin Chinese speakers. With the Chinese economy booming, is Chinese on its way to becoming the dominant global language?

The question is very legitimate, since the Chinese economy is outperforming, and an increasing number of companies are starting doing business with China. In addition, Chinese products are flooding the world markets, and the world is becoming smaller and smaller in a sense. In common business situations, language is still a barrier, and many occasions require a translator to be present.

English has mainly become the dominant global language due to the widespread presence of the British during history. The participation of the United States during WorldWar I and II. As such, English has become increasingly popular as well as important. Additionally, both Great Britain and the United States take very important position in the global economy. Looking at this history, however, the popularity and acceptance of English as a dominant global language has grown slowly over time.

Chinese could well be on its way to become a more important language in business life. In fact, the popularity of Chinese, as well as other language contributing to the global economy, is increasing. However, the language itself poses also some important limits in the way it can be used. Probably the most important limits are the use of characters and the number of limited sounds available. As soon as foreign companies become active in China, they will often have to change their name completely, in order for the company name to be written in Chinese. The same applies to names of people. In addition, schools, colleges and universities will need to adopt Chinese as an integral part of their educational program. This is a very big step, since Europeans and Americans will have a great difficulty learning the language as it belongs to a totally different language family. And still, for this to happen, the Chinese economy itself will also need to take the dominant position in the global economy.

Although it is unlikely for us to (still) experience Chinese being the dominant global language, the Chinese language is gaining importance and popularity in general; there are still many people worldwide, some of them very educated or in high positions within large corporations, who do not speak English adequately. Speaking Chinese might indeed prove to be an important asset, increasing one’s value on the emloyment markets.

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