(Photo: Chinadaily)

    BEIJING, July 9 -- This week Patrick Whiteley will begin studying Chinese at the Taipei Language Institute in Beijing. He believes the extra earning power it gives him might just change his destiny.

    "I'll be learning Chinese every day. On Monday and Friday I'll spend six to seven hours per day, and from Tuesday to Thursday, it will be two hours," Whiteley says.

    The 40-year-old works in the media. He relocated to the mainland in 2006 and has been learning Chinese via language exchange.

    "It's free, but there's only two hours of learning every week. I want much more, 20 hours per week at least, so I've resorted to school for one-on-one learning," he says.

    The program is costly - 110 yuan for each hour of tuition.

    But Whiteley believes it's a worthwhile investment. "Learning Chinese helps me earn more money. If I can speak Chinese, I can be a translator; I can do some marketing job in a Chinese company; I can directly communicate with Chinese executives," he says.

    In China, there are tens of thousands of foreigners like Whiteley for whom learning Chinese is a serious business.

    "Nowadays, it's more than a fashion - it's a vital business tool," he says.

    As China's economy continues to grow and more international companies invest in the market, foreigners continue to emigrate here.

    By the end of 2006, there were more than 180,000 foreigners working in China, twice that in 2003, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

    The ministry says there are 54,608 foreigners doing business in Shanghai, and 30,484 in Beijing.

    But to be successful, the first thing all of them must do is to tackle the language - one of the most difficult in the world.

    Language learning in China generates around 5 billion yuan annually, according to insiders.

    And both privately owned Chinese training organizations and State-owned colleges and universities are cashing in on the business opportunity.

    The Taipei Language Institute is one of them. It offers group classes and one-on-one tutorial sessions. It expanded from Taiwan to the Chinese mainland and Japan in 1996, and to the United States in 2000.

    Japanese-run Beijing Hengshu Language School began offering Chinese programs two years ago because of the potential of the business, says an employee surnamed Han.

    "Chinese and Japanese are equally important to Hengshu," she says.

    Colleges and universities including Beijing Language and Culture University, Peking University and Shanghai Jiaotong University also offer a wide range of courses.

    Fees vary from several hundred yuan to more than 10,000 yuan per program or from 12 yuan to 160 yuan per hour.

    But according to Whiteley, the higher the fees, the greater likelihood the teachers are qualified.

    Global market

    Beyond China, global market is even bigger. There are 40 million people studying Chinese outside China, and the Ministry of Education says that number will surpass 100 million by the end of 2010.

    More than 2,300 schools in 100 nations offer a Chinese major, according to the Office of Chinese Language Council International.

    But there is still far from enough Chinese language education providers to meet demand.

    The government opened its first Confucius Institute in South Korea in 2004 as part of efforts to promote Chinese language and understanding of Chinese culture around the world. By last September, 108 institutes of its kind had been established in 46 nations.

    Online learning is also growing in popularity. "We are targeting foreigners overseas," says Emily Shen, founder and chief executive officer of online Chinese language site www.ChineseSavvy.com.

    The website has been in trial operation for six months. People from 130 nations have registered on the website for the free trial.

    "We will embed fee-paying programs into the system in two months. Profitability shouldn't be a problem," says Shen.

    Whiteley also pays $30 per month for access to www.chinapod.com.

    "It's complementary to the training center. I find it (online language learning) helpful, if it's well designed."

    But despite the business opportunity, a shortage of qualified teachers is the biggest challenge for training organizations and online tutoring providers.

    Only 4,000 people hold the Chinese teacher certificate from the Office of Chinese Language Council International, and the Ministry of Education predicts there will be a worldwide shortage of 5 million Chinese teachers in a few years.

    Beijing Language and Culture University was the first school in China approved to offer Chinese teacher training programs in 1987. By 2006, 6,000 students had undergone teacher training there.

    "Chinese are much more interested in signing up for the courses, the classes are always busy," says a teacher surnamed Qiu.

    "I want someone who is patient, someone who can correct my pronunciation and grammar mistakes, someone who makes me feel engaged and happy," says Whiteley.

    But for him, school is only a starting point. He says he will use every means he can to practice Chinese - on the street, in taxis, at the supermarket.

    "It's all about time, time and time."

    (Source: China Daily)