Mandarin is the second most widely spoken language globally, with about 1.12 billion speakers in the world. There are different varieties of Chinese language, but Mandarin is the one most commonly taught and learned. It is mainly spoken in mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. It is also one of the official languages of the United Nations. In a globalized world, not only will learning Mandarin improve your employment opportunities, but you will also discover a very rich culture and history.
Moreover, the Mandarin language currently plays a pivotal role in trade, as the EU and China are key trading partners. “In 2021, China was the third largest partner for EU exports of goods (10.2%) and the largest partner for EU imports of goods (22.4%)", according to EU-China: A stable global economy is a shared responsibility (europa.eu), an article from the EC press corner.
Whether you learn it for fun or think the language could be useful for your interpreting career, you are in the right place. We have a large selection of speeches in Mandarin on the Speech Repository. Time to practice!