Rich and famous families teach their kids Mandarin as China's influence grows

The children of some of the world's most prominent figures are learning Mandarin, signaling a growing recognition of China's global importance. Elon Musk recently shared that his son is studying the language, joining the children of tech titans like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, as well as members of the Trump family.

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My son is currently learning Mandarin.

This trend is driven by China's position as the world's second-largest economy. Professor Kerry Brown of King's College London explains that learning Mandarin is a matter of practical self-interest for those engaged in global business and technology. "It's just a practical self-interest and a recognition that China is going to be a massively important technology and economic partner into the future," he told the ABC.

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It's just a practical self-interest and a recognition that China is going to be a massively important technology and economic partner into the future.

Beyond business, learning Mandarin can also open diplomatic channels. Brown cited the example of Ivanka Trump's daughter, Arabella Kushner, singing in Mandarin during a state visit, which he described as "good diplomacy." While Russian President Vladimir Putin noted over 100,000 Russians are studying Chinese, Brown observes that few students in Western countries like Australia and the UK pursue Chinese languages at university.

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When Trump has his granddaughter singing a Chinese song in front of Xi Jinping, it's good diplomacy.

Brown suggests that the children of these influential families could become ambassadors for Chinese language learning. However, he emphasizes the complexity of China and the need for a significant investment in understanding the country. "China is more complicated, more difficult to understand than France or Germany for a European, or for someone from a European cultural background. So we do have to make that investment if we want to deal with this country at parity," he stated.

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China is more complicated, more difficult to understand than France or Germany for a European, or for someone from a European cultural background. So we do have to make that investment if we want to deal with this country at parity.