So will Mandarin replace English as the next global language? Answer: not yet. English rose to prominence through the British Empire and as a result there are native English speakers to be found across the globe. English is the language of shared popular culture – music, film, even sport.
Contrary to popular belief, the Chinese writing system does not prevent Chinese from becoming a global language. Most of the world's languages are written using phonetic symbols, such as the alphabet.
As David Graddol notes in “The Future of English?”, there is no reason to believe that another language will become the global lingua franca within the next 50 years. English probably won't replace other languages, but its usefulness as the common language in trade, diplomacy, and pop culture will continue.
English became a global language because it was the language of the two most powerful countries of recent centuries, Britain and the United States. There are also a number of discrepancies between how English sounds and how it is spelled.
Chinese languages likely won't overtake English as the lingua franca of the world. Chinese isn't one language. Every region of China has a dialect/variations that is often unintelligible to others. There is a “Standard Mandarin,” but it's not universally used.
It is estimated that it takes 4 times longer for a native English speaker to become proficient in Chinese than it does to reach a similar level in French or Spanish. Therefore, it would seem that, for the next generation at least, Mandarin will not replace English as the global language.
While researchers tend to agree that English is the current global lingua franca and will be for some time, several researchers suggest that Mandarin Chinese is already or will become a lingua franca in the future. However, the degree to which Mandarin will become a lingua franca is disputed.
English is a compulsory subject in China's standard national curriculum. Many Chinese students begin learning English at an early age, some even in kindergarten. In general, they receive their first English lessons in the third grade in primary school.
For decades, English has been a compulsory subject in all Chinese schools from primary school through high school — the only class to receive this status apart from Chinese and math.
The Chinese language has a unique structure and pronunciation system that is vastly different from English. Chinese is made up of tens of thousands of characters, each with its own meaning, and often multiple pronunciations. This makes the language extremely difficult to learn, especially for non-native speakers.
There is a strong chance that English will continue to be the lingua franca for the foreseeable future, but it is also wise for people to learn other languages such as Spanish and Chinese in case they begin to dominate.
Of course, the world is constantly changing, and a new study has proclaimed that there will soon be a new global language on the world scene. Dr. Jeffrey Gill, a Flinders University academic, believes Chinese is set to rise shortly as a prominent global language spoken frequently outside of China and Asia.
"The main factors which support Chinese becoming a global language are China's geopolitical importance, the large number of Chinese speakers around the world, and China's economic power and influence in the world.
Unsurprisingly, English still occupies first place among the world's most important languages in 2025. The second-ranked language, however, is much more exotic, namely Chinese! For some time now, Chinese has been regarded by experts as the language of the future in the business industry.
In 2023, there were around 1.5 billion people worldwide who spoke English either natively or as a second language, slightly more than the 1.1 billion Mandarin Chinese speakers at the time of survey.
China ranks 68th in English proficiency, out of 111 non-English-speaking countries. According to the English Proficiency Index, China has ranked 68th out of 111 non English-speaking countries. Topping the list within China was Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.
China's first contact with the English language occurred between Chinese and English traders, and the first missionary schools to teach English were established in Macau in the 1630s. Between 1911 and 1949, English was popular, it was taught in missionary schools and thirteen Christian colleges.
The National English Curriculum
As China's economy was boosted due to open foreign policies and the use of English, the policy makers of the Ministry of Education (MOE) decided to include English as the first compulsory subject in the secondary school curriculum and tertiary level of study.
It is a pretty tricky for native Chinese speakers to learn English, and it is no mean feat to master it. There are so many differences between the languages that without guidance and support, it is very difficult for Chinese speakers to fully grasp English and its intricacies.
Do I need to learn Chinese to teach English in China? The short answer is – nope! It's not necessary to speak any Mandarin (or Cantonese) to be hired to teach in China. In fact, it's actually preferred that you don't speak anything aside from English to your students.
Body Language
The Chinese dislike being touched by strangers. Do not touch, hug, lock arms, back slap or make any body contact. Clicking fingers or whistling is considered very rude. Never put your feet on a desk or a chair.
As the population and global influence of China increase, its language Mandarin is increasingly becoming a lingua franca. A lingua franca is a language that is spoken among non-native speakers who don't speak each other's language and use a language they both speak as a.
The fact that Chinese uses a character-based script instead of an alphabetic one is often seen as a reason Mandarin won't be the future global language, regardless of how powerful China becomes.