‘Huge shift’: why learning Mandarin is losing its appeal in the West
Available figures suggest enthusiasm is waning after years of rapid growth, with analysts pointing to China’s economy and image problems
The situation at Porter’s school is not unusual in the United States and other countries in the Global North. While data is scarce, the available figures suggest that interest in learning Mandarin – once globally hailed as the language of the future – is waning after years of rapid growth.
In the US, Mandarin language enrolments in universities were down by 25 per cent in 2021 from their 2013 peak, according to the Modern Language Association’s most recent report.
Across New Zealand, official data shows a decline in the number of Mandarin learners at secondary school level since 2020.
Meanwhile, university students in Britain pursuing Chinese language studies saw a 35 per cent drop in 2023 compared to their 2016 high, according to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
And even in some European countries like Germany and France where Mandarin learning continues to grow, its expansion is modest compared to other more popular languages.