Learn Chinese (song)

"Learn Chinese" is the first single released from Jin's debut album The Rest Is History. The song features Wyclef Jean, who produced and co-wrote the track. At first, the song was a buzz song. But, later, it turned into the first single for Jin's debut album due to its success. This single has been said to be Jin's signature song. To date the single is still Jin's most successful song and single in his music career. The single was featured on an episode of The Andy Milonakis Show. The single went gold in China and was high at one point in the US but never achieved gold success there.

"Learn Chinese" contains samples from James Brown's "Blind Man Can See It"; it also contains elements of Yellowman's "Mr. Chin". The song has background vocals from Ayeesha.

Tracklists and formats

CD

2track promo CD

5-inch Single

Chinese as a foreign language

Chinese as a foreign or second language is the study of the Chinese varieties by non-native speakers. Increased interest in China from those outside has led to a corresponding interest in the study of Standard Chinese ("Mandarin") as a foreign language, the official language of mainland China and Taiwan. However, the teaching of Chinese both within and outside China is not a recent phenomenon. Westerners began learning different Chinese varieties in the 16th century. Within China, Mandarin became the official language in the early 20th century. Mandarin also became the official language of Taiwan when the Kuomintang took over control from Japan after World War II.

In 2010, 750,000 people (670,000 from overseas) took the Chinese Proficiency Test. For comparison, in 2005, 117,660 non-native speakers took the test, an increase of 26.52% from 2004. From 2000 to 2004, the number of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland taking Advanced Level exams in Chinese increased by 57%. An independent school in the UK made Chinese one of their compulsory subjects for study in 2006. The study of Chinese is also rising in the United States. The USC U.S.-China Institute cited a report that 51,582 students were studying the language in US colleges and universities. While far behind the more than 800,000 students who study Spanish, the number is more than three times higher than in 1986. The Institute's report includes graphs and details on the popularity of other languages.