China, Korea: Mandarin Required · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

The Asia Pages asks: “Who needs to study Mandarin?”  While China's rise is important and far-reaching, she admits, Mandarin is difficult for Westerners to learn and Chinese in business meetings that she's attended in Korea have all said they would prefer to use English. “Even the translator messes up on the tones, completely changing the meaning of the conversation. But most importantly, both the Korean and Chinese sides speak English so why not just use the common language?”