I started learning Mandarin at secondary school in the UK.
It was something that I found that I enjoyed.
My teachers were fantastic at bringing it
And that really captured my imagination
and really made me want to carry on learning the language.
The fact that there are more than 50,000 characters
really means that you do have to push
yourself to learn the language.
But once you start mastering it, the rewards are enormous.
It means that if I can do that, I
can do pretty much any other language in the world.
What I love about living here in China
is that I'm able to really see history before my eyes.
Being able to see things like the Great Wall
and knowing how significant it is
and being able to have that in your backyard I think
Working here has been one of the most amazing opportunities
I've ever had to really immerse myself in the culture.
It really broadens your horizon and gets you
to grips with the language very quickly as well.
People are really friendly here.
And just being able to show you speak a little Mandarin
The world is a very big place and China's place
in it is increasingly getting bigger and bigger.
There's more Chinese companies who are investing abroad,
not just in the UK but all over the place like America,
in Africa, across East Asia, Southeast Asia.
So even though you might be learning Mandarin
and you might be using it in the UK
or you might be using it in China,
there's an abundance of opportunities
elsewhere around the world where the language
Because that's where there's a lot of Chinese investment
So yeah, I see the future being one