17. Do you like to learn a foreign (外国的) language? Do you think English is easy to learn? Foreigners say learning Chinese is not easy for them. We use a different character for each word. For foreigners, it is hard to memories them. They find reading Chinese poems (诗), writing Chinese characters and understanding the same word in different sentences are the most difficult.
However, Chinese is more popular around the world today. The long history and colorful culture of China attract (吸引) many foreigners to learn Chinese. China is developing (发展) fast. It is staying ahead in many fields and is playing its role in the world. Chinese is becoming a global (全球的) language.
Many countries have Chinese classes in their schools. For example, in the UK, students chose between Spanish (西班牙语), Latin, French and other foreign language courses (课程) in the past. But now schools encourage their students to study Chinese. 1031 people took Chinese language exams in 2001, and the number was 2062 last year, while 2561 people chose Spanish.
Just as the foreigners do, we also learn foreign languages. Different languages carry different cultures (文化). So learning a foreign language is necessary (必要的). When we learn a foreign language, we not only have a useful tool of communicating but also experience a new culture. What's more important, learning a foreign language well will help us tell our own stories to the world.