High Demand for Spanish Teachers in China

Spanish speaking job seekers have good chances of landing a job in China according to the recently released annual Cervantes Institute report “El español en el mundo” (Spanish in the world). The report asserts that there are a total of only 600 qualified Spanish professors in China. Keeping in mind that the nation has over one billion residents (one in five people on Earth), and the fact that Spanish is second only to Chinese as the most spoken language in the world in terms of native speakers, the statistic strongly suggests a great need for Spanish teachers there. Asia-Pacific “is going to be the Eldorado of the 21^st century” announced Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo speaking at the release ceremony for the report. Mister Garcia-Margallo went on to state that “Spanish is our biggest asset”.  

The Cervantes Institute’s report also points out that only 30% of students that signed up to study Spanish at Chinese universities last year could be accepted. Some 25,000 Chinese university students study Spanish, up from a mere 1,500 Spanish language learners in the year 2000. In response to the growing demand for Spanish instruction, 35 private schools that teach Spanish have recently opened in Beijing alone. The number of tourists from China visiting Spain is also rising, 125,000 Chinese tourists arrived to experience Spanish culture in 2011. Students from China study at 22 different universities in Spain.

The incredible growth in interest in Spanish is promising, particularly for young Spanish speakers facing rising unemployment rates in their home countries. A teaching experience in China offers a great opportunity not only to gain international professional experience, but also to gain Chinese language skills. Business relationships between China and Spanish speaking countries are growing, and employers increasingly value candidates with knowledge of both languages. Spending time teaching abroad also proves to employers that you aren’t afraid to accept a challenge and adapt to different circumstances, things job recruiters love to see in a candidate. The strengthening partnerships between businesses from China and Spanish speaking countries also help explain the rise in interest in Spanish among Chinese students.

In 2006, the Cervantes Institute itself opened a center in Beijing as an agreement between the Chinese and Spanish governments. The goal of the institute is to foster cultural awareness between the two countries. The center puts on regular cultural activities, offers Spanish classes of their own and actively helps connect job seekers with job recruiters.

The Cervantes Institute’s report also points out the increasing need for Spanish teachers in other Asian countries including India. In that country, the number of university students studying Spanish has tripled in the last six years.

Chinese and Spanish are the two languages with the greatest number of native speakers in the world. In very general terms, the historically small numbers of these speakers learning each other’s languages has not seemed to reflect that fact. That is quickly changing however, and the opportunity to be a part of a new trend in mutual, cultural and linguistic discovery is an exciting possibility.