If India has higher soft power than China, then why are foreigners more interested in learning Chinese rather than the Indian language?

如果印度的软实力比中国高，那么外国人为什么更有兴趣学习中文，而非印度语？

以下是Quora网友的评价：

Debopam Bose

Because language learning is not totally related to soft power. That is the real reason.

There is no literally no such thing as “the Indian language” for starters, and no majority language is spoken throughout India. On top of which English is an official language throughout the country already and is basically a link language of sorts. So non Indians don't really need to be bothered as much to learn a local language unlike the case for China where English is not as widely known and where there is indeed a single majority language known throughout the nation.

因为语言学习跟软实力并没有完全的必然联系。下面才是真正的原因。

对于初学者来说，根本就没有所谓的“印度语言”，印度没有主流语言。最重要的是，英语已经成为全国性的官方语言，基本上算是一种链接语言了。所以外国人真的无需大费周章地学习一门其他语言，不像在中国，英语没有那么广为人知，中国有自己的主流语言。

Aurelia Dawn

Since India now has a higher human population than Mainland China… everyone should just learn Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu instead of Mandarin. The Indians also want to dominate the world so one day, we’ll all be seeing south Asians taking over the globe.

现在印度人口已经超过中国大陆了，每个人都应该学习印地语、旁遮普语和乌尔都语，而非中文。印度人也想统治世界，所以总有一天，我们会看到南亚人掌控全球。

Paul Denlinger

Because there is no practical reason for respecting India, Indian culture and Indian society.

China now has the largest economy in the world by PPP, which means that there are good reasons for practical people (aside from people who are only interested in Chinese language and culture) to learn Putonghua, as it is the language spoken daily by 1.4B people.

Behind soft power there are hard numbers.

Remember that.

因为我们找不到实际的理由去尊重印度、印度文化和印度社会。

按购买力平价计算，中国现在是世界上最大的经济体，这意味着务实的人(除了那些只对中国语言和文化感兴趣的人)有很好的理由来学习中文，因为中文是14亿人口每天都在使用的语言。

软实力的背后是实实在在的数字。

请牢记这一点。

Chow Chow

Because India is a shithole and languages of it are pathetic too. It’s definitely a better choice to learn Mandarin than any Indian language.

因为印度是个粪坑，印度语言也一无是处。学习中文绝对是比学习任意一种印度语言都更好的选择。

Subhan Khan

The concept of "soft power" refers to a country's ability to influence others through non-coercive means, such as culture, values, foreign policy, and diplomacy. While India has made significant strides in building its soft power through its diverse culture, Bollywood, cuisine, yoga, and its de ocratic and multicultural identity, the popularity of learning a language can be influenced by several factors. Here are a few reasons why more foreigners might be interested in learning Chinese rather than an Indian language:

“软实力”的概念是一个国家通过非强制性手段影响他国的能力，如文化、价值观、外交政策和外交。虽然印度通过其多元文化、宝莱坞、美食、瑜伽、民*和多元文化认同，在建设软实力方面取得了重大进展，但学习某种语言的流行度可能受到几个因素的影响。以下是为什么外国人对学习中文更感兴趣的几个原因：

Economic Opportunities: China's rapid economic growth has made it an attractive destination for business and trade. Learning Chinese can open up economic opportunities, as China has a significant presence in the global market.

Demographics: China has the world's largest population, and Mandarin is the most widely spoken language globally. This means that more people might have an interest in learning Chinese due to the sheer number of potential interactions and opportunities.

经济机遇：中国经济的快速增长使其成为具有吸引力的商业和贸易目的地。学习中文可以获得经济机会，因为中国在全球市场上占有举足轻重的地位。

人口规模：中国拥有全球最大的人口，中文是全球使用最广泛的语言。这意味着由于潜在的互动和机会，对学习中文感兴趣的人会更多。

Globalization: Chinese is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and China plays a crucial role in international diplomacy. As a result, more people are motivated to learn Chinese to participate in global discussions and diplomacy.

Academic and Research Opportunities: China has a growing academic and research sector, and proficiency in Chinese can be advantageous for scholars and researchers interested in areas like Chinese history, culture, or contemporary issues.

全球化：中文是联合国六种官方语言之一，中国在国际外交中发挥着至关重要的作用。因此，越来越多的人有动力学习汉语，参与全球讨论和外交。

学术和研究机会：中国的学术和科研不断发展，对中国历史、文化或当代问题等领域感兴趣的学者和研究人员如果能精通中文是很有帮助的。

Tourism: China's rich cultural heritage, historical sites, and natural beauty attract tourists from around the world. Learning Chinese can enhance the travel experience for those visiting China.

Language Difficulty: Some may perceive Chinese as more challenging to learn due to its characters and tonal nature. This perception can deter some learners. In contrast, Indian languages are diverse and often less standardized, making it harder for learners to choose one.

Educational Infrastructure: China has invested significantly in Confucius Institutes and programs to teach Mandarin worldwide. This infrastructure can facilitate the learning of Chinese.

旅游业：中国丰富的文化传承、历史遗迹和自然美景吸引着来自世界各地的游客。学习中文可以提升到中国旅游的体验。

语言困难：由于中文文字和声调的特点，有些人觉得中文学习起来难度较大。这种认知会劝退部分学习者。相比之下，印度语种很多，标准化程度较低，学习者很难决定选择哪种语言来学习。

教育基础设施：中国在孔子学院和全球汉语教学项目上投入了大量资金。这种基础设施可以促进汉语的学习。

H Liang

as a chinese，i call India “三哥”，it means love

but if you say , is china has more soft power than india? i say yes

because we are one of five Permanent members , it’s enough

india is just one of five youtube members

作为中国人，我管印度叫“三哥”，这代表了一种爱

但如果你说，中国的软实力比印度强吗？我说是的

因为我们中国是联合国五个常任理事国之一，这足够了

印度只是YouTube的五个成员之一。

Joanne Z

Indians communicate with foreigners in English. Most of the Chinese are more used to speaking Mandarin than speaking English even if it is a mandate course in Chinese schools.

印度人用英语和外国人交流。虽然英语是中国学校的必修学科，但大多数中国人更习惯说中文，而不是英语。

E. Garcia

I’ll try this one. I went to India for the first time in 2008 for work. As a non-white American who speaks English and Spanish, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was surprised in a professional setting, everyone and I mean everyone spoke English. I had no issues at all. I went there a few times after for work and felt comfortable speaking to locals and some of them even became my friends. Similarly I went to China for work as well between 2007 and 2018. Only about one in five spoke English that I could understood. Although they were super nice and good drinkers, they were always reserved. I chalked it to either the political system or language barrier. I can imagine a lot of people who do more business in China wanting to learn Chinese to be successful. India on the other hand speaks the business language of the world due to colonial past and there is no real need to learn Indian languages, to be successful there. I also have been to a friend’s wedding in India and except for some grand parents, everyone spoke English too. Great drunken party and awesome dancing!

我也来答一下。2008年我第一次去印度工作。作为一个会说英语和西班牙语的非白种美国人，我不确定会遇到什么情况。但我很惊讶，在一个专业人士的群体中，所有人都在说英语。之后我因为工作原因又去了印度几次，我和当地人聊得很愉快，甚至和其中一些人成了朋友。

同样，我在2007年至2018年期间也为了工作去过中国。但只有五分之一的中国人能说让我听得懂的英语。虽然他们人都很好，酒量也很好，但他们总是很矜持。

我把这种情况归咎于政治制度或语言障碍。我可以想象很多在中国做生意的人都想学习中文，把生意做好。

另一方面，由于曾经的殖民历史，印度说的是世界商业语言，外国人没有必要学习印度语言就可以取得成功。我在印度参加过一个朋友的婚礼，除了祖父母那一辈的老人，其他人全部都说英语。婚礼让人不醉不归，舞蹈也美不胜收！

Anik Sarkar

To instruct Chinese labourers.

China is known as factory of the world and is the leading manufacturing hub of the world. The China run chinese gives land at subidized rates to factory investors. They also give investors free water and electricity for their new factories. They also have huge blue collar workforce.

可能是为了管理中国工人吧。

中国被称为世界工厂，是世界领先的制造业中心。中国将土地以补贴价提供给工厂投资者，还为投资者的新工厂提供免费的水电。中国也有庞大的蓝领劳动力队伍。

The main design of the products take place in the investors’ home country. The engineering, IP, etc are all done in the west. The labour is dirt cheap in China. They can recover the cost of setting up the factory in few months by selling the product at thrice the price than manufacturing cost. It would have costed these western companies ten times more to manufacture the same quality and scale of products back in their own country where their parent company is located.

产品的主要设计在投资者的国家进行。工程设计、知识产权等都是在西方完成的。中国的劳动力非常便宜。他们可以在几个月内以三倍于制造成本的价格出售产品，收回建厂的成本。这些西方公司如果想在母公司所在的国家生产同样质量和数量的产品，成本要高出10倍。

The westerners who are mainly the investors and visiting engineers, scientitsts, markters, etc earn twenty times higher salaries at par with cost of living back home than their Chinese labourers. If they leave the day to day affair of managing the factory to some local Chinese MBA then there is Chance of mutiny against the white people exploiting poor regime. But if the westerners can employ one of their own people who has poor job opportunities back home, they will ensure everything in their capacity to exploit scalability from the Chinese labouerers.

西方人主要是投资者和来访的工程师、科学家、营销人员等，按中国国内的生活成本计算，他们的工资是中国工人的20倍。如果他们把管理工厂的日常事务交给一些当地的中国经理人，那么他们就有可能反抗剥削的白人。但是，如果西方人可以雇用一个在西方就业机会渺茫的本国人，他们就会尽其所能压榨中国工人。

India has large section of workforce as well. But we are educated and only go for white collar careers. Most of us work in tech sector of India. Our salaries are at par with western engineers and managers now. The official business language in Indian is English. They can communicate their business problems to us in English and we also check whether we are fairly compensated.

印度也有庞大的劳动力队伍。但我们受过良好的教育，只从事白领工作。我们大多数人在印度的科技行业工作。我们的工资已经和西方的工程师和经理持平了。印度的官方商务语言是英语。他们可以用英语和我们交流他们的业务问题，我们也会审视我们是否得到了公平的薪资。

Rajat Sharma

There are several reasons why foreigners might be more interested in learning Chinese rather than the Indian language:

相对于印度语，外国人可能对学习汉语更感兴趣，原因如下：

Global Economic Influence: China's rapid economic growth and status as the world's second-largest economy have led to increased business and trade opportunities.

Popularity of Mandarin: Mandarin Chinese, the official language of China, is the most widely spoken language globally.

Cultural Appeal: Chinese culture, including its rich history, philosophy, and traditions, has captivated the global imagination.

Global Media Presence: China has made significant investments in expanding its media reach globally through platforms like CCTV and inhua News.

全球经济影响力：中国经济的快速增长和全球第二大经济体的地位带来了更多的商业和贸易机会。

中文的普及：中文是中国的官方语言，是全球使用最广泛的语言。

文化吸引力：中国文化，包括其丰富的历史、哲学和传统，吸引了全球的想象力。

全球媒体影响力：中国投入大量资金，通过中央电视台和新华社等平台扩大其全球媒体影响力。

Indian Language Diversity: India boasts a wide array of languages and dialects, making it challenging for foreigners to choose a specific Indian language to learn. India has 120+ major languages and 1500+ other languages.

Limited Indian Government Initiatives: While China has actively promoted the teaching of Chinese worldwide through its Confucius Institutes, India's government has had relatively fewer initiatives to promote Indian languages abroad, resulting in a lack of widespread exposure and awareness.

印度语言的多样性：印度拥有众多语言和方言，外国人很难选择一种特定的印度语言来学习。印度有120多种主要语言和1500多种其他语言。

印度政府不作为：中国通过孔子学院在全球范围内积极推动汉语教学，但印度政府在海外推广印度语言的举措较少，导致印度语言缺乏广泛的曝光和了解。

It is important to note that soft power and language popularity are complex phenomena influenced by various factors, and while India may have higher soft power overall, China's specific strengths in economic influence, cultural appeal, and media presence contribute to the greater interest in learning Chinese.

值得注意的是，软实力和语言受欢迎程度受到多种因素的影响，虽然印度整体上的软实力可能更高，但中国在经济影响力、文化吸引力和媒体等方面具有特定优势，促使人们对学习汉语产生了更大的兴趣。

Eva Wisteria

I’ll answer simply.

There are more Mandarin speakers, China has a bigger population

In India there are so many Indian languages, and then so many dialects.. difficult to wade through them.

Most of us speak English, so people don't have to necessarily know an Indian langauge to communicate with us

China is more of an economic hub I believe. More expats there? Plus it has more world power

我来简单回答两句。

因为说中文的人更多，中国的人口更多。

印度有很多语言，还有很多方言，太难抉择。

我们大多数人都说英语，所以人们不一定要懂印度语才能和我们交流。

我认为中国更像是一个经济中心，中国境内的外国人更多，而且中国的世界影响力也更大。