Learning advantage

"We see the domestic market as a mixture of weak and strong teachers since there is no national standard for Chinese teachers. There are hundreds of Chinese-teaching textbooks, but some of these have not changed with the times," he says.

"Of course, nothing beats a personal tutor, but some Chinese lessons in Shanghai are ridiculously cheap at 20 yuan per hour with unsatisfactory results."

"Chinese teachers need to learn the right methodologies We really hope the government establishes industry standards soon in opening schools, training teachers and designing the textbooks," Qiu says.

Teaching Chinese overseas also remains a big challenge, says Wang Jianqin from the Beijing Language and Culture University.

Currently, institutions involved in Chinese-language teaching overseas include Hanban, a public institution affiliated with the Ministry of Education that is mainly focused on establishing the Confucius Institutes worldwide, and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council.

But Wang says more needs to be done.

"China needs to set up general strategies to better communicate with the world on its language as well as culture. Many organizations in China are doing this right now but somehow overall coordination is poor," Wang says.

Fudan University's Zhu Yongsheng says the government should also allow more private organizations to become involved in teaching Chinese.

'The authorities should set up rules to better regulate the industry and evaluate the credibility of schools," Zhu says.

"There are a lot of private Chinese teaching schools but they are at different levels. We should encourage the small-scale development of these schools and encourage them to expand on their initial success."

But textbooks, methodologies and teachers are always challenges for the sector, Zhu says.

"Although Chinese is becoming more popular and foreign schools all need Chinese language teachers, the demands vary in different areas," Zhu says.

"There is a shortage in the number of teachers. Whether they can adapt to life overseas and whether they have social communication skills are also important."

"Local education bureaus are now participating in overseas Chinese teaching programs," Zhu says.

"The teachers from primary, middle and high schools are sent to teach Chinese outside and to some extent, those from primary and middle schools will do a better job than those from universities since they are generally young and have better teaching skills."

"As for the textbooks, it can be really hard to find those that can be used universally," Zhu says.

"Most people learning the language in China are adults and it is easy to pick the right textbooks. But overseas, we are facing Chinese students of different categories - different countries, educational backgrounds and ages."