Currently, French, German and Spanish are the three most popular languages in China, besides English. Next are Japanese and Korean.

For example, Spanish, one of the most used languages in the world, is spoken by people in 19 South American countries, besides Spain. Now China has increased exchanges with South America, in all aspects, which has driven the popularity of the language in the country.

As for French, since 2004 when China held the French Culture Year, the fever for learning French has never cooled. In the past two years, more and more Chinese enterprises have invested in Africa, where many countries' people speak French, making those fluent in the language much needed.

The demand for personnel who know Korean is caused by the close historical, economic, political and geographic closeness between China and South Korea. Cooperation in culture, science and technology, education, art and sports are providing ample work opportunities.

Arabic has also gained in popularity compared with a decade ago. Graduates in Arabic language majors in some leading universities in China are being headhunted by big corporates and media organizations needing people to work in the Arabian belt.

Apart from study in university, many others are also willing to learn these languages during their spare time in order to improve their chances when looking for better jobs. A survey done by eol.cn shows that 79 percent of the respondents said that they are planning to learn a second foreign language besides English in their spare time. This has cultivated a giant training market for a wide range of foreign languages.

However, with regard to the current non-English language learning trend, Gu Xiaosong, Deputy Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies of China, said that only grasping a foreign language is not enough. He explained that those who are most needed are talents who are professionals in their fields and can speak a foreign language fluently.

"Take Southeast Asian countries for example," he added, "the enterprises in these countries welcome those who have special skills but also know languages of their countries."

"After all, language is just a tool," he stressed. And it is a tool that is making the world a smaller and more lucrative place for many Chinese.