Who's learning Mandarin? 200 million learners globally, celebrity kids and more

Students from 22 universities of 14 countries gathered in a circle. One by one, they added their signatures to a banner that read, "I promise to speak only Chinese from today onward."

They were taking part in NYU Shanghai's annual Summer Chinese Immersion Program. The students were in Shanghai to study Mandarin and Chinese culture over nine weeks. There’s just one rule: Speak only Mandarin.

This year, nearly 60 students joined the program, up 50% from last year.

"Nine weeks wasn't easy, but it was definitely worth it, and I hope to keep learning," said Faith Parker, a student from Virginia Commonwealth University.

The students’ experience reflects a growing global interest in learning Mandarin. It is already the world's second most spoken language by total number of speakers. Here are four fun facts about Mandarin learning.

Fact one: Celebrity families are taking Mandarin seriously

Learning Mandarin is becoming increasingly common among celebrity children.

In May this year, Elon Musk replied in Chinese to a user on X who commented that his son was wearing a traditional Chinese-style vest, saying, "My son is learning Mandarin." The post received 120,000 likes.

According to ABC News, Donald Trump's granddaughter, as well as the children of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are also learning Chinese.

British actress Rosamund Pike chose her own Chinese name Pei Chunhua (裴淳华) years ago. "Chun" (淳) conveys sincerity and simplicity, while "Hua" (华) can refer to China and also beauty and elegance.

During a visit to Shanghai with then British prime minister Keir Starmer in early 2026, she called Chinese "the language of the future," adding that learning Mandarin Chinese alongside English could provide an interesting mental workout.

Fact two: Around 200 million people are learning Mandarin as second language

According to Ethnologue, a global language database, 194 million people spoke Mandarin as a second language in 2025. That means around 200 million people are learning or using it as a second language.

Meanwhile, around 990 million people speak Mandarin as their first language. Combined, the total reaches 1.18 billion speakers, making Mandarin the world's most spoken language after English.

Learning Mandarin is not an easy task, especially for those unfamiliar with Chinese characters and pinyin (spelling). But learners around the world are putting in the work.

According to China's Center for Language Education and Cooperation, the global scale of paid Chinese language proficiency tests (HSK) grew 21-fold between 2004 and 2025. Annual test-taker numbers have risen from 32,000 to more than 810,000. By the end of 2025, the cumulative number of test-takers had exceeded 8.5 million.

Fact three: Mandarin is Duolingo's fastest-growing language in 12 countries

According to Duolingo's 2025 Language Report, Mandarin ranked eighth among the platform's most popular languages worldwide.

Its appeal is growing across South America, Asia and Europe. In 12 countries, Mandarin was the fastest-growing language on Duolingo in 2025, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Thailand and Türkiye.

Mandarin was also the second-fastest-growing language on Duolingo in the United States.

Fact four: Mandarin is making its way into classrooms worldwide

From the Middle East to Europe and Americas, Mandarin has become part of school education.

In the Middle East, data released by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Education in April 2025 showed that 174 public middle schools had introduced Mandarin courses. The country aims to have more than 600,000 middle and high school students learning Mandarin Chinese by 2030.

In the UK, a written answer published by the UK Parliament in July 2026 showed that 31% of state-funded secondary schools in England had at least one student taking GCSE Chinese in 2025. The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

In the United States, a 2026 report by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) found that Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese, was taught in 6% of public high schools that offered foreign language courses.