The language is important to learn, considering the number of people (over 1.3 billion) that speak it. With its rapidly transformation into a modern industrial society and a key player in global economy, and with its over 4,000 years of written history, China is, more than ever, an all-encompass and multi-faceted cultural area and academic field. The written language, very different from the writing systems of any European Romance languages, is in fact a form of art (calligraphy) that communicates not only ideas but also personal and individual idiosyncrasies. By learning the written characters, the student comes to see how the Chinese mind operates, how the world is conceptualized and represented through the word, and how values are embedded in the very structure (and grammar) of the language.