In my opinion , the need for Chinese Mandarin in English speaking countries is over exaggerated. For non-heritage speakers , it's an interesting accomplishment to speak it but a novelty at most. If you're a native speaker and speak it fluently , then your credentials won't be questioned , unlike non-native speakers.

Most Chinese people doing international business speak English at a remarkable level , much better than the silly "歪果仁" can speak Mandarin.

I definitely am an advocate for people learning Mandarin , but I do not advocate people learning it for monetary reasons. Learn it for personal interest. 

English has been the lingua franca for such a long time. Non native speakers spend large portions of their life learning this language. From a logical point of view , speaking in terms of monetary value , why would a native speaker of English learn a foreign language?

The current mindset in regards to Mandarin Chinese from both native speakers and non-natives is that Mandarin is something that is too difficult for the silly "歪果仁".

All in all, among non-native speakers of Mandarin , it is an honorable and remarkable skill to have , and it can help in getting a job. It is typically in demand by parents who want their children to have a leg up in the future , or people who think China will culturally and linguistically take the place of English speaking countries. However , to say it is REALLY in demand , as in we need to learn Chinese , then no.

However , I say again. Learn it to better appreciate the culture and its people , not to earn more money.

As far as I know, there is a lot of demand in the US for people who can speak Chinese - it opens up a lot of job opportunities. For example, my cousin is a lawyer, and there is a new employee at the law firm where she works. She (my cousin) has better academic credentials than the new employee, but he makes far more money because he speaks Chinese as a second language.

Most of the Americans I know who work in China learned Chinese in college. These days, a lot of high-end high schools are offering Mandarin courses (high schools usually offer Spanish and French). I don't know anyone who has studied in a Confucious Institute, but I hear they are getting more popular.

I would hire a private tutor if I had the mone, but you know, gotta pay for student loans.

我主在纽约市。在这儿很多人要学习中文。以前我去唐人街学校上课 和 孔子学院上课。我也学中文面对面老师。

In Australia, there is very little demand. Or no demand.

In some primary schools, Chinese is taught as a second language.

There are some native English speakers - who are adults - learning Mandarin Chinese in Australia, but it is a very, very small percentage of the population.  These people only learn because they decide that they want to.  There is no demand for them to learn.

However there are many many people in Australia who can already speak Mandarin Chinese - because they came here from another country, or their parents taught them the basics when they were children.

I was going to hire a private tutor - but then I discovered italki.  I think italki is much better than hiring a private tutor within Australia - italki is much cheaper - and many good teachers from around the world are on italki.

THANK YOU,Daniel!

Do you know who Confucious Institute open for? For everyone or just kids?