Job Discussion Forums

[edbuch]

How important is it to be able to speak Chinese when you start work? I am coming over in a few weeks. I thought by now I would be getting the hang of it and I used the Michel Thomas C.D.s and a basic one. But I now realise that I will be hardly able to speak it at all. I was trying to get a local Chinese speaker to help me but that did not happen and time is getting on. I told myself that I would pick it up more quickly when I am over there but now starting to panic a bit. I want to speak Chinese and I am willing to learn, just not been able to spend as much time on it as I would have liked. So, any advice?

[Gamecock]

Don't worry. It's not important at the beginning of your job, nor will your employer/students expect you to know any Chinese. Heck, a good portion of foreign teachers NEVER learn hardly any of the language and are here for years.

But do invest some time in language learning when you arrive. It will definitely enrich your life here.

[Zero]

For the job you don't need any Chinese at all, ever. Speaking any Chinese in the workplce is professionally bad for you. They want a big, white, goofy, clueless laowai, not a fluent Chinese speaker.

For everyday life, out and about, Chinese is immensely useful. My best advice is to get a fellow foreigner who is decent in Chinese to teach you. You'll learn quickly that way. I would study with pinyin and put off characters for another day, if ever. I would focus on tones. Don't let anyone tell you that you cn get by without them. Trust me, you need them.

[johntpartee]

It don't matter! It also don't matter if you can't speak English very good.

[A'Moo]

[Trifaro]

You might want to look into buying the Pimsleur cds.

Most of the very basic Chinese that I speak I learned via Pimsleur and I didn't really devote myself to studying. If I had, I'm sure Pimsleur would have helped me more. At this time, I can generally get by, but can not hold a regular conversation in Chinese.

Good Luck

[ooragnakkangaroo]

[johntpartee]

No matter how professional you are, most Chinese will subscribe to Zero's description.

[randyj]

Although an English teacher should not use Chinese language in the classroom, some knowledge of Chinese will prove useful to recognize "interference" issues, like he/she or borrow/lend, etc.