Job Discussion Forums

[Buckeye Bob]

Only after year three did I realize I was going to be here a while and made the effort. Still a long way from fluent but enough to make my point, ask questions or directions, have a good argument, and of course - get laid. How about you guys?

[Shroob]

[AndrewRgr806]

I haven't arrived in China yet, but my early efforts at learning Mandarin are proving successful. I'm looking forward to becoming proficient in the language. It makes perfect sense, unlike many other foreign languages.

[litterascriptor]

I've been in china about 6 years now. Haven't learned more than a handful of words. I have really bad hearing and combining this with the atrocious mumbling and all around potato in mouth style of Chinese of Southern China, I gave up pretty quickly.

Now that I'm up near Harbin, I can pick out words and simple phrases. I've lined up a Chinese teacher and I start lessons next week. I'm a bit excited, she's a lovely young lady who is a coworker of mine and her boyfriend is a hoot as well. Should be fun all around.

[creeper1]

I find FTs in China very willing and motivated to learn Chinese. A lot of my foreign coworkers seem to be pretty good. They try speaking to the Chinese staff in Chinese and seem decent.

That's a big change from Korea where FTs don't make an effort (generally) to learn the local language.

[wangdaning]

I majored in Chinese at my university. Hey, why else come here

In all seriousness, it is difficult to adjust to different places in the country. I will say that the efforts to get young people to learn standard putonghua seem to be paying off. The times I have went into a shop and the child or grandchild has needed to interpret are not few.

In general, Chinese is a simple language, much easier than English.

Then there are the mumblers, the speakers who cut a sentence down to a second of breath. Usually, the native speakers can guess what they are saying. In truth, they are also unclear, they just guess. If you get to know a mumbler you will also be able to guess. Not really a language issue in the end, just a lack of ability for a multitude of reasons (usually health of the speaker).

[creeper1]

Can't you just learn and use the phrase "sorry I am not a native speaker. Can you say that one more time clearly?"

[jm21]

After one semester I know more Mandarin than most of the other English teachers I've met in qingdao. I was learning pretty fast but then got a chinese girlfriend who speaks excellent English and got lazy. Maybe this coming semester I'll get back to studying. Shocked to meet people who have been here for 4 years and can't count to 10 in Mandarin. Most of the other language teachers (french, italian, spanish, etc) seem to speak very good mandarin. Maybe just my area.

[jimpellow]

In my five years in China I learned it quite well. It was my fifth attempt at a foreign language and the only non Western European, so definitely the hardest. My biggest motivator was having a couple nightclub dancer girlfriends. Sort of funny I know but I mention it as they came from poor areas so really no English at all.

Some observations I picked up along the way.

You will hit a limit in speaking and listening if you don't learn the writing system.

They say after three years of study Chinese becomes much easier due to the brain rewiring both hemispheres to work more in tandem. Was very true for me. You will have a Chinese brain as a bonus.

I thought the material offered by chinesepod.com was the most beneficial.

You will get your feelings hurt on occasion unless you laugh it off. You go to a restaurant and the waitress will be in disbelief that you can speak Chinese. After going there a while she will accept it. Then you will go with your Chinese friend and start speaking to her and she will turn to your friend with her mouth open in disbelief again.

You will not be scammed as much.

The above comment can work against you. When I would get in a cab for example I always was hesitant to speak Chinese. Yes I wasn't as likely to be scammed, but then the questions started. Always the same fifty questions as they try to estimate your status.

You can have fun with the Chinese. Call them names. Grab the mic at the supermarket and take over the promotion. Make up wild stories about yourself and see how often they believe them. The possibilities are endless.

Very few have any experience in speaking to a non native speaker so the reaction is funny if you tell them you didn't understand something. They will usually speak faster and say even more.

Chinese will have respect for you! They think we cannot learn their language so to do so you must be a very clever person in their eyes. In a small city you will gain some fame as the clever foreigner.

It is not the most difficult spoken language in the World by far, so don't be intimidated.

Your friends and colleagues who have lived for years in China but never have attempted to learn it will start to make you irate. You will be inconvenienced by having to be the translator all the time.

Finally, now that I have been out of China for two years I have noticed that my Chinese has eroded very quickly in comparison to my other languages. All those short words and similar sounds don't seem to stick in your brain like a nice long beefy German word.

[theoriginalprankster]

I learned enough to get by, and was complimented on my Chinese by both Chinese inside and outside of China.

Guess my Chinese is not that sucky after all.

I think I have a southern/Taiwan accent due to spending the first three years in 'China' in Taiwan.

[NiHaoDaJia]

Chinese is a very difficult language to learn. Foreigners usually have trouble understanding the four tones of Chinese. Also, Chinese uses thousands of characters which are difficult for foreigners to memorize and write. However, it is fun to learn some common words and phrases for getting around in China. Chinese are very friendly and will appreciate your efforts to communicate in their native language and know their culture. A few foreigners even learn to speak Chinese very fluently, and they are highly respected by the Chinese. There is a man named Da Shan who is very famous and speaks as a common Chinese.

[wangdaning]

[toteach]

[buravirgil]