In part 1 we explored some of the reasons that are impelling more foreigners (although not as many as some Chinese would like) to learn the zhong wen. Now: reasons 4-7 why you should take your best shot at learning the language. Sure, the US State Department ranks Mandarin as one of the hardest languages in the world, but when has the State Department been right about anything?

4) It'll make it easier to work here
I hate to harsh the mellow so soon after I tried to encourage you, but it’s unlikely you’re ever going to learn enough Chinese to be a translator or interpreter. It seems plausible, and technically it is possible, but so is scoring 100 points in a basketball game and that hasn’t happened since Wilt ‘the Stilt’ Chamberlain scored exactly that many in March, 1962. Of course, Wilt also claims to have scored with 20,000 women and compared with that learning Mandarin does start to seem easy.

If you stay in China, you will find that speaking some Chinese makes your professional life much easier. It’ll allow you to communicate better with Chinese colleagues which will enable you to have a better understanding of what is actually going on around you (the company is being audited, no one’s been paid in three months, etc.).

Furthermore, even elementary Chinese will help you stay in the loop and boost your popularity with co-workers who don’t want to be burdened with having to translate for you all the time or always deal with you in English.

5) Your attempts at speaking Chinese will amuse a nation of billions
Continuing the theme of learning Chinese to help make other’s lives more pleasant – as you probably have realized by now - your attempts at saying even the most basic things in Chinese will crack up everyone within earshot. Chinese people are very friendly and helpful but they love a good spectacle and your fumbling attempts at the dreaded ‘ce suo’ (bathroom) are even more entertaining than a car crash.

No one likes having their hours and hours of blood, sweat, and tears result in gales of laughter. You will probably go through periods of time – if not months then at least days – where you will go to great lengths to avoid speaking Chinese in public. If they don’t crack up at you then they will instantly praise your Chinese and want to enter into conversation. And as much as you may appreciate this courtesy at first, you will start to dread conversations on a crowded subway where everyone in a 10 ft radius (approximately 200 people) has their ears clearly cocked in your direction.

Photo: soham_pablo

6) It will expand your cultural horizons
Even if you learn nothing about Chinese people, life, or culture, learning Chinese will give you insight into your mother tongue and the struggles people face trying to learn English. I believe everyone learning Chinese should teach some English. It will highlight the best parts of Mandarin – limited sounds, very simple grammar – and make you grateful you never had to learn inflectional morphology, derivational suffixes, or modal verbs; or puzzle out why move, love, and rove are all spelled similarly but pronounced differently.

Learning Chinese will give you new appreciation for the cultural and military power England and America have held, and how the English influence is waning as young Chinese glue themselves to Friends every night of the week and eagerly await the arrival of American Pie 6 (seriously).

 

 

7) You can order chicken without making the noises
The most important word in the foreigner’s limited lexicon is not xiexie (thank you) or even pijiu (beer), no, it is zhege which means ‘this’. If you haven’t been to China you may not realize the importance of this word and the pivotal role it plays in day to day survival.

Photo: mrmanc

Most foreigners are limited to eating at restaurants with picture menus, and luckily for us most restaurants have them. When the fuwuyuan comes around to take your order you jab a finger at the picture and say zhege. I know foreigners who have lived here for several years and have managed to somehow survive solely with zhege and pijiu.

Bonus: 7a) You can survive without a picture menu
As previously mentioned, most restaurants conveniently have picture menus but some – the smaller ones or the roadside stands - do not. At many noodle and xiao chi (little eats) restaurants there is only a half sheet of paper covered with characters and prices and you’re given a pencil to check off what you want. Learn something practical – how many times can you really ask a young Chinese person how many people are in their family (always 3) or what their hobbies are (they have no time for hobbies) – and memorize the characters for your favorite dishes. When you try something new copy down the characters and look them up if it’s worth having again. Sure it’s nice getting a good grade on a test but it feels way better when you slalom around the donkey meat and successfully score a huge steaming bowl of freshly made noodles for just 5 kuai. That’s what makes it all worth it.

****

Related Links

7 Reasons You Should Learn Chinese: 1-3
Want to Learn Chinese? Choosing the Best Language Program
Learning Mandarin: 7 Dos and Don'ts

Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.