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Is Chinese worth learning?
- By Cam MacMurchy
- Published June 3, 2008
- Opinion & Analysis
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BEIJING - The question of whether to learn Chinese, and invest the incredible amount of time required in this task, is a big decision. When I moved to China in 2004, I spent a lot of time trying to learn the basics: things like giving directions to the taxi driver and ordering your favourite meal in a restaurant. I’ve always wanted to delve deeper into Chinese learning because I actually thoroughly enjoy it, and I’ve associated Chinese proficiency with better career opportunities. But I’m starting to wonder if this is true.
In my previous position with a local PR firm, I was responsible for interviewing potential employees. One of the requirements was proficiency in Chinese, and I was originally shocked at the number of resumes that crossed my desk which fulfilled this criterion. There are a lot of foreigners in China who can speak Chinese now, and it seems a bare minimum in business.
That is, until you read this post from Jack Perkowski, the author of the book Managing the Dragon and the blog by the same name (h/t to Danwei). He believes that not only is learning Chinese not a requirement for business, it’s not even a prerequisite to learning the culture:
Maybe this is all one big rationalization for not having taken the time to learn the language. That’s part of it: languages have never been my thing. But I do believe that too much emphasis is put on the language, and not enough emphasis is put on gaining a more substantive understanding of China and how it works. There’s this sense that if you don’t speak the language you can’t possibly understand China; there’s also the equally wrong notion that anybody who speaks the language does understand China. I’ve seen plenty of instances where this isn’t the case.
When I was working at a local PR firm, I was attending Tsinghua University in the mornings to study Chinese. When I left the firm, I mentioned that I wanted to dedicate myself to learning the language and that it was important that I become proficient. My manager said, and I’m paraphrasing, “Cam, learning to speak Chinese takes a lot of time. And really, all companies have translators anyway. Do what you’re good at, and don’t worry about the language.”
The more I think about it, the more I’m inclined to agree. I know many talented Chinese speakers who have little work experience or other education because they have invested so many years in becoming proficient in the language. I am not saying this is a bad decision, but I am saying it’s near impossible to obtain strong business qualifications and Chinese ability, both at a young age. When one looks at it this way, the decision becomes much more difficult.
I am ashamed of my level of Chinese, and often blush with embarrassment when people ask how long I’ve been in China. Honestly, my Chinese should be at a much higher level considering I’ve been here for 3.5 years. I also genuinely enjoy learning the language. If I was independently wealthy, I would enrol full-time and do an intensive course for the two years Perkowski believes it takes to become fluent at a business level. In fact, having lived in Guangzhou, I’d dive into Cantonese too, which I found to be a fascinating language. Unfortunately, I’m not independently wealthy (yet).
While I’m inclined to believe Chinese proficiency is not necessary in business, I also believe that it’s becoming increasingly more so. There are now thousands of foreigners in China who have a good level of Chinese; these people will now build their business resumes and slowly edge out their unilingual competitors. Also, contrary to Perkowski’s assertion, I believe that learning the language does help one understand the culture. The slang, the double-entendres, and the Chinese sayings provide fascinating insight into the way people think.
While I believe there is no problem doing business in China without Chinese, that’s no reason not to learn it.
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12 Responses to "Is Chinese worth learning?" 
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said this on 03 Jun 2008 4:36:43 PM PST
Simply astounding. Only native speakers of English can get away with the naive idea that learning a foreign language is a waste of time. In the rest of the world, many people just have to pick up foreign languages and picking up Chinese is not always such a big deal.
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said this on 03 Jun 2008 8:12:06 PM PST
Jack Perkowski's comment reminds me of an Economist article about the opportunity cost of leaning Mandarin. In much the same way, the newspaper argues that it may not be necessary, calling the increase of teaching Chinese a "misguided fad."
I also find it sad--and indeed quite typical--that many native English speakers hold this attitude. I totally disagree with Mr. Perkowski and hope he somehow manages to gain, in his words, "a more substantive understanding of China and how it works." Let's hope it is indeed substantive. Economist "False Eastern Promise" http://www.economist.com/ world/britain/displaystor y.cfm?story_id=10180807 |
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said this on 03 Jun 2008 8:34:35 PM PST
Chinese is not any harder to learn than English. Whether you should learn it or not depends on what you want to do with it. There are many people that are learning the language starting at a very young age here in Australia. It's useful just to understand and speak the language, because without knowing the language I can't see how the World will gain a better understanding of China. Intrinsic to every language is also part of its culture something that could not be understood through translation.
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said this on 04 Jun 2008 4:45:57 AM PST
Learn to speak Chinese by learning pinyin. It's easy. In addition only learn the most used Characters, about 500, I think. "A Key to Chinese Speech and Writing", volum 1 (Sinolingua) is what you need for doing this.
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said this on 04 Jun 2008 6:50:00 AM PST
Cam, I could have written your post word for word (have logged just a couple months more time than you in China, sounds like about the same level of Chinese; I never had time to study at Tsinghua - just had a tutor b/c I work full time as a senior manager).
The age at which you start is a big factor. My kids (thank God) are learning Chinese at a young age, and will be able to read and write (I never will). I think if someone's younger, say, early 20s, investing 2+ years in learning a high level of Chinese will pay off. But once you hit your 30s, I do think it's true that your value to the company in terms of your skills is going to be a lot higher than a younger, less-skilled person's excellent Chinese. And so depending on your age/career point, you're going to make different decisions about the opportunity costs of an hour studying Chinese vs. an hour working on a project for a client. I'm also astounded at what seems like a huge number of foreigners with great Chinese. AND the number of Chinese with great English. Having both skills at a near-native level is becoming commoditized for the sub-25 set, and is no longer a significant differentiator (so much for the great plan to get the kids fluent and give 'em an edge; most kids at their international school speak about four languages!) But for us over-30s and over-40s, who brought to China deep skillsets and senior management experience, Chinese is a great plus but less important than the experience. So I kind of understand Perkowski - it IS a rationalization but he DOES have a point. But if you're a 28-year old American with fantastic Chinese from summers at Princeton in Beijing and two years at IUP and expect to get a great-paying job at a MNC, you're at the back of a long line of people your age who have all that, plus Spanish, Korean and 4-5 years of real-world work experience. |
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said this on 05 Jun 2008 3:10:22 AM PST
I like to throw in long, intelligent Chinese words to impress people.
I buy most of those words from an unemployed college student in Tianjin. |
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said this on 05 Jun 2008 5:49:10 PM PST
I haven't been in China since 01/06, so you guys are more current than I. That said, I saw lots of foreigners with solid Chinese skills. Where'd I see them? Hanging out, waiting for their big break, certain that their skills (acquired at schools like UCLA, Dartmouth, Bennington, Ohio State) would catipult them beyond the lukewarm ESL Instructor/translator/low-level office monkey circuit.
What everyone overlooks is that there are far more Chinese with good english skills than there are foreigners with excellent Chinese skills. Chinese employees don't expect to go home once a year, they'll work 12 hour days (knowing they can be easily replaced), and they will put up with the fake holidays where you have a few days off then work the next two weekends in a row. Chinese employees will work Christmas and Thanksgiving, no problem! And will any westerner over age 27 work for less than 10000 RMB? One of my former coworkers, a graduate of ECNU has been in Sh for 4 years and makes 5000 RMB or so. Thats the high end of the norm for her generation. Then there are the other Asians, the Koreans, Japanese, ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia...they'll work for (what westerners consider) low wages cuz it's better than what they can make at home. A guy from Indonesia replaced me, sharp as hell! Great Chinese, perfect English... I think westerners would do better to remember that they aren't only competing with Chinese, they are also competing with really thirsty people from other developing nations. The economy might be booming, but wages aren't keeping the same pace. They don't have to! |
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said this on 05 Jun 2008 6:48:32 PM PST
Oops, in the previous post I meant to add
Chinese workers don't expect to leave the country for several weeks each year. Last, just let me add that you need more than Chinese. You need specialized engineering skills, for example, or high level managerial/people skills not typically found in China. I know a young woman who has trouble pronouncing "nihao" and was just posted to Shanghai for a Chicago based financial services company. While she can't speak Chinese, she does understand currency markets, has project management and financial services knowledge and experience up the wazoo, and won't freak out when asked to multitask several projects on a strict deadline. They really should screen people better at the embassies, way too many idealistic young people show up in China and get their dreams crushed, ending up teaching kindy out in Hongqiao and trying to score with young ladies impressed with their great Chinese and green eyes. Speaking from my own experience, and unfortunately for you young'uns, the glory days are over, the days when you could just show up and get a good job you aren't really qualified for just because you are a westerner who speaks good Chinese. That ended around 2001, an eternity ago... lucky for me, I got in when the getting was good, if I was just arriving fresh off the plane now, I shudder to think of the competition. However, I imagine you can still impress girls in Shanghai with great Chinese. That's gotta be worth something, right? |
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said this on 05 Jun 2008 8:16:26 PM PST
I think this is, at the very least a good question to raise. It isn't to say that Westerners, especially Americans, shouldn't try to learn Chinese or other languages, especially at younger ages. But I have confronted this issue myself. I am a 27 year old who only started learning Chinese at the age of 25. Whenever I start a new class or tutoring session I tell myself "this time I will spend the necessary time to not just maintain my current level but to develop the language ability as one of my primary skills." But there always ends up being a trade off where I don't have time to gain greater knowledge in my field or develop other skills. And from my brief 6 months in China I also noticed that so many Chinese speak excellent English. There really isn't a need for a company to spend the extra money on my wage and benefits so they can utilize my language skills when they can much more easily and cheaply find a fluent Chinese English speaker.
Having said that I would never say it is not worth continuing to study the language. It is still very valuable. But is it worth the time and sacrificing the development of other skills to become fluent? Unless you want to be a translator I don't think so. So for someone like me, too old to become fluent without sacrificing my other skills but young enough to develop language skills as part of my full skill set, I think it is important to continue studying the language on a regular basis. Making sure my ability increases but not sacrificing the whole range of skills that will be necessary in business, government, or any other field. |
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said this on 08 Jun 2008 1:14:30 AM PST
Chinese doesn't take any more time or energy than any other language to learn. People from English speaking countries, especially business "leaders" like Perkowski, need to wake up and realise the value of linguistic and cultural skills.
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said this on 09 Jun 2008 6:10:42 PM PST
I still think it depends on what you want to do in China. If you are there to produce or buy products, then you don't need to speak any Chinese at all just know your price and trust your supplier. If you want to do sales work, R&D cooperation or more complicated stuff then you better get started learning Chinese now.
If you what to run a company, then the choice is: do you want to learn how things run by yourself? or do you build a filter around you that tells you what's happening both ways work. Still I took the long and hard road of learning putonghua, so I get to choose what I want to do in China, because it all about possibilites. |
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said this on 21 Oct 2008 8:09:44 PM PST
Wow, the comments here are interesting. I came to China to learn Mandarin so that I could teach my kids. I'm already bilingual (French and English), but my wife's ancestry is Chinese, so I figure that the kids should be given the chance to be trilingual. I'm actually in my 30s and quit my job to come here. For me, my time learning Chinese may not improve my career, but I think that it will definitely benefit my children. I want them to be one of those quadralingual wonders that Xueling mentioned. I met many a quadralingual person while living in Montreal (a wonderful, multilingual city) and was always amazed by them. Though I plan to raise my kids in the US, I want to offer them the same chance as the Montrealer kids. So, learning Chinese may not help your career, but it could help your kids succeed. That's my two cents.
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