A few visits to the Crowne Plaza in Tianjin Konggang's district revealed an interesting insight. Each trip led to seeing foreign expats arriving and moving about not alone but with a "handler". Invariably the person in charge of helping the "expat" was Chinese. What was the main aspect of their assistance? It was linguistics. The expat in almost every case was noticeably well dressed and in charge. With the essence of importance and putting off an air of authority the foreign friend was being led around by their local assistant. Helping them check in, find their room, make plans for the night, tell them about the surrounding area, and so forth. The assistant would speak in English to the expat and handle any Chinese language barriers. This scene was played out over and over as a team of expat and local arrived one after another. What's the point?

The Importance of Language

Well, it proves pretty quickly the importance of language. Think about the situation. First, the local Chinese person would hardly have that job if they couldn't speak a foreign language. Second, the expat is massively handcuffed by his inability to speak Mandarin. No matter how well dressed they were, in moments, they were no more capable than a toddler trying to communicate with a parent via pantomimes due to linguistic limitations. Really, it is fascinating to consider how individuals who have clearly achieved a high level of success in their lives had yet to master Chinese.

This reveals a few things. First, Chinese is not an easy language to learn. Generally speaking, it isn't something you are going to pick up in a few weeks or months, at least not to any significant level. Sure there was an expat who made some noise with his attempt to become "fluent in Mandarin in 3 months". This individual named Benny Lewis on his website www.fluentin3months.com talks about his endeavor. A key detail is contained in this comment of his:"I reached a lower intermediate level of Mandarin after 3 months". Video clips of his so-called "fluency" are available online. It becomes obvious in a hurry his level of language ability would never cut it in any real world business situation which demands a true working knowledge of the language. Not only did he actually prove the point, Chinese is hard to learn, he even showed how futile it is to think studying Chinese 24 x 7 for some short interval like a few weeks or a few months is going to get the job done.

Seeing that mastering Chinese will take significant blood, sweat and tears over an extended period of time proves our second point. Learning a language, especially one like Chinese is still a rather new thing for those raised in other countries, especially Western ones. People like Mark Rowswell (a.k.a. Dashan) found fame simply for being able to "speak Chinese". If Chinese was such an easy language to master, and non-natives had been mastering it all over the world, he would hardly have made headlines. Of course, these days, plenty of people are working hard on studying Chinese. However this is really a rather recent phenomenon. One American expat who arrived in China in 2009 recalls talking with his local Tianjin teachers about teaching Chinese. Incredibly it was revealed that many hadn't been formally trained in "how to teach Chinese to non-natives". Instead most developed their skills on the job, learning how to teach along the way. This is because Chinese simply hasn't been studied en masse until more recent years. The big demand for capable Chinese teachers is relatively new, being traced back to the last 10 years or so really.

As the lack of qualified teachers became apparent, soon there were plenty of "training programs" popping up claiming to "train" teachers on how to teach Chinese to expats. Even Tianjin's infamous Nankai University now offers a degree in "Teaching Chinese to Non-natives" （对外汉语 duìwài hànyǔ）. That being said, how exactly is the best way to teach Chinese to expats is still a highly debated topic. It would be hard to claim there is a true standard as to how it should be done. This is why other well known expats like American John Pasden in Shanghai and Swede Olle Linge have jobs. They have made careers not out of studying Chinese but rather "teaching Chinese". As non-natives who both claim high levels of Chinese ability, they put much effort into helping others learn Chinese in the fastest and most effective ways. They both offer services along these lines. The fact that they do so, reinforces the point being made herein, learning a language is important.

Without help, Chinese tends to be daunting. Imagine wondering into a forest with no guide, no compass, and no fire. That would be silly and dangerous. It is somewhat similar to showing up in China with zero Chinese skills and thinking you are going to take on the town. These expat big wigs that rely solely on the linguistic skills of their local "Chinese handler" are at a major disadvantage. Why? The answer actually comes in John Pasden's tagline for his personal website www.sinosplice.com which is "Try to understand China. Learn Chinese." That really does cover it in a nutshell. China simply cannot be understood without learning Chinese. One simply can't claim to be a true "China master" unless they have significant Chinese language skills. The Chinese language is truly a part of the culture of China. It is interwoven at a level that surpasses the average level. As some say about the French, they are quite proud of speaking French, so the Chinese are extremely invested in their Chinese language abilities. This point is never really understood until someone stops relying on a translator and starts speaking to Chinese people in Chinese.

In the November edition, we interviewed Italian Enrico Berti. His case proves the point perfectly. Arriving in Tianjin back in 2011, he had next to zero Chinese language skills, thus he lacked true understanding of how things worked in China. Had he stayed that way, simply relying on some local who spoke Italian to translate for him, it is guaranteed he couldn't have started his own company in Tianjin's Heping district as he recently did. He is very passionate about how learning Chinese was the key to unlocking China. He shared some very telling comments, namely, in his experience expats that tend to "complain about China" are those who have limited, to no Chinese language skills. On the flip side, those that break through the linguistic barrier, obtaining a level of Chinese that allows them to comfortably converse with locals completely in Chinese, tend to stay longer and have a more positive attitude. Instead of spending all their time whining about inconveniences or differences in culture with other English speaking expats, they spend most of their hours making real friends with locals by means of speaking Chinese. Breaking down the language barrier is no simple task. It takes years of hard work and a lot of determination to accomplish this important task. A number of expats have proven though, that Chinese can be learned to a level that truly lets them understand China.