Expats Who Don’t Learn Mandarin Find it Hard to Succeed in China

Expats Who Don’t Learn Mandarin Find it Hard to Succeed in China

Why is it so important for expats to learn Chinese while living and working in China? TutorMing’s findings show that expats with basic Mandarin language proficiency are more content with their personal lives in China. This finding aligns with a previous survey that found that “language and cultural barriers” are the main reasons why expats leave China.


TutorMing has become a member of The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (AmCham Shanghai), in the hope of providing a professional Mandarin learning platform to every member of this organization.

Get More Guanxi
"Chinese business culture is unique," said Huan Chou, Business Development Director of TutorMing. "Negotiations and relationships are forged upon extensive trust, particularly in China, and it could be very difficult to build for expats if they don’t speak Mandarin."

Sherry Chen, Alibaba’s HR Director also talked about their experience. "We hire foreign employees and train them to think in Chinese ways. It is their responsibility to engage with their team in China,” as she explained. "In Alibaba, our foreign employees need to stay in our headquarters to experience the Chinese culture, the Chinese thinking, and more importantly, find a way to excel here. Adapting to the Chinese society and culture is crucial," she said.

Innovation at AmCham
AmCham Shanghai’s 2016 Talent Conference was held on June 7th. AmCham Shanghai is one of the largest Asia-Pacific business organizations, hosting over 80% of Fortune 500 companies as its active members. Leading global corporations, including TutorMing’s parent company, iTutorGroup, Alibaba, IBM, Caterpillar, and Accenture presented at the conference their first-hand observations on situations faced by expats who don’t speak Mandarin.

At the conference, Huan Chou, Business Development Director of TutorMing, guided the audience through TutorMing's innovative Mandarin learning platform at AmCham Shanghai's annual Talent Conference.

 

HR Directors that participated in this forum further stressed the importance for companies to help their foreign employees to overcome cultural and language barriers, and optimize their experience in China.

Kenneth Jarrett, President of AmCham Shanghai said, "Our mission is to support American enterprises to excel in China. Learning a local language is a crucial strategy to be considered by our members. TutorMing provides effective Mandarin language learning service which is highly recognized by AmCham Shanghai."

Visit TutorMing’s website: http://tutorming.com/ 
Get your FREE 1 on 1 Class: http://goo.gl/TZtfuM
Mandarin-Chinese learning tips:  http://blog.tutorming.com/ 

About iTutorGroup
With more than 5,000 teaching consultants in 60 countries around the world, iTutorGroup is the largest online education platform that provides real-time interactive language training through tens of millions of classes annually.

About TutorMing
Founded in 2008, TutorMing is the world leader in Mandarin education platforms. We provide real-time tutoring with certified Chinese consultants online, allowing anybody to learn anytime and anywhere. TutorMing is one of the five online education brands under iTutorGroup. We have helped clients from over 40 countries to master the Chinese language.

Contact: Daniela Zatloukalova, Media Relations, pr@itutorgroup.com

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Keywords: learn Mandarin learn chinese

7 Comments

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PrincesB

Agree

Jul 06, 2016 12:15 Report Abuse

Guest14432028

Expats can't learn Chinese at all. They don't want to spend countless hours perfecting their Chinese. They don't want to hang around Chinese people and try to learn from them. They would rather hang out with other loser expats and complain about China. You don't need to learn Chinese to teach English in China, you just need to be white and from a western country that speaks English. I have yet to see an expat who is truely fluent in Chinese, this means they can speak, write, listen, and read Chinese at a NATIVE LEVEL. Folks if you see an expat who claims to be fluent in Chinese question him, test him (fuk with him a little) I guarantee he won't be able to answer you or pass your test.

Jun 30, 2016 00:38 Report Abuse

glydwelle

Is this just an advertisement and not an actual article.... Either way... totally stupid, I barely speak any Chinese beyong daily life and I am content. My friend is fluent in Chinese and usually says things like "I wish I never learned this language, it makes it hard to leave after putting in so much work to learn to talk to people here."

Jun 29, 2016 22:16 Report Abuse

Jack_lerkio

Almost everyone I know who have ACTUAL success in China can't speak a word of Chinese. Whether that is English teachers who have managed to climb up the wage ladder to 30-40k/m in just a few years or exporters or manufacturers or restaurant and bar owners. Not one can speak any Chinese. Amazing really. Maybe while we're all sitting around studying Chinese they are off making deals and connections.

Jun 28, 2016 20:51 Report Abuse

RandomGuy

Guanxi is all that matters in China and people worth talking with (CEOs, managers, influential people, etc... ) all speak English already, learning Mandarin (I did) is a nice bonus but definitely not necessary. I have no interest to communicate with migrant workers, shopkeepers, low level office workers or your average nong on the streets to hear the same bullshit about Foreigners and Foreignerland over and over.

Jun 28, 2016 13:07 Report Abuse

Guest14718096

good good study! day day up!

Jun 27, 2016 17:24 Report Abuse

Guest922618

What a bullshit... Weekly Suggestion: Stop posting bullshit articles that no one cares about. Guanxi dafuq... Leaving China because I can't speak Chinese? Guess what I would leave much faster if I could speak Chinese to listen to all the rubbish the Chinese talk. Now you say you hire foreigners to let them think the Chinese way? Then why the heck do you hire foreigners?

Jun 24, 2016 16:17 Report Abuse