Language: The ultimate entry barrier?

For most people who come to mainland China from the outside, one thing is blatantly clear in most places: there is not a whole lot of foreign language. English is by far the most widespread of the foreign languages here, but in most cities, English won't help you much on a day to day basis. For many who lack the necessary language skills, the first time period here is a true test of your body language and charades skills. However, with English education starting in primary school, and a flood of foreign English teachers, things are starting to change considerably.

Dietz: Language is a huge barrier at times. When I first came to China, most restaurant experiences consisted of the 'point-and-hope' method, which was to point to something on the menu and hope it doesn't have pig's stomach as a main ingredient. However, I guess this place forces you to learn the language, and once you do, it’s a lot more fun and you eat much better.

Bates: Definitely, the language barrier either forces you to eat pre-packaged items or forces the point-and-hope method which isn't a mentally healthy way to enjoy life in China. The first time eating hot-pot (Sichuan specialty) with my classmates was a huge fiasco. We expressed what we wanted in Chinese but for some reason nobody could understand us?-very depressing moment. We were thus forced to walk around the restaurant looking at other patrons choices; how embarrassing and it does get worse. I personally have been very lucky in my choices but I have also been curious to try new foods: Turtle, Chicken/Duck Stomach, Duck Neck, Chicken Throat, and Cow Lung!!

Dietz: There is a subtle difference in tones and pronunciation between the words for classmate (tongxue) and bedmate (tongshui) that I could never seem to figure out. Embarrassed a great many of classmates that way back in college.

Bates: I too have experienced awkward situations in which my Chinese was skewed from normalcy that ended up expressing rude comments to my friends. It is a common expression after departing from an acquaintance to say, "I'll see you next time" (sha ci jian). However, I happened to leave a very key word out of the phrase which honestly isn't a very suitable thing to say to a friend. Luckily, my friends took what I said with a grain of salt. Mistakes happen and humility makes you learn fast.

Dietz: However, I have worked in offices here that run completely on English. If there is one thing that China has a lot of, it's people who can study really hard and memorize some of the most technical English imaginable. I moonlighted teaching English for engineers Lenovo here in Beijing during college at nights, and some of the answers I got to questions were absolutely amazing.Example:Me: "So what are you doing this weekend, Geeves (they all picked their own English names: Tiger, AK47, Forrest)"Geeves: "I assessed the capacity for the following weekend holiday." (translation: thinking about going somewhere next weekend).

Bates: Absolutely amazing and sometimes out right funny. I asked one of my friends whom is an officer for SIFE and an economics major how she was doing. Her response was, "chillin like a villain". She was curious why I snickered and didn't understand why, but slang when used unknowingly becomes quite comical. Apparently, someone told her to respond in this manner and didn’t mention that it was slang.

Dietz: If you have absolutely no idea how to say something, and are completely lost trying to explain it in Chinese, a good trick is to go up to a group of kids or teenagers. At least one of them usually speaks conversational English pretty well.

Bates: I have yet to use this method but this situation arises for me quite often. To survive around this I have integrated my Cell phone to contain English speaking friends, business cards to get from point A to point B, and so I've been told, finding a significant other to put up with language inadequacies in situations that are beyond ones ability helps too.

Although, China is developing its English language resources quite quickly, especially in time for the 2008 Olympics, there are still many challenges and boundaries when conducting business. No matter how well China adopts English as a second language there will always be great respect to those who can communicate using Chinese. In a business world that is dominated by "guanxi" (relationships), knowing the language and business culture will give huge precedence to those that understand these elements. Preferential treatment will be given to those who can respectfully and skillfully navigate their way in China.