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China at a Glance

Intercultural Communication in China

Bilingual signs are a very rare sight. Knowledge of Mandarin is indispensable!

Teaching English

If you are an English native speaker with a bachelor’s or teaching degree, you also have the chance to work in China as an English teacher. This option is especially popular among self-made expats who would like to live and work abroad for a few years, but may not have the skill set currently in demand on the Chinese job market. China’s economic success and the rise of the urban middle class also explain why more and more Chinese students and employees are interested in learning English.

If you would like to teach at an international school, at a university or at a language center, you do need official teaching credits from your home country. For smaller institutions in the provinces, the actual requirements are sometimes lower. In the latter case, the combination of native speaker status and college degree may be sufficient to get recognized as a “foreign expert” by Chinese authorities – one possible requirement for obtaining a work permit and thus a Z visa for foreign employees and their families.

However, when going to teach at such a small or even obscure institution, beware of unaccredited schools and unstable employment conditions. Your employer should be officially accredited by the Chinese government and offer you a proper contract.

Language Skills

It cannot be stressed often enough that a working knowledge of Mandarin is an invaluable asset for any expat in China. Not only does it provide you with a distinct advantage at work, even in a multi-national company, but it also makes everyday life much, much easier – particularly when it comes to the written word.

The Chinese language family actually includes seven language groups, whose pronunciation may be mutually unintelligible. Most hàn zì (Chinese characters), however, are the same throughout the country: Even though they can be pronounced differently in various regional languages, from pǔtōnghuà (Standard Mandarin) over wú yǔ (Shanghainese) to báihuà (Cantonese), their meaning stays the same.

Learning Chinese

Understandably, many Western expats consider the over 40,000 different characters one of the biggest obstacles to learning Chinese, although “only” 3,000-4,000 are required for full literacy. Expats from other Asian countries have a clear advantage here: The Japanese kanji and the Korean hanja, which are still widespread in Korea’s academic literature, are based on the Chinese writing system, too. Furthermore, pīnyīn (Latin transliterations) cannot always be relied upon because they tend to be rather inconsistent.

In addition to the hàn zì, the tonal properties of the Chinese language family also tend to confuse lots of Western expats. Tonal languages, which use high and low tones to distinguish the meaning of otherwise identical words, are common in many other regions such as Southeast Asia or West Africa, but they are not typical of many modern Indo-European languages.

Hitting the right pitch to differentiate between mā (mother) and má (horse) is definitely a challenge for lots of expats. However, taking the time and putting in the effort to study Standard Mandarin is worth it. Speaking Chinese will positively impress your Chinese coworkers, business contacts, neighbors, and friends, even if you speak it badly at first.

Intercultural Communications 

Of course, verbal communication isn’t everything. Most difficulties in intercultural encounters between well-meaning parties do not arise from what is said, but from implicit assumptions and non-verbal signals. In order to successfully navigate the Chinese business world, you do not only need to re-learn some basic etiquette and courtesies, such as the correct way of giving a toast. You also have to examine much you take for granted, like attitudes towards seniority, hierarchies, and the relationship between the group and the individual.