| Language in China | |
|---|---|
| Jan 30, 2008 09:49 |   |
| guestshah | Hi, i am interested to go china. But i am not sure whether language will be one of a barrier. Is English a common and mutual language? |
| Jan 30, 2008 22:34 | #1 |
| GUEST07197 | There are 1,300,000,000 Chinese and 1, 290,000,000 of them cannot speak English. I hope that answers your question. |
| Feb 1, 2008 10:33 | #2 |
 | heyhey , i'm chinese guide, maybe you can teacher me enlish and i can teacher you chinese . so let's meet me . english is bad hotmail.com|supertoguilin |
| Feb 1, 2008 19:07 | #3 |
| Hey supertog, I am coming to China after the spring festival. I will be in Shanghai first then I will com to Guangxi province. I may be able to help you? |
| Feb 2, 2008 10:19 | #4 |
| wow , go to guangxi you must to guilin and yangshuo , haha , then you can teacher some spoken language,and i can teacher spoken chinese. let's me see the yangshuo ,because i often weekend at yangshuo ,else time i'm in guangzhou (monday until fri.  |
| Feb 4, 2008 02:18 | #5 |
| i have been in china nearly 2 years. I've lived in beijing- where, relatively, there are many english speakers- for almost 1/2 that time. And even though I know a little chinese, I struggle with the language everyday. Unless you are perhaps going to Hong Kong or maybe even Shanghai, it wouldnt be a good idea to come to china without a tour guide. You can post online at local sites for someone to guide you, but you risk getting ripped off or worse. |
| Feb 4, 2008 09:27 | #6 |
| "Unless you are perhaps going to Hong Kong or maybe even Shanghai, it wouldnt be a good idea to come to china without a tour guide" I don't agree with this: sure the language is quite an issue, but if you have some previous expereince in travelling you can survive. I speak almost no Chinese but have travelled for nearly 6 months in total. It can be hard at times but if you are flexible and allow enough time it is not too difficult. A lot of advice depends on your budget as it is quite different travelling cheaply compared with flying from 4 star to 4 star hotel. I suggest you search through past threads and you will find a lot of info, then come back again with points that need clarifying. |
| Feb 13, 2008 00:35 | #7 |
| GUEST23199 | English is not a common and mutual language for most Chinese. if you stay in a a five star hotel and take guided tours to the foreigner promoted tourist areas, you will do fine in English. Down side is - you will pay quite heavily for the privilege of having English speakers to help you, you will be locked in to going where the guide takes you, and you will miss out on most of the real China. Still, many people like this sort of packaged China. For those who wish to explore China on their own a little, there is a language barrier. As an Asian language, it is much more difficult to pick up a few phrases as it would be in traveling in say a Spanish speaking country. Signs will also be in Chinese script which are very hard to read. The Chinese are very friendly and helpful and you can get a long way by smiling and pointing but you may not always find someone who can speak English when you are in the most need of it. I would suggest learning a few phrases at chinese-tools.com/phrasebook - at least how to say 'Hello' and "Thank you'. You might try chinesepod.com for a few lessons in spoken Chinese. You might also consider signing up for an interpreter you can call from your mobile phone, like babelfishchina.com to help you out when you are really needing it. Your Lonely Planet guide book will also have some phrases in the back. For me - I have never left my pathetic language skills hold me back.. |
| Feb 13, 2008 19:55 | #8 |
| Go for It! practice your pantomime, carry a 'pictionary' such as point-it by Dieter Graf also a calculator for agreeing price or distance/time, pad of sketch paper for hostel/hotel staff to write the characters you'll need for the day. At train stations/bus stops ask the young well dressed woman if she speaks English, she will! |
| Feb 14, 2008 13:25 | #9 |
| if you go to the big cities, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing and go to the center part of those cities, you can always find people speaking English and help you out. Nowadays, young people can more or less speak English to give directions and give information for tourists. But comparatively, in some small cities, it might be a bit difficult. |
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