I want to learn chinese but I am afraid if I go to china people will just talk to me in english. Thoughts?

Question

Chinese is a pretty cool language. I really like the sound and characters. However I don't really want to learn it if in ten years everyone in china will speak english(I mean it is a hell of alot of work to really learn a language) I am kinda doing some soul searching here lol. Help me out!
Thanks :)

Answer 1

There will be some people who will just want to speak English to you. However, the vast majority will speak Chinese to you. If you are wanting to learn chinese, going over there is a great opertunity as you will be able to pratice what you learnt in class that day. English is being pushed in China, however, most people can not say more then "hello. How are you? I am fine thank you and you?" even if they had studied it for 10 years, but then can read it. So Chinese in China is not going to go away anytime in the next couple of centuries (unless something weird happens...lol)

Answer 2

Depends on your reason for learning Chinese - for work or for cultural understanding are the usual ones. For work - not a great idea as most American firms only hire Chinese. You would need more than just language ability.

It is a terrific language to learn - especially interesting are the idioms (and the stories behind them). The Chinese do not get upset if you try to speak Chinese. They are a very proud people (perhaps too proud) and like it if you try even if you make mistakes.

I've spent years studying Chinese and can tell you that during my first year, I had many many many friends. As soon as I started speaking to them in Chinese, they all left me. I was a "free" teacher to them. I was only 18 yrs old, so I didn't know any better. Now I simply refuse to speak English, but my Chinese is fluent so I don't have any problems.

In any case, most Americans on here only travel to the big cities where the educational level is higher and there are other Americans (as well as other English speaking foreigners). They have limited experience with the Chinese and do not leave here with a true understanding. It's just that the people they tend to meet do speak English whereas the vast majority don't.

I work in China for an American company and in my company I'm the only American who speaks Chinese. Most of our problems have been caused by incompetent Chinese translators. I get calls at all hours because our people always run into problems due to language. Also, I've been in an "international" hotel the past few weeks - no one here speaks English.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

I don't think you have to worry about the Chinese language dying out...it has survived for more than 5000 years and though there are many dialects, the writing system is as stable as ever. Chinese will probably be one of the final languages to disappear in this world.

But anyway, I encourage you to learn it! =) Not only do the characters themselves look beautiful, but once you learn it, you'll be able to read texts from today all the way back to Ancient China's.

About being afraid that people in China will "just talk to you in English", it's certainly something that you should expect though - and is neither your fault of the Chinese person's fault. They may want to practise their English with you, or simply assume that you cannot understand Chinese (if you do not look Asian). Try finding some Chinese friends to learn the language from - it's probably the best and nicest way to learn - through everyday conversation.

Good luck! :D You may also want to think about which Chinese dialect to learn to speak - Mandarin and Cantonese etc.

Answer 5

There are really only a couple of reasons you'd want to learn Chinese, or any other language.

If you are traveling, then your attempts to speak their language is sign of respect. You will be seen as being polite. I wouldn't worry about EVERYONE speaking English. If you intend to only stay and visit places where English is spoken, then you won't be experinceng the true culture and flavor of that country.

The other reason to learn the language will have to do with promoting a better understanding. You can still communicate with someone who doesn't speak your language.

BTW, It appears you may be showing some arrogance if you believe that, in ten years, everyone will be speaking English. That's not going to happen. It hasn't happened in the last 500 years, it's not gonna happen in the next ten. Keep in mind, out of about 6 billion folks on this world, almost 2 billion speak Chinese.

THAT might be another reason for you to learn one of the forms of that language.

Answer 6

As an English teacher in China, I think it is safe to say that Chinese will be around for a long time. Eventhough my students are English majors, they would probably prefer to speak Chinese with me if I could speak it better.
Sure you will meet some Chinese who prefer to practice speaking their English but in almost every social situation I have been in where there as a group of Chinese people, they always end up speaking to eachother in Chinese.
I am working on learning Chinese here, but I am lazy and dont put forth much effort. If you want to learn a language you need to practice it and study it. If you really want to learn Chinese, come to China. Your Chinese would be much better here than if you learned it in a non-chinese speaking country. Plus I think it is cheaper to study it here.
There are 1.3 billion people in China. Not all of them are going to learn English well enough to use it. Sure, it is a required skill, but they mostly learn if for the test and not for real communication.

Answer 7

Yes, chinese is a pretty cool language. But, learn english will easier than learn chinese. I know that, is because I'm a chinese (fluent in chinese ). Sure, they'll talk to you in english because english is an international language. I can tell you that, some chinese peoples from china don't even know how to speak english and watch english movie. This is truth, because my father have a china friend, and she told me that "Our people there don't know how to watch english movie." went I was watching an english movie in my house.

Answer 8

It's OK if they try to speak to you in English, just always answer in Chinese. They will be impressed with your effort and will also get to practice their English in the process!

They really appreciate it when an outsider tries to learn Chinese, because it can be a very difficult language to learn. Good luck.

Answer 9

That is impossible. Population of China is already over 1.4 billion. Only 0.2-0.3 billion people have opportunity to learn English in school.
Among these people, more than 80% of them hate to learn English. They have to learn just because they have to pass English Exam. So genrally most of students forget almost everything what they learnt just after exam.
But English exam of China only has Reading and listening parts. So more than 80% of students cannot speak English. As you know, Chinese students are good at any exams. Many Chinese students can get full score of TOEFL exam. But to American universites teachers' surprise, when Chinese students arrive, many of them cannot speak even a sentence.

If you want to learn Chinese, I recommend a website:
http://www.hellomandarin.com/ilovechinese/index.html

Answer 10

The vast majority of people in China do not speak English (at this point but in 10 years, who knows?) so if you are thinking about learning Chinese, it'll probably be beneficial to do so. Besides, if you are white/black or anyone not Chinese, they find it amusing and somewhat appreciative that you try to learn it. However, if you are of Chinese heritage and do not speak it, then it is considered insulting.