Why speaking Chinese is essential in China for foreigners

In the modern world we live in today, spaces becoming smaller and worlds increasingly intertwined. Our abilities to communicate with each other allows us all to interact with some many different people from all over the world from cultures so diverse from our own. However, it is also commonly presumed especially in developed international cities throughout the world that learning foreign languages is increasingly unnecessary as more and more people around the globe learn English as a foreign language. I truly believe this is not the case and learning foreign languages is just as important now as it ever has been or ever will be in the future. I will never forget my fascination with languages from the age of 9, when I met some children the same age as me from Germany visiting Torquay in the south west of England. The children spoke perfect English with me and engaged in playing games with my sister and I, I didn't feel they were German at all, until they saw their parents again and started to speak fluent German with them, who couldn't speak much English. I felt hugely envious of their bilingual ability and began to consider learning languages as a pathway to connect with more people around the world.

It actually took me until I was 23, to get serious about it, but on my first visit to China, I found the importance speaking a foreign language. I realised while Chinese people were mostly extremely hospitable towards me, it was awkward and frustrating for me because I longed to speak to them as confidently and accurately as I could in English. My lack of ability in speaking Chinese at the time meant that the only impressions they could get of me was through my body language and through the use of common stereotypes held towards foreigners in China.

It is these stereotypes that I got to understand more clearly the second time I came to China. I had made some friends in China who couldn't speak English from my first visit, but I had been helped through another friend translating for us. When I came back, I was able to communicate much better in Chinese, but what my Chinese friend said to me was really interesting. He felt that now he had heard me speaking Chinese with him, he felt more of a connection with me as an individual with an identity and less of me being just a foreigner in China with all the stereotypical associations common in China. He told me that the majority of foreigners don't seem to feel the need to speak Chinese, and they seemed rude and aggressive in nature from his own experiences, but also mostly from what he had heard from others. As I got to speak with more and more native Chinese speakers who couldn't speak English with me, I learnt increasingly how important my actions were towards people in China. If I was only ever to use English in China, Chinese people would never have the opportunity to understand me and see me as an individual, but more importantly, the cultural differences between us would also cause more misunderstandings for other foreigners too. 

From this experience onward, I realised that I represented not only myself, but also foreigners in China too. Chinese people form a strong collective society where collectivism in large networks of families and friends is normal. People's behaviour and interaction is thus seen as being part of a group. Individualism is rarely considered. For this reason, many Chinese see foreigners from other countries in the same way too, that the behaviour of a few is representative of all or most foreigners. In some ways some foreigners have left a bad reputation in China in the big cities and my Chinese friend admitted that they felt frustrated that foreigners in China expected Chinese people to use English with them, and made no interest in learning their language. It is thus maybe for this reason that Chinese people have only been able to really form opinions based on body language, which may be why my friend considered foreigners to be rude and aggressive. It could be said that culturally, there may be differences that exacerbate these feelings.

Ultimately, language is formed from culture, history and the environment of that country. Speaking the local language gives you access to all the rich parts of that culture, history and environment than is possible from simply translating to your own language. But most importantly from my perspective, it has taught me the value of setting a good example for other people from my own culture, and to reduce negative stereotypes towards foreigners that may occur. I feel speaking Chinese in China allows me to set a better example, but also allows myself to be seen more as an individual too. 

It is this type of answer (albeit in shorter form!) that I try to explain to people, when they ask about why I have taken on the difficult challenge of learning a language so different from my own native language.