You don't have to study Chinese in China

Study Chinese in China is one of the best ways to learn Chinese but not anymore now. After I met a person who speaks excellent but has never been to China, I don’t think I have to study Chinese in China.

I have a former colleague who has been living in China for 3 years now and he mentioned to me that he was taking some lessons from a local school. Last Christmas when he came back to US and we had dinner together. I asked him about how his Chinese was. He gave me a sour face and said he did learn some Chinese while he was in China but the progress was not as good as he expected. He told me one of his colleagues who have never been to China but could speak and understand Chinese more than he does.

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I asked him if I could meet this person. He arranged for it. I finally met this person, she is a single mum and working for a import and export company. She has to deal a lot with Chinese customers and suppliers. I asked her about how she learned her Chinese, she told me that she learned Chinese in US and mostly at home. She said to me: “You don’t have to study Chinese in China” She told me why she thinks so. I’ll tell you what she told me now.

Why you don’t have to study Chinese in China?

1. You can get the same quality course anywhere in the world. Now in any country you can see Chinese people. More or less, there is a language school teaching Chinese. If there is no any language school in your town, you can learn Chinese from online through software, programs or online schools. The courses are not much different with the course you take in China. With some online Chinese schools like EteacherChinese, you can directly learn Chinese with the best teachers in Beijing online. It doesn’t matter wherever you are.
2. The language environment is probably one of the most attractions to study Chinese in China. Do you know how many dialects in China? China is a big country every province has their dialect although some provinces in north has very similar dialects, other places in south have very different dialects. Sometimes one city has the different dialect with the next city. If you are in some cities in south of China, you won’t hear a lot of mandarin are spoken when you go outside.
3. You will easily get hooked with the foreign communities in China. This is something common to human being. When you go to a country you have never been and everything is very different with what you use to know. You will feel more secure when you stay with people from similar background. And when you stay with people from the same background as you, you won’t speak Chinese to them. I’m sure!

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Now you should really rethink about your decision if you think you must study Chinese in China. Of course visiting China is a great adventure, but you don’t have to take this big step just because to study Chinese language.