First time

[ksl0588]

hey guys, just wondering, the moment you arrive in the airport of beijing, how were u able to communicate with the people? considering the fact that you do not know any mandarin. how did you talk to the people at the airport? taxi drivers? bus drivers? hotel/hostels? how do you ask around because i guess you dont know your way around hehe, just want to ask those who already experienced it

[parasite]

Do you have any idea how many elderly tourists with no real knowledge at all of China show up for vacation at these places (airport, hotels, etc.) every single day? There is huge financial incentive for the people working at these places to learn enough basic English to communicate with the tourists. Taxi drivers -- you give them a print out of your hotel or destination name in Chinese, that's all. I bet they know the English name of the bigger hotels.

[freeuser]

A lots of people in Beiing could speak english ,don't warry about that.

[gougou]

There is huge financial incentive for the people working at these places to learn enough basic English to communicate with the tourists

Many of the couchsurfers I've had over recently were surprised how difficult it was to communicate in English. Some explicitly mentioned the airport, where they would have expected some level of English to accommodate foreign visitors, but apparently even there they had a lot of trouble finding somebody who could help them.

[greenarcher]

All you need is the chinese name of your hotel and the chinese address if possible.

[roddy]

You can make things a lot easier for yourself by paying attention to the way you communicate. Was in the (large, in a fairly touristy area) bank early and there was a tourist asking the information desk girl if he needed to fill in a form to change money. I suspect if he'd just said 'I want to change money. Do I need a form?' he'd have been fine, but he went for something along the lines of 'I er, I'd like to change some currency, dollars, but I'm not sure if, would i need like a form or something for that or can I just go on up to the counter right away' and basically completely lost her. Good job I was on hand!

People likely to be dealing with foreigners will probably have the vocabulary for their jobs, but you need to hand it to them in a comprehensible form - you can't expect them to tune out your static. Pertinent digestible chunks.

Similar situation - barman can get you 'a Jack Daniels' easily enough. Ask for 'a shot of Jack' and you're making everyone's life more difficult.

The whole thing is made worse when people feel bad about not being able to speak Chinese and get over-polite and apologetic. Just be direct, clear and give a big smile and thank-you at the end. It's also a good idea to start with a 'Hello' and a pause so they can get the English skills spinning up to speed.

[gougou]

Similar situation

Really? For you going to the bank is like taking a shot of whiskey? What bank is that?

[skylee]

Similar situation - barman can get you 'a Jack Daniels' easily enough. Ask for 'a shot of Jack' and you're making everyone's life more difficult.

It was just as difficult to order a drink in English at many bars in Spain. "Beer" didn't work (Madrid). "Red wine" didn't work either (Bilbao, Santiago de Compostella). Or perhaps I just had bad luck.

(Which makes me wonder why people seem to think that China is the only place where it is difficult to communicate in English.)

[parasite]

Wow, sounds like Spain would be heaven for me. I had to leave China because there are so many English bandits there. Try to even say the alcohol name in Chinese and be white -- and half the time you'll get a nasty look from the bartender and the name repeated back to you in weirdly accented English as a "correction". (As if to say: You are white, you are not allowed to speak Chinese, speak the proper language for your race.)

[jbradfor]

@parasite, I think you needed to get out of bars more often and interact with other people.

[Chhhi]

It's easy to have a bad experience with one or two "English Bandits" and think everyone is being snide or difficult. Maybe they're just trying to help, maybe they're being a d!ck. Either way, you only have to deal with them for 30 seconds and not pay a tip.

[parasite]

I do acknowledge that no taxi driver or security guard at my building ever once tried to speak English to me. There are a few other safe places like hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurants. But the huge premium one pays to live in Shanghai, imho, is so that he can enjoy the best of both worlds at once. One day eating hole-in-the-wall Chinese, and another enjoying some Burger King and a coffee drink or even a very trendy unique "Western"-style food place that serves things which I can still only be found in China. Unfortunately none of the latter three places are safe.

Getting out of the bars also won't mitigate the effect much when one is stuck in a bandit-filled workplace 8 hours per day. (That is what ultimately killed me, and NO not an English school.) It also killed me to realize that one does not have very much in common with random farmer dudes or construction workers. The people that could be your friends -- educated and having common interesting topics -- are exactly the ones who will overwhelmingly be likely to bandit you.

It wasn't about a 'few' bad experiences, it was about realizing that by design things were hopeless.

[gougou]

Unfortunately none of the latter three places are safe.

So you want the best of both worlds without getting the rest of both worlds? Not surprising that that doesn't work, is it?

Also, I've met plenty of interesting people that didn't want (sometimes even weren't able) to speak English. It depends a lot in what circles you recruit your friends.

[parasite]

So you want the best of both worlds without getting the rest of both worlds? Not surprising that that doesn't work, is it?

Also, I've met plenty of interesting people that didn't want (sometimes even weren't able) to speak English. It depends a lot in what circles you recruit your friends.

I guess not, but is it wrong to feel unhappy about being taken advantage of just because I'm timid and avoid conflict? I do have friends who got sick of it and stood up for themselves. One decided at some point that he absolutely wasn't going to speak more English with a certain girl who had taken a liking to him (probably just for the English). He bent her into submission after literally nonstop hours and days of yelling at and arguing with her, but was both exhasperated and exhausted at the end. Hardly a worthwhile accomplishment -- when you consider it won't be a one time affair but something you must repeat day in and day out just trying to get a beverage from Starbucks.

I agree with it depending on your social circle -- but not all of us are born social butterflies. It is also not always easy even for a social butterfly to break into said circles without lucky life circumstances. Doing a Ph.D in 古代文献 did indeed net one of my friends a multitude of buddies not terribly keen on English, but my work in IT did quite the opposite.

[roddy]

It wasn't about a 'few' bad experiences, it was about realizing that by design things were hopeless.

I guess not, but is it wrong to feel unhappy about being taken advantage of just because I'm timid and avoid conflict?

Sorry, whose design was this? If learning Chinese was that important to you a change of city, job or social circle - or even just a change in the way you interact with those you had - could have made a huge difference. I'm not saying it would have been easy, but hey, who decides to learn Chinese for an easy life?

No shame in giving up if you weren't enjoying it and not getting anywhere though.

Edit: Just seen your profile link to 'Englishbanditry.com' - and this is after you've left China? Sorry man, but it's time to move on

Edit edit:

(Which makes me wonder why people seem to think that China is the only place where it is difficult to communicate in English.)

Which people exactly, Skylee. Be specific and perhaps we can explain the phenomena.

[rob07]

It is not necessary to speak at all to get from Beijing Airport to your hotel. Like others have said, book a hotel or hostel in advance and get the name and address of your hotel written down in Chinese characters (you could get that done through this website if you don't know anyone else who could help you).

As far as I remember Beijing Airport, you can just follow English language signs from the plane to the baggage carousel to customs to the taxi rank. Show the guy at the taxi rank the address of your hotel. He'll get you a taxi. Show the name and address of the hotel to the driver, who will drive you your hotel. If you have booked in advance, there's not much that can go wrong at the hotel reception. I haven't seen touts at Chinese airports recently, but if anyone approachs you unsolicited, just ignore them.

For people that want to speak Chinese to service staff, my experience is that service staff will generally not switch to English if you hit your tones OK when you speak to them. For highly educated young Chinese people who speak good English, sometimes the only thing to do is to improve your Chinese so it is at least as good as their English. A bad accent and poor tones are probably inevitable in the first few years of learning Chinese, but Chinese people generally find this very painful to listen to.

[ksl0588]

can anyone suggest a good hotel with a good price for around 4-9 days stay? its because il be looking for an apartment starting day 1 thats why il stay in the hotel while i still dont have an apartment to move to

[roddy]

Give us a location and a budget . . .

[ksl0588]

oh ya sorry, hotels near BLCU the budget.. hmm a reasonable one thats good for 4-9 nights stay hehe

[Kobo-Daishi]

Dear Skylee,

Why didn't you take along a phrasebook?

Something along the lines of a Lonely Planet Spain or something similar?

According to Babel Fish, "red wine" is "vino rojo" and "beer" is "cerveza".

Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.