I’m fluent in Chinese!
But speaking fluent Mandarin in China created as many disadvantages as benefits.
Human behavior is a matter of perceptions, psychology, and expectations.
I am ethnically Chinese—American only by birth and nationality.
In most business situations, people from different Chinese provinces speak their regional dialects, in addition to Putonghua, also known as Mandarin—the default language in China.
Only native people from Beijing technically speak “proper” Mandarin, so everyone else’s pronunciation has an accent. The majority of Chinese people I encountered who didn’t know my background often guessed I was from Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Singapore rather than the United States.
My disadvantage came the fact that I wasn’t given any cultural leeway.
Even after explaining that I was born in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), my Chinese counterparts still subconsciously expected me to be one of them. I often recall that my white, caucasian colleagues were afforded so much additional latitude because no one expected them to understand Chinese culture, and when they did something correctly, it was interpreted as extending a tremendous amount of goodwill.
The key is self-awareness—know how you are perceived by your counterparts, and leverage that knowledge to your advantage—you don’t need to speak fluent Chinese to gain an advantage in China.
You just need to know what your expected Chinese communication level is and exceed it—Perception Management 101.
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I still have four more reflections to share, and I want you to join me on this journey of reimagining China, so the entire 114-page Speak Less, Guanxi More reflection journal is still available for free as a PDF and Flipbook.
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