Why you need to mix up your hangout spots when learning a new language

I remember getting out of a packed taxi cab, rolling my luggage down the steep 400 meter incline, which led to my non-descript residence. The first people I encountered were about 20 retired teachers, who greeted me with a smile and made a few quiet comments amongst each other in Sichuan dialect. I made a feeble attempt to introduce myself, which my new neighbors accepted with grace and patience.


This friendly attitude scaled to nearly the entire population of Panzhihua, a city which houses about a million people and a handful foreigners. Because there were so few foreigners, I had no choice but to friends with locals, who (with the exception of a few) spoke only Mandarin or Sichuan dialect. This was a massive advantage compared to coastal Chinese cities, where kids and adults alike will pounce on any opportunity to speak English with a native speaker. At many restaurants and cafes, staff even refuse to speak in Chinese when they see a "non-Chinese looking" face. That was not the case in Panzhihua.


But I found that I still had to be selective about where I hung out and whom I spoke with. Too often, laowai get stuck in a routine in which they speak to the same shop owners, neighbors, and restaurant owners, repeating the same stock, Chinese 101 phrases. I've been guilty of this, too. For those who are serious about improving their language and cultural understanding, it's important to avoid this pitfall. Before are the four suggestions for bumping your Chinese up from "survival" level.


1.) Diversify the places that you hang out.


 The problem with visiting the same spots every day is that you're probably not challenging yourself enough. Think about life in your home country. Do you have acquaintances who bring up the same topic literally every time you speak? I sure do. And, as a language learner, this can actually be quite comfortable. You have some level of human interaction, which is nice. You're using words you know, so you won't completely embarrass yourself.

While it is important to have your go-to spots, it usually won't do much for helping you learn new vocabulary. So try visiting new spots. One day, when I was exploring the city, I stumbled across a cool tea shop, where I found a passionate shop owner who taught all there is to know about tea -- from where it's grown, to what types there are, to its medicinal uses. Especially in the beginning, it seemed like I used my translator for every other word. But it also opened me to learning new vocabulary, culture, and sites in Sichuan China that I simply would not have learned about if I hadn't ventured outside my small network of shops. I similarly stumbled upon a gym from my new network of friends, which led me to an entirely new set of vocabulary (jintian, wo yao lian tui).




2.) Talk to lots of different people


Similar to my first point, it's important to talk to a lot of different people. Looking at it purely from a listening comprehension angle, people have different accents, vocabulary, speed, intonation. If you only talk to a few nearby shop owners or your teacher, you will calibrate your ear very well to the people you normally speak with, but might have trouble understanding strangers. Another thing is that your frequent conversation partners probably have a good sense of the words and grammar structures you understand best, which may not align with the way the average Chinese person speaks. This is why you hear so many people say, "I understand my teacher so well! Why can't I understand anyone else?"




3.) Don't be shy


Most people in China will be thrilled to talk to you. In fact, you may be the first foreigner who has ever spoken to them. My students all vividly remember every detail about the first time they spoke with a foreigner, from what the person looked like, where the conversation happened, and what they talked about. Of course, I'm not encouraging you to think you're special and deserve to be treated like royalty. But just know that most people will be open to speaking with expats. Some of these conversations can lead to knowledge transfer of local sites, or even new friendships.




4.) Make a genuine effort to understand the culture


The people I met in China were always extremely pleased when they saw expats make an effort to learn their culture. Learn a couple of words in the local dialect. Eat an out-of-the-ordinary food that locals assume is too extreme for a laowai. Sing karaoke and "gan-bei" the head of the table. These activities do not require deep knowledge of Chinese culture, but do indicate that you've learned something during your stay. Frankly, the bar has been set so low by prior generations of expats -- who avoided all contact with locals -- that it's not very hard to impress people.




 A few spots that I really liked hanging out in Panzhihua:


Teahouses -- The tea shop near the gym or at Panzhihua park. After a workout, I would buy a 10 kuai cup of mao feng cha, which came with unlimited hot water.

Gym -- This was a hidden gym inside local sports arena. These dudes were jacked, and very cool to talk to. They taught me a lot about discipline, politics, gong ku (Kung Fu), and MMA in China.


Basketball -- Anywhere there was a court. In Chengdu, I would play at Sichuan University. In Panzhihua, I would play at Panzhihua University. Sometimes, I would tease my students for a short time, saying that I almost made the NBA.


Neighborhood "xiuxi" time gatherings -- Whether it be hanging out with the local grandmas, or standing at the edge of a MaZhong game (yes, I know the pinyin is spelled differently).

Restaurants -- My favorite place was an open air shao kao spot,  about a 15 min walk away called, Jiu Fu Er. This was a great opportunity to meet new drinking buddies, especially when I initiated the "gan bei."

Three Ways Peace Corps China Prepared Me For a Career in Corporate America

1.) It gave me a global perspective

We’ve all heard that multinational companies are expanding their reaches to emerging markets like Africa, Latin America and, Asia Pacific. To do so, companies need to consider a number of questions, including, but not limited to:  

• Where is the new growth expected?
• How do customers in these new regions behave?
• How are we going to compete with the local players?
• How should we adjust our products and services when entering a new market?
• How can we bridge the cultural divide between staff in the emerging market and staff at corporate headquarters?

Those who have lived abroad -- and Peace Corps volunteers (PCV) in particular --  are at an advantage when answering these questions, or at least at finding the answers.

               Peace Corps Volunteers emerge from their two years abroad with a deep knowledge of the countries in which they serve. PCVs with experience in one of the above mentioned emerging markets add tremendous value to corporations because they have worked at the ground level with individuals of diverse social status – from businessmen to mayors to farmers. As a PCV in a new land, you’re welcomed with such openness and privilege that you receive access to people of all walks of life. These interactions help PCVs to gain a fairly developed picture of political, historical, societal, and economic factors which influence locals’ behavior.

One concept that has come in handy during my tenure in corporate America has been the Chinese concept of guanxi, which loosely translates to “relationships” but encompasses much more. (Important caveat: I do not pretend to be an expert in guanxi. Don’t kill me.) I saw thousands of examples of guanxi play out in front of my eyes – and, in some cases, even participated in guanxi. Recently, in my US-based firm, a large sales opportunity from China came to me. Both the sales team and my boss knew I had spent time in China, so I was extra close to this one.  The Chinese sales team had spent countless hours fostering a positive relationship with the customer -- providing product information, sample products, and running tests for the customer. The customer required lot of attention, presumably as a test of how our support would be after the purchase was made. As you would expect, this made for a long sales cycle. The result of our effort: very underwhelming terms in the initial deal. But, our work of building guanxi secured our place as the vendor of choice, nearly guaranteeing future business with more favorable terms. If I had viewed the deal solely through an American business lens, we would myopically abandon deals early in the sales cycle, leaving large sums of money on the table for our competitors to take.

 

The skills a PCV gains when going deep into a culture can be applied horizontally when they want to engage another culture. For example, if I tackle a business challenge based in Colombia, I can leverage many of the techniques I used for understanding Chinese culture when learning about Colombian culture. Ultimately, it’s about being perceptive and open to experiences that are uncomfortable. In your assignment, you won’t be living in a cushy expat enclave where you have access to the comforts of your country of origin: people who speak your language, life experiences, and worldview. You will instead be forced with the difficult, but highly rewarding, challenge of integrating into a community in which, at first glance, you have nothing in common.

You’ll ask embarrassingly dumb questions throughout your journey, but will most likely be absorbed with grace and patience by your native counterparts. You’ll learn that it’s okay to ask dumb questions, but also learn which dumb questions can actually offend the natives. You’ll learn to navigate complex organizational structures. And, most frequently, you’ll ask “what is happening right now?” and “Why are they doing that?” And you won’t be embarrassed by your ignorance.

What the Peace Corps teaches is not how to be an expert in the culture of XYZ country. Through your adventures, you will learn to ask intelligent questions to your host country national counterparts. You’ll learn to check your preconceived notions about your host country, and challenge the culture, customs, and widespread beliefs of the US. You’ll become more impartial of the forces that shape the world stage. Mostly, you’ll emerge with an overwhelming feeling that there is so much more to learn. And once you’ve reached this point, you will have shed the view that the US is the center of the universe.

 

2.) Language

Another perk of joining the Peace Corps is that, with sufficient effort, you will come out of your service with a conversational (or better) level of a new language. With this new skill, you will be much more marketable to employers. In my case, I had already learned Spanish prior to working in the Peace Corps. In China, I learned Mandarin Chinese to a level of conversational fluency. So, on my resume, I scribed the tagline, “Able to converse fluently with over half the world’s population.” Even if my job did not require either Spanish or Mandarin, I still became an instantly memorable candidate, even before I stepped foot in the interview room. Employers like to see candidates who are intellectually curious and able to get up to speed quickly. With the Peace Corps, you have an interesting proof point which is: in just two years, you picked up a new language, used it to learn a new culture and achieve meaningful work in your work post.

 

About the Language Learning in Peace Corps

The Peace Corps provides formal language training through a three month boot-camp-like language program. During this time, my colleagues and I learned just enough Chinese to survive on our own. After this, we were shipped to our respective sites, where we could contract a tutor – paid for by Peace Corps – to help us advance our language abilities.

But the way you really learn the language is not in the classroom, but rather, when you’re forced into a situation in which you MUST know a language to integrate into society. Making friends, buying food, and engaging in small talking with neighbors all require language skills beyond those we learned in our 3-month training. While volunteers span a wide spectrum in terms of language learning aptitudes, interest in Chinese culture, and access to good Mandarin speakers, most who made a genuine effort came out of their two years with applicable language skills for a professional role.   

                I would like to note that PCVs who live in countries where Romance languages are spoken often obtain a much higher level of fluency than those who live in Asian, Eastern European, Middle Eastern, or African countries. This is the result of factors such as: 1.) Romance-languages being more similar to English and 2.) the language abilities of the locals (i.e. locals only speak a non-English language). I’ve had friends who went to Latin America with zero language skills and came out completely fluent after two years. Don’t expect that to be the case in all countries.
                But even if you do not achieve native-level proficiency during your Peace Corps tenure, you will gain a better understanding of how you learn languages. Maybe you pick up a language best by reading books. Or maybe you are one who learns best by chatting with your local restaurant owner. Whatever the case may be, your Peace Corps experience gives you two years to understand your learning style and practice the language on a daily basis. And the confidence of having learned a new language (possibly from scratch), will help you facing down and achieving other long-term goals.

 

 

                Of course, the language you learn will vary from country to country. Chances are decent you’ll learn a useful language, such as Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, or French. Even if you don’t learn a widely spoken language, the study skills, perseverance, and study habits you develop will go a long way in learning any other language you choose.

3.) Confidence to take on any challenge
                Tied to number 2 is the confidence you gain from having taken an innumerable amount of challenges during your time in the Peace Corps. PCVs are inherently pretty brave, considering they commit to living where their skills are best fit for two years, as determined by Peace Corps. For example, my Peace Corps recruiter initially recommended me for the Latin America region, but later reassigned me to Asia. Okay, cool!
                The day-to-day challenges a PCV faces vary in scope, size, and quantity. Many of the challenges PCVs face are unheard of for the majority of middle-upper class Americans living in the US.

Survival challenges include:

• -Learning about a culture when you can’t even speak the language
• Being scrutinized (usually without malicious intent) everywhere you go
• Re-adjusting your expectations with projects do not go as planned
• Taking extra precautions when preparing food, in order to avoid infection

 

Intellectual and spiritual challenges:

• Reflecting on your own belief system when you live in a society where the mainstream thought opposes your convention.
• Examining the forces for why people behave as they do,
• Examining the historical, economic, and political forces for why the country got to its current state

 

The point is that you face hundred, if not thousands of challenges on a daily basis. These challenges can be overwhelming. However, there usually comes a point when you understand that things that used to be difficult are now routine. New challenges arise, but you are so comfortable living amongst challenges that incremental ones do not paralyze you.

In contrast, after being back in the US, it is fascinating to see how small obstacles can absolutely stifle the progress of so many seemingly competent people. When people live too comfortably, it’s like they can’t imagine anything ever going wrong. For Peace Corps volunteers, things have gone wrong (and right) so many times that it’s difficult to be rattled.