Beijing Accent: The Reason Why I Still Can’t Understand Anyone Here

It’s 7:30 PM and I’m standing on the street waiting for local street food vendor to finish cooking my 串 and he asks me a question. I understand about 30% of it. Rather that stopping to think about what he asked, I decide to play it cool and mumble “yes”, pretending like it’s a yes or no question. Doing so immediately blows my cover and he knows right away that I’m a foreigner and proceeds to speak slower to me and ask me where I’m from. That was a mildly embarrassing moment.

This isn’t the first occurrence for me, either. It’s happened on taxis and buses and at markets. By now, I like to think I’ve managed to elevate my Mandarin to a pretty respectable level. So why is it that I find it so hard to comprehend what these people are saying? They have this one thing in common: they are native Beijingers and thus possess the Beijing accent.

Appropriately referred to as er hua (儿化), the accent differs from standard Mandarin (which is accent neutral) in that it adds an “-er” (儿) to the end of almost every word to make them sound different. One or two spoken words may be harmless, but when strung together in a sentence full of er hua, I find it almost unintelligible and quite frankly, a little obnoxious. Apart from word modifications, Beijing Mandarin tends to have a nasally tone, as if someone is holding his/her nose while talking. What’s worse is when I say something to a taxi driver and he repeats what I said with the Beijing accent (ex: men kou zai na li? >> men kour zai nar?) as if I said something incorrectly. What’s more, I find it perplexing that natives consider the Beijing accent to be elegant and proper, likening it to the Queen’s English of Mainland China.

Beijing is a very diverse city where many people from all over China come to work and live. Therefore, you will hear all kinds of Chinese accents being spoken. But I know I’m speaking to a Beijinger when I have almost no idea what they are saying to me. Even the Southern Chinese who reside here have their own accent but it’s nowhere near as noticeable as Beijing hua. For people living in Beijing, learning standard Mandarin and training their ears to hear words a certain way, this may pose as a moderate challenge because of the inconsistency with conflicting words and dialogue. Although it may be off-putting to some (including me), the Beijing accent is one of the many things unique to Northern China and gives Beijing natives their identity. Might as well try to adapt while living here.

Why Learning Chinese is So Damn Hard

Not everyone has difficulty learning new languages so let me just preface this post by saying it is hard for me. I think it requires a massive amount of discipline as well as patience and time before one can truly develop a respectable understanding of Chinese. Chinese is a useful language to know and one of the major reasons why I’m here in Beijing. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t struggle and get frustrated with learning the language. Here’s why:

The Tones

In English, we can put emphasis on words to express our tone (seriousness, sarcasm, excitement, etc.). In Mandarin however, putting different tones in a word results in different meanings. In all, Mandarin utilizes 4 tones:

1. High & flat: jiā (家 or home) Think of it as the “ding!” sound in a microwave.
2. Rising: jiá (夹 or narrow lane) Like you’re asking a question (jia?)
3. Falling then rising: jiǎ (假 or fake)
4. Falling: jià (价 or price) Like you’re exclaiming (jia!)

For new learners, this can be quite confusing. When talking with Mandarin speakers, saying the slightest word with the wrong tone can have a completely different or even nonsensical meaning. There are times that I’ve gotten weird looks from natives who didn’t understand me because I was saying the word with the wrong tone. It’s something you definitely have to stay conscious of when learning new words and using them in sentences.

The Characters

Although this is one of the aspects I find most interesting about Chinese, it is also the most complicated. Like Japanese, Chinese writing is not composed of words, but characters. Unlike English, which has a 26-letter alphabet and phonetic system to build words, Chinese has no such foundation to help you decipher unfamiliar characters.

For comparison purposes, let’s say I come across an English word that I haven’t seen before. Although this word is unfamiliar, I know that every letter has a phonetic sound and I just need to follow some fundamental English rules. Thus, I can pretty much sound the letters out and have, at the very least, a rough idea of what I just read.

With Chinese characters, or hanzi (汉字), this is not the case. There are no phonetic clues to aid you; you either know the character or you don’t. Moreover, each hanzi represents a word and there are more than 3,000 hanzi’s being used today. That means unless you’re learning and memorizing new characters everyday, chances are you probably won’t be able to read through a newspaper or even a public sign without coming across characters you don’t recognize.

Reading and understanding Chinese text at a competent level takes a good amount of discipline. Most people will tell you that reading Chinese is the hardest aspect of learning Chinese. I find it especially true when ordering food at a restaurant and there are no pictures on the menu.

The Radicals

A major component that makes up a Chinese chracter are the radicals. They can be considered the building blocks of a hanzi. In fact, radicals are so present in hanzi, one could say it’s the substitute for an alphabetic system, though this would be a very very rough substitution.

Take a look at these different characters: 青 请 情 清 晴 精.

You’ll notice that there is a different radical on the left side of each character (not to mention a different tone as well). These characters look similar, but have a different radical and therefore mean something different. This is very confusing for me because I often misinterpret a character because of its radical, especially at a quick glance. So you may think you recognize a character, but if it has a radical you don’t know, you may not know it at all.

The Context

When speaking Mandarin, it is very important that you use the correct words, especially with verbs, in certain situations. This is counter-intuitive for English speakers where the same word can be used in many different situations and contexts.

Let’s look at the example “I don’t know how to speak Chinese” and focus on the “don’t know”. In Chinese there are at least 3 ways to say “don’t know” and needs to be placed in the right situation. There’s buzhidao (不知道) which means you don’t know or are unaware of a fact (ex: I don’t know the answer). Then there’s buhui (不会), which doesn’t just mean you don’t know, but you don’t have the learned ability to do so. Finally, there’s renshi (认识), which means you are not familiar or acquainted with someone. Thus, the correct translation would be wo buhui shuo Zhongwen or 我不会说中文 because you don’t know or don’t have the mastered ability to speak Chinese.

This is just one of many examples of where you have to take into account the context when speaking. Whereas in English, “don’t know” can be used almost universally, you have to understand your situation and use the appropriate terms when speaking Chinese.

Conclusion

Many English speakers will come across these issues when speaking, listening, reading and writing in Chinese. Even after being aware of said difficulties, it can still be hard to train yourself to avoid mistakes. There are a slew of other things that may be difficult like tonal changes, pinyin rules, and stroke order but I don’t find them to be as frustrating. If you are keen on learning the language, I suggest enrolling in a course or get some private tutoring. Also, find some Chinese friends or strangers whom you can practice talking and listening to. As for reading, get out some flash cards and start memorizing.

Chinese is truly complex and deep, integrating culture and history to the language. As a foreigner, you don’t have to learn Chinese, but it is certainly helpful to know and will gain you a new level of respect from the natives.

A Chinese American Living in China

When I decided to live and work in Beijing, China, I semi-joked with my friends that I am moving to the motherland and returning to my roots. Being an ABC (American Born Chinese) and raised by immigrant parents from Hong Kong, I thought I’d easily identify with those native to the Mainland. This conclusion couldn’t be any more untrue. Even in my first couple days living here in Beijing, I realized just how much my Chinese culture has been blended with a heavy dose of American flavor. There is even a Chinese term for people like me. The term Huayi (华裔) means one who is a non-Chinese citizen but is of Chinese ancestry. Now that I’ve lived here for nearly 2 years, I can say without question, that I’m simply Chinese by appearance and American by heart.

Language Barrier

The most obvious and frustrating aspect of being Chinese American in the PRC is the fact that because you have a Chinese face, everyone assumes you know how to speak the language. While it’s a little bit easier for me to learn than the average foreigner because of my upbringing (my first language was actually Cantonese), I’m still here learning Mandarin just like everyone else. Thus, I feel a little embarrassed at times when someone speaks to me and expects me to understand and respond.

I remember playing basketball last week and doing my best to pass off as a native. That was until one of the guys started talking to me while we were waiting on the next game. He spoke to me in a very casual manner that suggested that I knew what he was saying. I responded the best way I could to conceal my American secret identity. But within a few sentences, he ends up asking me what country I’m from and my cover was blown. This was when I explained my story of my being here in Beijing. This slightly embarrassing moment has actually happened many times here. Unlike other Americans who stand out, Chinese Americans blend in with the crowd and simply don’t get the same impression or interaction as White, Black or Latino Americans do.

Another thing that tends to happen to me and I’m sure to other ABC’s living in China is the amount of surprised looks I get from everyone as soon as I open my mouth. I can’t tell you how many double-takes and awkward stares I get from strangers on buses when I’m on my cell phone speaking perfect English. It’s a little bit uncomfortable because it immediately sets me apart from the rest and they realize that I’m not from China. I would hope that my clothes or my mannerisms would be a stronger hint to the natives, but in fact it takes either my fluent English or my not-so-fluent Chinese to let them know that I’m actually a foreigner.

Cultural Differences

There are parts of my being ethnically Chinese that I do identify with the Chinese, but only in the most superficial and diluted way possible:

• My idea of Chinese New Year celebration is dinner with my family and relatives for one night receiving red envelopes, not taking a 15-day vacation that commences and culminates with fireworks on the streets
• Chinese New Year and Moon Festival are really the only holidays my family and I celebrate, not the other holidays occurring from February to October
• Because I have a Cantonese background, the Chinese grammar structure and phrases makes sense to me, yet I wouldn’t know how to explain why it does
• I grew up eating Chinese food and eat plenty of it here, but there are days when I would rather be eating burgers or pizza instead
• Chinatown is about the closest place where I can be in a “Chinese environment” back home
• I couldn’t tell you anything about the history of China beyond the Communist Revolution

Chinese  American

With that said, if I could rate myself on being Chinese, I’m probably around 40%. That 40% belongs to the fact that I still have an rudimentary understanding of Chinese language and practice of cultural holidays. The other 60% of my identity is due to my growing up in America, completely understanding American issues, values, and humor. In fact, I find Chinese culture to be rather obscure and counter-intuitive when comparing it to American culture. Some may call that being white washed. I used to resent that term, but after living in China, I’ve learned to embrace it and appreciate my American foundation. Although I like to claim that China is my motherland, the United States of America is where I truly and proudly call home.

 

-Stan

Fun Ways to Learn Chinese

Classes and textbooks aren’t the only way to study a language. In fact, those options are often expensive and time consuming. If you’re an expat with no time to sit down and study, here are some fun and practical ways to learn Chinese (sometimes without even knowing it).

Karaoke

Areas helped: vocabulary, reading, comprehension

Singing Chinese songs is not only a fun way to impress your Chinese friends, but a great way to help you learn Chinese in the process. It’s a little overwhelming at first with all the hanzi’s you don’t recognize or know how to say, but give it time and you will find it’s not that different from memorizing a song in your own language. The best way to learn is to pick a song that you think sounds nice or is short and then find out what the lyrics mean. Once you learn each verse and chorus line’s meaning, the hanzi combos will make much more sense in your head, and thus will be easier to memorize. Many of the most popular songs are slow ballads so they’re relatively easy to learn line by line. From all the songs I’ve practiced singing, I’ve picked up many words and phrases to add to my lexicon that I would’ve taken forever to learn and memorize otherwise.

Chat/Text Message

Areas helped: reading, grammar

Because handwriting is no longer an absolute necessity to pick up these days, SMS and chatting is where you can learn to recognize hanzis. It’s also very practical because you will more than likely have a Chinese contact or 2 while being here. Texts and chat conversations I have with my Chinese friends are usually never too complicated to understand without a Google translation. Assuming you have a fair understanding of pinyin, input method programs should carry you the rest of the way, coming up with possible combos for every pinyin you type. Throughout the process of chatting, you will pick up grammar structure and how phrases are used in daily life. Do yourself a favor and get a QQ account so you can start chatting with your Chinese friends.

Watch TV

Areas helped: listening, culture, reading

It seems a little daunting at first because you don’t understand anything that’s going on, but with enough time and you will subconsciously be familiarizing your ears with words and sentences and its context. Like with singing songs, pick a TV program that you think seems interesting, like a drama series or the even cartoons. If the show holds enough interest to you, you will find yourself wanting to know what the program characters are saying. Also, take note of the Chinese subtitles included in every show so that you can practice recognizing hanzis as well. In my case, I enjoyed watching the Chinese broadcast of the NBA. Besides simply watching, I tried to relate the words spoken with the situation to get a better sense of context. Pretty soon after, I learned a good amount of phrases and idioms in the realm of sports. Now imagine what you can learn just from watching regular TV programs.

Talk!

Areas helped: speaking, listening, culture, grammar

If you have enough vocabulary and basic sentence structure under you belt, go ahead and give it a try. Talk to the stranger at the bar and introduce yourself. That stranger will probably want to know where you’re from and why you came to China which will surely open up a conversation and thus an opportunity to practice. If you’re here for work and/or have Chinese colleagues or roommates, don’t just use your English exclusively to talk. They won’t make fun of you if you have horrible Chinese (their English is probably just as bad). In fact, coworkers and flatmates are probably the best way to learn some free Chinese because they can teach you how to use words and sentences in the right context. They will often use a lot of slang and colloquialisms in daily life that you can pick up and use as well. I’ve often got into some hilarious conversations with coworkers on a number of topics ranging from Chinese history to dating, all the while improving the fluency of my Chinese.

Useful Classifiers When Speaking Chinese

When speaking English and asking for water, you don’t say “May I please have a water”, but rather “May I please have a cup of water.” Alternatively, you can use glass or bottle depending on the situation. Similarly in Chinese, measure words are used to classify the object that you are talking about. But the difficult thing about Chinese use is that there seems to be more than a hundred different kinds of measure words to describe things. As a foreigner speaking Chinese, you probably don’t have the time or the dedication to remember so many different classifiers, so here is a list of common ones to help you sound less like a laowai.

Ge/个 – General

This is the jack of all trades measure word. If you’re unsure about what is the proper classifier to use, always refer back to this one. In general, you can use it for individual things or for people

• na ge ren hen gao, 那个男人很高, That man is tall
• zhi ge dongxi you wenti, 这个东西有问题, This thing has a problem

Fen/份 – Portions, Dishes of Food

Good to use when ordering food at restaurants. Just add 份 before whatever dish you want to order.

• wo yao yi fen chaofan, 我要一份炒饭, I would like a plate of fried rice

Bei/杯 – Beverages

Used when you’re talking about a drink. The word itself literally means “cup”.

• wo men yao liang bei bing nai cha, 我们要两杯冰奶茶, We want 2 cups of iced milk tea

Jian/件 – Clothes, Business

When talking about clothes at the mall or having an issue you need to take care of, use this measure word. Interestingly, you can NOT use this when talking about hats because that alone has its own classifier.

• Zhe jian yifu tai gui le, 这件衣服太贵了, This shirt is too expensive
• Wo you yi jian shi yao zuo, 我有一件事要做, I have something I need to take care of

Yang/样 – Describing Attributes

Used when you want to express the way something should look or the way something should be done.

• Zhe yang ba: ni xian qu, ran hou wo yihuir lai pei ni, 这样吧:你先去,然后我一会儿来陪你, How about this: you go first, and I will accompany you later.

Ci/次 – Times

One of the times when you can’t use “ge”. A simple measure word to quantify simple instances or occurrences.

• Wo gei ni da dian hua san si ci, dan shi ni hai mei you jie, 我给你打电话三四次了,但是你没有接, I called you 3-4 times but you still haven’t picked up the phone.

Xie/些 – Some

Use this when you want to clarify that something has a quantity of more than one. Note that when you use this, it acts as a substitute for any classifier, no matter what you’re talking about.

• Na xie kuzi you piaoliang you pianyi, 那些裤子又漂亮又便宜, Those pants are both great looking and cheap.

Chang/场 – Games

The classifier on it’s own can mean sporting fields. It is normally used to describe a match, usually in sports.

• na chang qiu sai da de hen li hai le, 那场球赛打得很厉害了, That match was played furiously.

Ben/本 – Books

Simple enough to understand, use this measure word when referring to books, periodicals, etc.

• Zhe ben shu cong tushuguan jie de, 这本书是我从图书馆借的, I borrowed this book from the library

Mobile Apps to Help you Survive in China

Living in a country where you don’t speak the language is tough. Not being able to read and understand the language only makes matters worse. Fortunately, we live in an age where handsets are the new Swiss Army knives, able to navigate you through any jam. For smart phone users, there are a couple very useful apps that will help guide you through trouble and misunderstanding in China.

Hanping Chinese (Android)

Hanping Chinese is an offline English-Chinese dictionary that can help you search for words that you’e unfamiliar with, or want to say something in Chinese but don’t know how to say it. The app recognizes English, pinyin and hanzi (汉字; Chinese characters), simplified and traditional, and comes with definitions for each word. Another nice touch is that it displays appropriate classifiers for a given word (example: clothes/yi1fu/衣服/CL:件/jian1). There are even Chinese sayings and idioms to really impress your Chinese friends. Hanping is better than a pure translator because it puts words into context for you through definitions rather than a simple translation. This will really help you understand the word you searched for. The app is free and will help add to your Chinese vocabulary.

Google Pinyin IME (Android)

Your phone most likely doesn’t come with any input method. Google Pinyin IME is a free input method to help you type in hanzi and thus save you time. Consider it the mobile version to the keyboard input method found on computers. Depending what you type in your keyboard, the program predicts what characters you are trying to input, listing possible candidates while you’re trying to typing. Once you recognize the character you want, just tap that candidate and it will appear on your text as hanzi. For example, type in woaini (I love you) and “我爱你” will appear as a possible candidate. What’s great about Google Pinyin IME is that it’s integrated with the digital keyboard, meaning you can seamlessly switch it on and off with a simple tap of a button. With its more recent update, Google Pinyin IME offers character handwriting input, making it one of the most complete apps to aid your Chinese. Assuming you have a fair level of pinyin understanding and hanzi recognition, this program will make help you type, or write Chinese at a much higher speed and efficiency.

Pleco Chinese Dictionary (Android, iPhone)

Pleco has been an available app for a long time for iPhone users and has recently made its way to Google Play Store. Similar to Hanping, this app acts as a comprehensive offline Chinese-English dictionary. The app gives you context to a word, providing example sentences to help you fully understand how to use it. Pleco allows you to read, write and speak Chinese to get a translation. Other neat features is a flash card testing system to help you remember those hard to learn words. Something that sets Pleco apart from Hanping is its ability to add add-on’s, paid and free, to further aid your Chinese knowledge. One notable add-on is Pleco’s Optical Character Recognizer, allowing you to instantly look up Chinese using your camera. This can be especially useful when you don’t understand a sign in public. Please take note though, because you will not be able to make purchases while in China via Android.

Google Maps (Android, iPhone)

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten lost in Beijing only to be saved by Google. Though this app is not China-centric in any way, Google Maps has gotten me out of late-night jams better than any method I can think of. The app points out your location via GPS and gives you surrounding information like the closest bus stop or subway station. If you’re planning to go somewhere new, just type in the destination and Maps will tell you how to get there the fastest way possible. If you choose to go places by public transportation, Maps will give you all the possible transit routes to take at that exact time, including estimated time of arrival. Also included are walking and bike routes. One thing to note though, is that because your location is in China, all the signs on Maps will show up in hanzi rather than English, so knowing how to type pinyin is important.

For foreigners who have limited or no knowledge of Chinese, these apps can save a lot of time and frustration. Combine Hanping and Google Pinyin together and you already have a starting foundation to learn Chinese. Google Maps can be a convenient guide if you get lost or you are in unfamiliar territory. Do yourself a favor and download these apps to make your life in China a lot easier.