TESOL Teaching if Mandarin fluency is important

[griz326]

I intend to retire and teach English for a few years. Attaining a good level of Mandarin fluency is an important personal objective. Is there any hope of learning good Mandarin in the NW or SW of China or must I stick to the Beijing area?

I presume instruction in the written language is not affected by location.

[Xiao Kui]

I think you will learn Mandarin much faster in a northeastern city (I'm not sure which are your best bets as far as Mandarin - maybe Dalian, Beijing, Qingdao, and Harbin, I'm sure there are others, it's been discussed many times in these forums where to get the best CHinese), where it is spoken in daily language by the locals, but it will still require discipline on your part not to lean on English and not to let people use you to practice their English.

I've lived 5 years in SW China, and I'm convinced that I would have learned Mandarin better and faster if I'd been in Beijing or Dalian for this time. Because you very rarely hear Mandarin spoken on the street in Kunming or Chengdu, and you rarely overhear or get the chance to "eavesdrop" on a Mandarin conversation. The only Mandarin environment you have is in your Chinese class. Living in Kunming, I rely on Chinese TV for my Mandarin - otherwise I won't improve.

As many will testify, simultaneously teaching English and learning Chinese is a difficult balance to maintain, why make it harder on yourself by living in an non Mandarin speaking environment? I'm still hoping to move to the Northeast one day so I can hear Mandarin spoken in daily life - I think that would be so rewarding to me after having studied the language for 9 years.

[anonymoose]

I think to a certain extent Xiao Kui is right, but most people (except the elderly) will be able to speak pretty decent mandarin wherever you go. So you should not have a problem if you are talking directly to them. Of course, when they are speaking to each other, they are likely to be using local dialect which will make eavesdropping difficult, but then, even Dalian has a local dialect, or at least local accent, which is often difficult to understand.

I think what is much more important is your attitude to learning Chinese. I'd say your success at learning will depend 90% on your attitude, and only 10% on your environment (assuming it is somewhere in China).

By the way, as for characters, you are right - it is the same everywhere on the mainland. However, Hong Kong and Taiwan use traditional characters, which are seldom used on the mainland (except in places like shop-signs).

[roddy]

I think what is much more important is your attitude to learning Chinese. I'd say your success at learning will depend 90% on your attitude, and only 10% on your environment (assuming it is somewhere in China).

That's exactly what I was going to say. It's also worth bearing in mind that where you live is going to affect how much you enjoy your stay and therefore how motivated you are to study. If you have a deep and abiding hatred for cold weather, then a winter in Harbin will see you huddled up in your quilt feeling sorry for yourself, which is no good for your Chinese regardless of how good the local Mandarin is. Go somewhere you think you will enjoy and create your own opportunities.