Learning the Language 199constitute some 92 per cent of China’s population. Some
linguists have argued that some Chinese dialects are far
apart enough that they should really be considered separate
languages; Mandarin and Cantonese, for instance, differ more
than, say, French and Spanish. These linguists argue that it is
a political decision by China’s leaders to emphasise unity by
speaking of ‘dialects’ rather than to emphasise local autonomy
by speaking of ‘languages’. Be that as it may, China certainly
also recognises that in addition to the seven dialect groups,
a number of other languages are also spoken in China. Some
non-Han minority peoples in China speak languages which
come from wholly other linguistic groups than Chinese.
Tibetan, for instance, descends from Sanskrit and is closer
to Hindi than to Chinese. The Uighur language of far North-
western China is closer to Arabic than to Chinese, and so on.
These are, by anyone’s definition, separate languages, and
should not be confused with the Chinese dialects.
Most expatriates will find it most useful to focus their
learning on Mandarin, which is used across China. However,
if you know you will spend most of your time in a particular
region, especially in a city with deep pride in local traditions
such as Shanghai or Guangzhou, you may want to consider
learning at least a few words in the local dialect to sprinkle
into your conversation. Doing so will earn you extra kudos and
goodwill from local Chinese, and offer endless opportunities
for one-upsmanship among expats.
From a broader business standpoint, foreign managers
must also understand the importance of dialects, and how
strongly they can affect business success for the local Chinese.
Salespeople, negotiators, HR personnel, government relations
experts and others will be most effective when operating in
the local dialect. Chinese who speak multiple dialects are at
a strong advantage when dealing with other Chinese; it is
quite common for teams of negotiators and others to move
back and forth between their local dialect and Mandarin,
effectively excluding non-local dialect speakers from parts of
the conversation. This is not to say a native of Beijing can’t
succeed in Shanghai, or a Cantonese in Yunnan, but it adds a
layer of complication. In key positions, it may be necessary to