Immersion is one of the suggested ways to learn business Mandarin effectively. From the many methods you can choose, Chinese drama can help you further your understanding while keeping you entertained by the story. Aside from helping with your listening skills, here are several benefits of utilizing Chinese drama to help you learn business Mandarin. 

Direct Implementation

One major problem that people feel while learning business Mandarin and work ethics is the lack of direct implementation that they can refer to while shaping their professionalism. Although Chinese dramas might not be the perfect portrayal of many working situations, learning through this media can give you a better overview on how to apply business Mandarin and Chinese customs during work. 

Offer Many Cases to Study From

If you’re new in your working fields, watching Chinese drama can be a great beginning. Usually, Chinese dramas consist of different conflicts, some of them tied directly to the working environment they’re currently in. Watching Chinese dramas can help you dive into different scenarios revolving around the working field associated with the drama. Learning through this scenario can help you understand how to respond to different circumstances and which business Mandarin phrases to use to display professionalism. 

Portrayed Fully in Mandarin

Chinese drama is carried fully in Mandarin, meaning that you will be encouraged to keep being engaged with the language you’re currently learning. Although it is possible to use English subtitles while watching Chinese drama, the lack of bilingual opportunities often help learners with getting familiar with more phrases. Furthermore, Chinese drama can also help your listening skills, especially when you’re learning different accents and dialects in Mandarin. 

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Gestures and Etiquette 

When learning through Chinese dramas, you will not only be able to learn new phrases, but you can also observe their gestures in detail. The ability to observe more than just the language isn’t something that you can find anywhere, especially if you’re learning with rather limited resources. In this situation, you can try observing details in Chinese drama, from the way they’re dressed, their gestures, and common Chinese customs. Make sure to recheck whether the etiquette is correct or not before applying it to your working environment. 

After knowing how Chinese drama can help you with understanding business Mandarin and working culture, the next thing that you can do is selecting the right series that can help you deepen your understanding in the field. To choose the perfect Chinese drama to watch, you need to know which working field they are covering and ensure that it aligns with your current job. Here are a few recommended Chinese dramas that discuss different industries in business. 

The Road to Ordinary

This Chinese drama consists of 36 episodes and is available on various streaming sites. Taking place in a law firm, this drama focuses mainly on a group of lawyer trainees that are led by their seniors. As trainees, the main lead and his coworkers are assigned to many different cases that require them to analyse circumstances clearly and stay in the path of justice. Aside from their struggles and trainees, the casts in the series also have issues with their family that highlights most of the conflict in the drama. As the main cast is a lawyer trainee, watching this realistic Chinese drama can help you learn how to communicate effectively with clients. 

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As Beautiful as You

Consisting of 40 episodes, this Chinese drama is perfect for those who want to enjoy a romance-business series. This drama focuses on the female lead, Ji Xing, who works at an IT company. After suffering through constant burn out and struggles, she decides to quit and start her own AI company. To establish this business, she needs help in collecting funds. That is when she finally meets the male lead, a CEO named Han Ting, who’s willing to help invest in the company. As they become professionally interacting with each other, romance begins to unfold between one another. As the premises mention, this story is perfect for those wanting to learn deeper about the IT industry and picking up common working cultures to help survive in different situations. 

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Hotel Trainees

As the title already implies, this Chinese drama focuses on a group of graduates from hotel management courses who get admitted to an international hotel chain. Consisting of 24 episodes, this drama is perfect if you’re working in the hospitality industry and wish to find a series that combines drama and lighthearted romance. This drama starts with a group of trainees who are not working wholeheartedly, but are challenged to maintain their professionalism in order to avoid being eliminated from the company. In this story, you will follow how the main characters are put on different hospitality sectors and interact with clients, making this a perfect series to help understand the working culture around the Chinese hospitality industry. 

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Master of My Own

This 32 episode Chinese drama is an adaptation of a novel titled Please Call Me the Director by Hong Jiu. Portraying a female lead named Ning Meng, this story revolves around her dream of becoming an investment director. However, her dreams are far from reach as she worked under Lu Ji Ming who seems to underestimate her capabilities. Fed up by the constant conflict with her boss, Ning Meng decided to quit and found another investment firm for her to begin her long career. As the story progresses, we will see how Ning Meng gradually becomes a professional in the field, making this drama suitable for those who want to learn how to start their career in the investment industry. Aside from its realistic setting, this Chinese drama is known to be a great portrayal of different investment cases. 

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I Will Find You a Better Home

Consisting of 53 episodes, this Chinese drama revolves around its female lead, Fang Si Jin. In the story, she is portrayed as a professional real estate agent at the headquarters. Seeing this development, she is sent to a Shanghai real estate company to help them overcome their declining sales. Though his relationship with Xu Wen Chang, the manager, started roughly, they finally joined forces to initiate discipline among the team members. Set in Shanghai, this story is mostly praised for its realistic portrayal of a real estate agent. With this plot, you can try to learn how to be a better real estate agent and understand common issues that they face. 

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After choosing the right Chinese dramas that can help you learn working culture, the next step that might come to your mind is how to learn effectively through these media. Surely, learning business Mandarin and working culture through Chinese drama requires more attention than watching it purely for entertainment. Although every individual has their own effective way, here are several practical tips in learning through Chinese drama that can elevate your knowledge in working culture. 

Watch with English Subtitles

This tip is perfect for those who want to start learning business Mandarin while watching Chinese drama. If you’re still a beginner and can’t comprehend many phrases, you can start with putting English subtitles in your Chinese drama. This way, you can practice your listening skills while absorbing new terms that you can implement in your working area. Once you’ve gotten the basics, you can try removing the English subtitles and focus yourself on consuming the drama strictly in Mandarin to help increase fluency. 

Take Note of New Vocabulary

As mentioned in the previous tip, Chinese drama can be a good way of learning new phrases. To help with better memorisation, you need to take note of new vocabulary that you’ve encountered during the drama. You can also write how to use the phrases in sentences and make your own examples to deepen your understanding. This list can later be transformed into flashcards to support long-term memorisation. 

Observe and Repeat

If you’re trying to implement Chinese customs and working culture, you have to observe clearly on how they act during different scenarios. Pay attention to small details such as how the actors dress and understand their gestures. After keeping notes on common working cultures, you can try to practice doing similar gestures at home. Be sure to research further about the Chinese working cultures that you pick out from different Chinese dramas and select the one that suits your job responsibility.

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