Learning Mandarin is often seen as a long time investment, especially if you’re working in a multinational company. Aside from opening more job opportunities and career advancement, learning Mandarin when you’re in a Singapore workplace can provide the following benefits. 

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: A Beginner’s Guide to Business Chinese for Expats in Singapore

Better Contribution

Learning Mandarin can help you become more involved in many business processes, especially one that requires active discussion. In most cases, you can also help contribute to your company by bridging the language gap between English and Mandarin speakers. By understanding business Mandarin to communicate with coworkers and clients, you can be a valuable team member in your company and open more exciting opportunities in your workplace. 

Avoid Miscommunication

Many failures stem from miscommunication, causing an ineffective business process that may hinder productivity. Important key terms in Mandarin may get slightly altered upon direct translation, causing many workers to lose the real context of the information. By learning business Mandarin, you can be more accurate in collecting information and instructions to help increase your performance. 

Reduce Interpreter Costs

In many cases, learning Mandarin is no longer an option as Singapore companies often collaborate with Chinese corporations. In this case, hiring an interpreter to help achieve smoother communication might be an option that you need to rely on. Although this can be a short-term solution, hiring an interpreter may cost a company greatly.

As an expat relocating in Singapore, handling a conversation in Mandarin might be a challenge, especially if you have no prior experience in using the language. Before you can have a smooth conversation fully in Mandarin, you need to learn the basics of Mandarin. In this section, we will discuss how to enhance your communication with Chinese colleagues. 

Listen Actively

Before learning how to speak, you can start understanding business Mandarin by listening actively to what your Chinese colleagues are saying. Listening actively requires your complete focus on finding the main discussion point of your conversation. This method can be achieved by recognizing key terms used during communication and summarising the information you’ve gathered. 

Respect and Practice Business Etiquette

Aside from learning its language, another important thing that you need to remember while communicating with Chinese colleagues is respecting and practicing common business etiquettes. Showing respect can leave better impressions and help you get more connected with Chinese colleagues. If you’re unfamiliar with business etiquettes, you can start with something small, such as mastering greetings in Mandarin and avoiding interruption. 

Indirect Communication

One important detail that you need to understand when building better communication with Chinese colleagues is their tendency to avoid direct communication. Understanding this tendency is especially important if you’re trying to reject or show disagreement with your Chinese colleagues. 

If you already have basic Mandarin skills to communicate daily, the next step that you need to take is mastering business Mandarin skills for professional sectors. Learning business Mandarin can be challenging for many since you are expected to understand specific Chinese terms related to your business. From writing professional emails to attending business meetings, improving your business Mandarin can be done through several methods as the following.  

Learning Independently 

If you currently have a limited budget, the best way to learn business Mandarin skills is by learning independently. Nowadays, this method is supported by the use of the internet and many free learning resources. This way, you can easily adjust your schedule and learning materials to match your needs. 

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: 10 Reasons Why Learning Business Chinese with a Real Tutor Beats Any AI App

Learning Through Chinese Drama

If you prefer having a more exciting way of learning business Mandarin, you can try watching Chinese dramas related to your job. Learning through Chinese drama will allow you to understand commonly used business Mandarin terms and help you get better and recognise working culture or business etiquettes. This method is often more effective if you’re seeking for practical information of what you’ve learned before. 

Attending Chinese Courses

If learning by yourself is still too hard, you can try connecting yourself with experienced trainers by enrolling in business Chinese courses. These courses allow you to involve a professional and learn based on an arranged curriculum. Business Mandarin courses often offer the ability to tailor classes depending on your working field and job scope. This will allow working professionals to learn business Mandarin more effectively and focus on what they actually use in their workplace.