English in Dalian?

Hi, nice to see you here. Not only in Dalian, but in whole China, many people would like to practice English with foreigners.  Although Japanese is kinds of more popular in Dalian due to the history and more opportunities for a better job. I think you may make some friends via taking part in some language exchange paties in the city. you may talk with your friends in both two languages regularly. Hope you enjoy your stay in china

According to what I know, there seem to be less people speaking English here than in Beijing. But not really I guess, for there's one inevitable problem: in China, no matter where you go, there will always be a bunch of English learners who suppose that you should speak English with them. I see it as really a very lame phenomenon but it does take decades to change in general.
That is as well where my wisdom lies: I use Chinese to communicate with Chinese learners, nine of ten people appreciate it a lot and friendship lasts.
Anyway, good luck if you want to move to Dalian. Give you one piece of advice here ： if some locals want to build a language partnership with you, just make it clear in the first place that HALF ENGLISH, HALF CHINESE, and this partnership lasts.
With perseverance, you can learn it anywhere!

Devon Blue wrote:

According to what I know, there seem to be less people speaking English here than in Beijing. But not really I guess, for there's one inevitable problem: in China, no matter where you go, there will always be a bunch of English learners who suppose that you should speak English with them. I see it as really a very lame phenomenon but it does take decades to change in general.
That is as well where my wisdom lies: I use Chinese to communicate with Chinese learners, nine of ten people appreciate it a lot and friendship lasts.
Anyway, good luck if you want to move to Dalian. Give you one piece of advice here ： if some locals want to build a language partnership with you, just make it clear in the first place that HALF ENGLISH, HALF CHINESE, and this partnership lasts.
With perseverance, you can learn it anywhere!

I definitely stick to the 50/50 rule here in Beijing. But I need that extra "push" to get me to the next level. My Chinese is sort of past the 50/50 or Chinglish level, so I'm looking to see if I can find that sort of environment.

haha! loved that. thanks!

lyg7703 wrote:

Hi, nice to see you here. Not only in Dalian, but in whole China, many people would like to practice English with foreigners.  Although Japanese is kinds of more popular in Dalian due to the history and more opportunities for a better job. I think you may make some friends via taking part in some language exchange paties in the city. you may talk with your friends in both two languages regularly. Hope you enjoy your stay in china

I speak Japanese, great place to practice it I suppose. Thanks for the input

hello
well i think it all depends. I'm English major but i don't like practicing English with my foreign friends. What's more usually we speak Chinese with each other. I think language is just a way to communicate, as long as you can understand each. if you like to speak Chinese why not, we can speak Chinese hehe. But i understand that many foreign friends have this trouble. But i believe you will find friends to speak Chinese even without speaking English as reward. If you come, we can shuo han yu here but i will only stay here for several months more. later i will work in Beijing ^ ^.

RubyMarielle I have the same problem in SZ as you do in BJ. However in my case my Chinese is limited hence the constant need for my Chinese friends to converse in English with me. But I make the effort to use all of my Chinese even in phrases where I'm speaking English. Mixing both languages together in a sentence or statement. It's a hoot for my Chinese friends and as well they correct me, thus learning more and more Chinese.
In the end it's a choice for you and your friends. You may converse in Chinese while they may in English. 
Back "home" at the table (with my family) we spoke as many as four languages all at once. There was no preference and not all of the family could speak all of the languages. For instance I would speak French to my mom and then she would reply in English and then switch to French and then we may use Italian. My brother and his wife would speak Spanish and English to each other. My father and I would speak in Greek and then I would switch to Italian or English because my Greek isn't complete. Then at one point we may all be speaking English or French.
This happened because some things where better expressed in a particular language; a joke, a comment, describing a daily event and in particular Greek was often used to swear because it is so colorful.
So being in BJ or in SZ or other tier one cities where English is getting to be more common isn't quite the reason to not speak Chinese. Just get in the habit of speaking Chinese with Chinese friends and colleagues and let them speak English to you if they wish. Because no matter where you are going to be in China.... someone is going to want to speak English to you!


Kris

Now I'm in Beijing, tell me when you come to Beijing. ok?

glorialu wrote:

hello
well i think it all depends. I'm English major but i don't like practicing English with my foreign friends. What's more usually we speak Chinese with each other. I think language is just a way to communicate, as long as you can understand each. if you like to speak Chinese why not, we can speak Chinese hehe. But i understand that many foreign friends have this trouble. But i believe you will find friends to speak Chinese even without speaking English as reward. If you come, we can shuo han yu here but i will only stay here for several months more. later i will work in Beijing ^ ^.

其实现在我住在北京。你来到的时候，请告诉我。好吧？

Kris N wrote:

RubyMarielle I have the same problem in SZ as you do in BJ. However in my case my Chinese is limited hence the constant need for my Chinese friends to converse in English with me. But I make the effort to use all of my Chinese even in phrases where I'm speaking English. Mixing both languages together in a sentence or statement. It's a hoot for my Chinese friends and as well they correct me, thus learning more and more Chinese.
In the end it's a choice for you and your friends. You may converse in Chinese while they may in English. 
Back "home" at the table (with my family) we spoke as many as four languages all at once. There was no preference and not all of the family could speak all of the languages. For instance I would speak French to my mom and then she would reply in English and then switch to French and then we may use Italian. My brother and his wife would speak Spanish and English to each other. My father and I would speak in Greek and then I would switch to Italian or English because my Greek isn't complete. Then at one point we may all be speaking English or French.
This happened because some things where better expressed in a particular language; a joke, a comment, describing a daily event and in particular Greek was often used to swear because it is so colorful.
So being in BJ or in SZ or other tier one cities where English is getting to be more common isn't quite the reason to not speak Chinese. Just get in the habit of speaking Chinese with Chinese friends and colleagues and let them speak English to you if they wish. Because no matter where you are going to be in China.... someone is going to want to speak English to you!


Kris

Hmm... this doesn't really answer my question. However, I really really appreciate your commentary. I just feel the process is much slower this way and a bit unfair in a sense. Most Chinese I've met are very insistent on speaking and perfecting their English. I do the 50/50 and the blah blah blah but it's like... I didn't come here to teach you, because... we're in China. So, I expected people to, you know, speak Chinese.

At home, I think it's different. I speak with my family in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. But I think since my understanding of these languages is a bit more fluent, it is easier to do the mixing of the three. Or with my Japanese friends, we speak Japanese and English. But I think as you're learning, it's more difficult to mix because my problem is more grammatical than knowing the vocabulary.

So... in the end, I guess we just have to work with what we've got. Thanks for your input.

好呀！！希望我们能成为好朋友！我家在天津，但是我想去北京工作。明年6月我就毕业（graduate）了, 所以我最早7月才能去北京工作~~~>.<~~~但是或许春节的时候我能去北京找你哈哈

glorialu wrote:

好呀！！希望我们能成为好朋友！我家在天津，但是我想去北京工作。明年6月我就毕业（graduate）了, 所以我最早7月才能去北京工作~~~>.<~~~但是或许春节的时候我能去北京找你哈哈

Good Job glorialu now RubyMarielle can practice with you!

Kris

Kris N wrote:

glorialu wrote:

好呀！！希望我们能成为好朋友！我家在天津，但是我想去北京工作。明年6月我就毕业（graduate）了, 所以我最早7月才能去北京工作~~~>.<~~~但是或许春节的时候我能去北京找你哈哈

Good Job glorialu now RubyMarielle can practice with you!

Kris

O(∩_∩)O哈哈~

Hello guys > maybe we can continue this discussion in English.

Thank you.
Christine

Is everything ok here?

Hi, for sure. You're right, not everyone can read Chinese.

But Haha. Kind of an ironic request since my topic is short of a rant about not enough Chinese being spoken in China...

But yes, totally agree. :p

Christine wrote:

Hello guys > maybe we can continue this discussion in English.

Thank you.
Christine

glorialu wrote:

好呀！！希望我们能成为好朋友！我家在天津，但是我想去北京工作。明年6月我就毕业（graduate）了, 所以我最早7月才能去北京工作~~~>.<~~~但是或许春节的时候我能去北京找你哈哈

好啊。发给我短信吧？

Hi

I live in Dalian and I am an English born American citizen and although there is an expat community scattered through the city, services, even top hotels etc do dot really speak English.  This is most definitely a Chinese city and yes, Japanese is also spoken by some of the hotel staff etc, but if you have no Mandarin here, you will struggle for sure.  From cab drivers to - well, anything, really - no Mandarin, no life.  Kx