kittycat1

Can anyone recommend a good place to learn Chinese here or if there is a good private tutor anyone knows of?

Cheers

KC
X

Bigtaff

Wow!! Is this for you? I offer chinese eating lessons but cant speak a word

kittycat1

Yep its for me and a couple of colleagues, as all our production is in china it would help loads as we have a few issues with communication- as in they don't speak very good english and we speak no chinese- would also be a great thing to have on the CV and would impress people in the pub!

Roadking

Howza 'bout China, china?

benzonar

I think Rattlesnake would be your best bet

Millhouse

that idea isn't as crazy as it first sounds. I'm sure some of the girls in there would be capable of acting as a translator to overcome manufacturing issues!

Euc-

Try International City?

lionheart

Do you mean Mandarin? Pop along to Dragonmart and ask anyone there. Alternatively, advertise on expatriates.com if you can overcome the UAE censorship.

Meow

Berlitz & Eton Institute both offer courses in numerous languages.

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emt14

Check chinesepod .com
Spent 2years in China and that's definitely the best podcast to learn to speak mandarin.

Zajian.

iseeyou

Maybe I can be some of help.Could you PM me your contact?

GrecoRomano

"Chinese" (and it is always Mandarin, as a dialect is not to be confused with the main language, like Welsh cannot be taken for English) is one of the most difficult language in the world to learn. Of a different family all together from the Indo-European ones, it is in reality three languages: the spoken one, the written one, the read one. You learn it separately. It has some 4000 years of written recorded history, to give you an idea the complex of Greek-Latin-Italian spans around 3000 (and I am stretching it a lot). Business-wise, they will never speak Chinese with you, I believe, resolving always to English, so if you wanna do it for that, fuggeddabboutit. And for the same reason you are trying to learn it: your communication skill will be so poor that they will switch to the best available: whatever they call "English".

Just do it for fun! It is very fun to learn, and so rewarding. History, literature, cinema, you name it, they got it, plenty. I gave once a thriller-ghost stories' collection (XVIII century) to a friend of mine who had no idea, he found it so engrossing he is an avid fan of Chinese literature now. And I'm not talking of the American one from the like of Amy Tan and Co, I am talking "mainland".

That said, in Dubai there was not (I am not sure there is now) a structure or someone with enough competence and confidence to teach proficiently Chinese to adults, you can place your bet and let me know, should I know of someone I'll do the same, but in general you might simply want to hire a young Chinese lady who speaks gudenuf English, THAT might help, commercially.
But be aware, if she's smart, she'll take over you and your business in a few years, easy.

学到老学不了

iseeyou

GrecoRomano seems to have a deep study in Chinese culture and you really have some original understanding about it.Curiously want to know you have much experience with Chinese guys? and the explanation about your last Chinese characters?

GrecoRomano

Not much, have to say I still prefer Chinese girls.

"Xue dao lao, xue bu liao", you study until you get old, you study and you never finish to. The Chinese say it merrily, and I relate to that.

outerspace

would be interested to hear if anyone's taken or heard of reasonable mandarin classes/tutoring being offered in Abu Dhabi.

wonder if i could just walk in to some of the chinese run restaurants near the gold souk and ask...?