Learning Chinese to increase ones marketability

[Histogram]

What would be the most useful Chinese dialect for a Quality Engineer to learn? The reason is to make myself more marketable. I have 13 years in Quality Engineering and a total of 26 years of Engineering in metal fabrication and welding.

 

[jmw]

Hun Hao Tick!
Gang bei.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[IRstuff]

I think it's closer to "gan bei" pronounced like "gahn bey"

But, if you're really into THAT, then you should also master "mao tai" which is a measly 110 proof, amd kaoliang which is 116.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[jmw]

IRStuff, you are right, of course,... just checked my W Simon beginners dictionary, Gan bei it is. Xie Xie.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[jmw]

Dang, that shows how old I am, I got up from the computer and went and got that book out of the bookcase instead of Googling.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[Twoballcane]

gung hay fat choy

well that is the extent of my Cantonese...

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[KENAT]

I seem to recall a 'fad' of learning Japanese about 20 years ago based on the idea of Japanese industry etc. dominating world trade. Then the Japanese economy struggled through the 90's and on into the current mess.

So, is Chinese a better bet now than Japanese was then? Or is English already the de-facto international business language and there are other skills better to learn?

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484

 

[TheTick]

Yi bei pi jiu, xie xie ni.

 

[IRstuff]

Sure, the difference was that we were going to learn Japanese because we thought they would pretty much buy up all the US companies and we'd wind up working for the Japanese. And there really wasn't much in the way of outsourcing to Japan; even then, outsourcing, at least for electronics, was to Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, etc.

Currently, China isn't doing much in the way of buying US companies, perhaps a wise move on their part. But, we'd be learning Chinese so that we can buy stuff from they, or pay them to make stuff for us. A slight, but significant, difference.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[hokie66]

A "Quality Engineer" in China? Somehow, it just doesn't sound right.

 

[demayeng]

I studied mandarin for 4 years as a combined degree with my engineering, but have been put off by the number of engineers in china already. I've only visited for a holiday. I'd be keen to work there for a while, but not sure how to go about it.

 

[ornerynorsk]

Maybe you could beat the western world to the punch and jump directly to Hindi.

 

[TheTick]

How can you tell the Germans from the Americans in Suzhou?

The Germans are the ones who speak perfect English.

 

[Histogram]

?????
or
Thank you very much for the advice.
I am a quick study!!

 

[daivs]

Mandarin is the official language,if you can say Mandarin,wherever you can go in china.I come from china and know it.Wish you success.

 

[AeroNucDef]

Learn Chinese Mandarin, It's very widely spoken.

 

[FeX32]

I second the "Yi bei pi jiu, xie xie ni. " or maybe we should ask for 2 right off the bat.


Fe

 

[IRstuff]

Probably a pitcher would be more like it. Unless we want to try something a bit more challenging, like Gao Liang?

Did I ever mention that my Gung Fu instructor drank a pint of Gao Liang, or Mao Tai, EVERY day? On his birthdays, there would be stacks of cases of the stuff given by his students. Fathered a kid at 75, lived to 85; worked for him...

I don't think my liver would be up to that...

TTFN

FAQ731-376