How to improve your conversational skills in Chinese business contexts

To improve conversational skills in Chinese business contexts, it is important to focus on several key areas:

1. Understand Cultural Norms and Etiquette: Chinese business communication is heavily influenced by cultural values such as respect, hierarchy, and face-saving (mianzi). Showing politeness, using appropriate titles, and being patient in conversations are essential. ¹

2. Learn Relevant Business Vocabulary and Expressions: Familiarize yourself with common business terms and phrases used in Chinese business settings. This includes greetings, negotiation terms, and polite expressions. ²

3. Practice Turn-Taking and Listening Skills: Conversations in Chinese business contexts often follow specific turn-taking rules. Listening carefully and allowing others to speak without interruption are important for smooth communication. ³

4. Use Role-Play and Simulation: Engaging in role-play exercises that mimic real business scenarios helps build confidence and fluency in using Chinese conversational skills. ⁴

5. Develop Intercultural Communication Competence: Being aware of communication styles, indirectness, and non-verbal cues in Chinese business culture enhances understanding and reduces misunderstandings. ⁵

6. Use Digital Tools and Platforms: Leveraging language learning apps and platforms such as DingTalk can support vocabulary building and speaking practice tailored for business Chinese. ^{6, 2}

7. Focus on Continuous Practice and Feedback: Regular practice with native speakers or language partners, along with feedback on language use, helps improve both language proficiency and conversational confidence. ⁷

In summary, improving conversational skills in Chinese business contexts requires cultural awareness, focused vocabulary learning, practicing structured conversation patterns, and engaging in realistic role-plays or simulations. Combining these with modern digital tools can greatly enhance speaking abilities in professional settings. ^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7}

Références

• An Investigation of Pragmatic Failures in Communication for Chinese Beginners

• Innovative solutions for language growth: the impact of problem-based learning via DingTalk on Chinese undergraduates’ business vocabulary amid COVID-19

• Turn-taking to Analyze the Current Situation of English classes in Chinese high school students

• Implementing Role Play to Teach Speaking Skills for Secretarial Purposes

• The Teaching of Intercultural Communicative Competence in China: How Much Help Do Coursebooks Provide?

• Seamless Experience of Learning across Contexts for Chinese Vocabulary Learning: A Pilot Study

• Beyond “My English is Poor”: Unpacking the Speaking Challenges of Chinese EFL Learners in China

• Reverse Subtitling in the ESP Class to Improve Written Skills in English

• Individual differences and non-English-majors’ engagement in business English language classrooms in the Chinese university context

• Conceptualizing the Integration of a 3As Approach Content-Based Instruction into Teaching Business English Speaking to Chinese EFL Undergraduates

• Conversational Analytics in Self-Service Data Platforms: Democratizing Enterprise Data Access Through Natural Language Interfaces

• Application of Business Simulation Games in Flipped Classrooms to Facilitate Student Engagement and Higher-Order Thinking Skills for Sustainable Learning Practices

• Demand for and training of Chinese translators in the context of the �One Belt, One Road� initiative

• The Mediating Path of Transformational Leadership: A Cross-Sectional Study in Chinese Context

• Chinese English in as lingua franca in global business setting: A case study of ongoing emails of a foreign company in China

• Exploring the Use of ChatGPT in Chinese Language Classrooms

• Evaluation on ChatGPT for Chinese Language Understanding

• Learning Experiences of Chinese Salesman in B2B Settings: A Present Situation Analysis