Today I took one of the biggest Chinese exams of my life.
This wouldn’t be interesting except that I’m not in China as a student, this test did not take place in a classroom, and the result would not show on a piece of paper, but would have a significant impact on my life here in Beijing.
Let me explain.
The test was a job interview. It took place at the office of a Chinese company that as far as I could see, had no foreigners working there. So I could guarantee that at least part of my interview would be in Chinese. I’ve done parts of interviews in Chinese before, but that part is typically casual conversation to get a quick assessment of my Chinese level. I’ve never formally answered typically interview questions in Chinese such as describing your strengths, weaknesses, goals, career plan, etc. While I know I could answer these questions well enough in Chinese, I also know my answers would sound, at best, half as intelligent in Chinese compared to English.
As I’m thinking about this, the interviewer comes into the room. After we greet, she sits down and gets right to the language question, “Do you want to speak in English or Chinese?” I reply with “都可以” – “Either language is good for me.” Let’s start in English, she says, and we’ll switch to Chinese later.
She asks me to introduce myself. Then asks, how did I choose my major? Why did you start studying Chinese? Why did you want to come back to China? These questions I could almost answer in my sleep – English or Chinese. “好的，现在咱们用中文吧.” – “OK, let’s speak in Chinese,” she says with the enviable comfort and smoothness of a native speaker. “好, 没问题” – “No problem,” I reply, trying to sound like a confident second-language speaker despite far from perfect pronunciation.
She asks about my strengths. Then asks where I see myself in five years? What would be the biggest challenge of the job? With each answer, I find myself off to a quick start, my five years of Chinese study giving me enough of a foundation to get through the first couple sentences.
But then I find myself flailing a little. I realized in reflection that in English interviews, I have a thought and can then improvise quickly enough so that I don’t have to pause. But in Chinese, neither my vocabulary nor my improvisational skills are anywhere near my English level. With more simple topics I talk about all the time, that filter that processes English to Chinese has all but shut off. But during this interview, that filter is working at full force. When the filter is stuck, the best I can do is say “怎么说呢？” – “How can I put it?” I have learned that this is the most common phrase Chinese use when they are stuck on a thought. When I use it, I sometimes get complimented on how that’s such a “Chinese” way of speaking. I finished the interview moderately pleased that I only used a couple “怎么说呢”s.
I found out later in the day that I at least passed this first “test.” The company would like me to come back and meet the CEO. It looks like I’ll be taking the next level of this exam next week.今天我参加了人生中最重要的一场中文考试。
这并不有趣，但有趣的是，我不是中国学生。这场考试并非在教室进行，也无所谓的成绩单，但将对我在北京的生活有举足轻重的作用.
让我来给你讲讲这事儿.
这场考试是求职面试。这是一家中国公司，我在其办公室面试。就我所见，没有外国人在此上班。所以我敢说在我的面试中至少有一半是用中文讲的。以前我也接触过部分中文面试，但那些都比较随意，只是一些简单的对话，来测试我的中文水平。但我从未被要求用中文来回答类似请描述你的长处、短处、目标、职业计划等正式的问题。不过我相信，我不仅可以流利地用中文回答这些问题，并且能让人听懂，至少比较能让人听懂.
当我正在想这些的时候，面试官进来了。简短的问候之后，她坐下，直奔语言的问题。”Do you want to speak in English or Chinese（你想说英语还是中文）?” 我答道，“都可以。”她说，“那让我们先说英语吧，然后再说中文。”
她让我自我介绍。之后问我是怎么选择了现在这个专业？为什么开始学习中文？为什么想要回中国？这些问题我几乎可以在睡觉的时候答，而且中英文都没问题。“好的，现在咱们用中文吧。”她说母语的时候明显一身轻松。 “好，没问题。”我答道，并极力表现出对自己的第二语言很自信，尽管离完美的发音还有很远的距离.
她问了我的长处。之后问我的五年规划，在工作中最大的挑战会是什么？ 我发现在回答的刚开始几句思维很快，这是我五年中文学习为我打下的坚实基础.
但是渐渐的我发现有些语无伦次了。我开始意识到，在英文面试中，一旦我有了想法，我可以即兴表述出来，完全不需要停顿。但是我中文的词汇量和即兴演讲技巧完全达不到这点。我平时始终在用中文表述一些很简单的话题，而在将英语转换为中文的过程中常常卡住。但在这场面试中，我已经将转换率发挥到了极致。当转换不过来的时候，我说的最多就是“怎么说呢？”我发现这是中国人在不知如何表述时说的最多的一句话。我有时会因说这句话得到恭维，说我讲的中国话很地道。我对自己面试的表现还是比较满意的，因为我只用了没几次“怎么说呢”。
我在那天晚些时候知道我至少通过了第一轮“考试”。公司希望我去与他们的CEO面谈。看来下周我将经历下一轮的面试。