Essential Hacks for Beijing Newcomers 给初来北京的人的重要技巧

With summer vacation just around the corner, it’s a time of transition in Beijing and at YCIS Beijing as well. Some families bid us farewell as they move back to their home countries, while others just beginning their China experience arrive to take their places.

暑假即将到来，这也是对北京和北京耀中来说一个重要的过渡时间。一些家庭要跟我们道别回到他们的国家去，另一些才刚刚到来即将在北京开始他们的新生活。

At YCIS Beijing, we take great care to ensure our children are able to fully adapt to and eventually embrace the local culture, namely through Chinese language and China Studies programmes. However, for those adults who don’t have the luxury of a YCIS Beijing education, the city can be a challenging place to adapt to, especially if you speak zero Mandarin! However, we promise that if you manage to get out and explore, it will be well worth the effort.

北京耀中国际学校通过中国语言和文化研究项目来帮助确保您的孩子能够适应和融入当地的文化。然而，对于不能接受到中国学校教育的成年人来说，这座城市可能会很难适应，尤其如果你不会说中文的话。但是，我们向您保证，如果您愿意来探索感受这座城市，你一定不会后悔！

To make this transition process easier, we spoke with Primary Curriculum Coordinator Jennifer Mills, who’s just finished her fourth year in Beijing. As she departs China for new opportunities, we asked her to draw on her breadth of experience to offer some sage advice for newly arriving families:

为了使您有一个平稳的过渡，我们采访了小学课程主管Jennifer Mills女士，她已经来北京四年了。她现在为了更好的机会将要离开，她结合自己的经验为初来北京的家庭提供一些好的建议：

What was the biggest challenge you faced when you first moved here (and how can newbies overcome it)? 

您刚来北京的时候遇到的最大的困难是什么（作为新来的人该怎样克服这个困难呢）？

The biggest challenge for newcomers is being lost. Beijing is such a big city. Most Chinese people you meet are very helpful and want to assist foreigners, but not speaking Mandarin was a real challenge. 

对于初来北京的外国人来说最大的困难就是迷路。北京太大了，虽然很多中国人都很乐于助人，但是不会说中文确实是个大问题。

Learning useful phrases in Mandarin as well as taking pictures of where I wanted to go with the address and map in Chinese really helped me navigate the city. Having Google translate on my phone got me out of a lot of tight spots!

学说一些有用的中文词语、将你要去的地方的地址和地图拍张照会对你去到那里有很大帮助。我手机里的谷歌翻译让我在很多关键时刻化险为夷。

You can find the rest of Jennifer’s tips by tapping “Read more”!

点击“阅读全文”来获取Jennifer的所有小建议！