Posts from July 2009

Big Negotiations

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
Jul 17 2009

This post is for the business-focused readers of the blog.  When you’re negotiating in China, there are several things to keep in mind.

人不为己, 天诛地灭 – “Every man for himself, and the devil takes the hindmost.”  (also said as 人不利己， 天诛地灭) People are not usually magnanimous when it comes to negotiations, and it takes two people with genuine foresight to come up with a solution that benefits each other and people external to the deal.  This is nearly everybody’s #1 operating principle (and it’s certainly not exclusive to China).

双赢情况/两全其美 - Both of these can mean “win-win situation” or “mutually beneficial”.  The former is an imported phrase and the second is native.  Remember this in your negotiations – any deal that you can complete is a “win-win” situation.  Nobody would willingly agree to a “win-lose” agreement if they’re on the losing side.  If the terms of the deal are in any way unacceptable for any party, he/she won’t sign on the dotted line.  Simple as that.  That also means that you can walk away

沉默 – Silence.  This tool could be your most valuable asset when it comes to negotiations.  Pause for five seconds and see if the person you’re talking with begins to fill in the gap.  Bear in mind that this does not work as well in China, but realize at the same time that somebody may be employing this tactic with you.  You’d be surprised at the concessions people make when confronted with an seemingly unending silence- don’t be one of those people and you just might save yourself some headaches.

What are some of your thoughts/experiences on negotiation?  Leave a comment!

Key words:

己 ji3 – self
诛 zhu1 – punish
灭 mie4 – extinguish/exterminate
赢 ying2 – win
沉默 chen2mo4 – silence

Korea Pt. 2

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Jul 14 2009

While in Korea, I saw a sign that said 人民币升值了, 抓住机会 (the RMB is rising in value, seize this opportunity!).  In fact, the island of 济州岛 (Jejudo/Jeju Island) has rolled out many 措施 (measures) to attract 游客 (tourists) from China.  Even the 路牌 (road places) have Chinese names of places (this is unrelated to Korea’s use of Chinese characters in other situations).  One of the attractive point of Jeju for Chinese tourists is that they can purchase many 名牌 (name brand) products at a 免税店 (duty-free shop) without worrying about the high 关税 (tariffs) at the Chinese border for products such as makeup.  They also don’t have to weigh the option of 走私 (smuggling).

Words

人民币 ren2min2bi4 – “people’s currency” – the currency used by the PRC
升值 sheng1zhi2 – to increase in value
抓住 zhua1zhu4 – to seize
机会 ji1hui4 – opportunity
济州岛 ji2zhou1dao3 – Jejudo, an island off the southern coast of South Korea
措施 cuo4shi1 – measure(s)
游客 you2ke4 – tourists
路牌  lu4pai2 – road signs
免税店 mian3shui4dian4 – duty-free store
关税 guan1shui4 – tariff
走私 zou3si1 – smuggling

Charity in China, part 1

Posted by Transparent Language 2 Comments
Jul 11 2009

It is a fairly regular occurrence that I see 乞丐 (beggars) and 要饭的 (beggars – see below) on the streets of Beijing- particularly in areas with high tourist traffic.  This got me to wondering- how do people help others in China?  Of course, in many cases it is 信用 (credit) which restricts individuals from getting a loan to help themselves.  Sometimes, the help from 慈善会 (charities) may not be the type which suits them best.  However, either because the 贫民 (poor (people)) in question may be 文盲 (illiterate) or because he/she cannot find a 担保人 (guarantor), it is difficult to  ultimately secure funding for a plan.  Recently, I have come to know of some sites where this can be handled 在线 (online) with 线下 (offline) real world results.  Note that I am not a specific endorser in any way of these sites, just that I am mentioning them.  To my knowledge, www.kiva.org does not yet have operations in China, but the below do:

www.wokai.org
www.51give.com 51 = 我要 (see below)

乞丐 qi3gai4 – beggar
要饭 yao4fan4 – to beg (lit. “want food”) but adding 的 changes it to a noun form
信用 xin4yong4 – credit
慈善会 ci2shan4hui4
贫民 pin2min2 – poor people
文盲 wen2mang2 – illiterate
担保人 dan1bao3 – guarantor
在线 zai4xian4 – online
线下 xian4xia4 – offline
我要 – 51 (reads as “wu3yao1″ which sounds like wo3yao4) – used in Chinese domain names such as 51job.com, 51give.com

Fundraising

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Jul 8 2009

If your company needs seed funding to make it to the next step, you need to understand the process of 筹款 (fundraising).  Investors are going to be vigilant in their questioning of your 市场定位 (market position), your 目标客户群 (targeted customer group), and their 回报 (return on investment) quantified by 利息 (interest).  Your best bet is to 较低 (lay the cards out on the table) and prepare to let a lot of 期权 (stock options) go.

筹款 chou2kuan3 – fundraising
市场 shi4chang3 – market
定位 ding4wei4 – position
目标 mu4biao1 – goal/target
客户 ke4hu4 – client/customer
群 qun2- group
回报 hui2bao4 – return (on investment)
利息 li4xi1 – interest
较低 jiao1di3 – lay the cards out on the table
期权 qi1quan2 – options (like stock options)

Korea Part 1

Posted by Transparent Language 1 Comment
Jul 5 2009

I wrote this post while on the 高速铁路 (high speed rail) to 釜山(Pusan).  I departed from 首尔(Seoul), formerly known as 汉城 (old name for Seoul) with a friend.  We have enjoyed some great 拌饭 (bibimbap) so far here. What surprises me the most in Korea is the clearly high 效率 (efficiency）of most systems, not least of which is the rail system.  Things leave and arrive on time.  In addition to that, Korea has a fascination with 名牌 (name brand) products.  Back in college, I studied Korean for 3 years.  Actually, you get a substantial boost with vocabulary in studying Korean as many words (up to 60%) come from 古代 (ancient) Chinese.  However, there is still the 40% remaining words which are 本土 (native) terms.  Most remarkable here in Korea has been the 生活水平 (standard of living) of its population.  More on that in posts to come.

高速铁路 gao1su4tie3lu4 – high-speed rail
釜山 fu3shan1 – Pusan
首尔 shou2(3)er3 – Seoul
汉城 han4cheng2 – Seoul (old name)
拌饭 ban4fan4 – bibimbap
效率 xiao4lv4 – efficiency
名牌 ming2pai2 – famous brands
古代 fu3dai4 – ancient times
本土 ben2(3)tu3 – local, native
生活水平 sheng1huo3(2)shui4ping2 – standard of living

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