Migrant workers moving to cities: learning around the language barriers
“It was my first time leaving my village and I was on my way to 绍兴 (Shaoxing) not knowing anything, looking left to right I kept asking random people that spoke mandarin around me on the streets for directions, at least they were pretty enthusiastic about helping,” says Lijian Hua. A 18-year-old that left his village 徐家店村 (Xujiadiancun) in 吉林 (Jilin) at the age of 16 in order to see the world and make a living. Shaoxing, which is a tier 2 city located in the eastern part of China, would be his new home for the next two years.
Young people in small villages are constantly moving outwards, leaving their homes to reach towards bigger cities. But what does “moving” mean for them? What are they dealing with and how are they adapting? The difficulties and challenges of different dialects, learning new skills, and going back home that migrant workers face from not being accustomed to the city can be personal to themselves and not something everyone knows about.
Lijian came to Shaoxing for a job recommended by his sister, to be an assembler for a car company. Back in his village he could not find a job and as a young boy he felt like he had the duty to make money for the family. Once he made it to the city he quickly realized that he could not understand what some people were saying. “It was mandarin but I was just confused all the time, it wasn’t like a bad thing but I just felt frustrated,” says Lijian. He struggled to communicate with the people who spoke other dialects. Oftentimes he would raise his eyebrows and turn his head in confusion.
It turns out Lijian Hua isn’t the only one who struggles with the language barrier. Many migrant workers moving from a rural village to a big city struggle with the same issue. With cities being so populated with people from all over China it meant that there were many dialects being spoken at once and not everyone understands each other, especially within migrant workers themselves. Depending on what the definition of language or dialect means to different people, it is safe to say that there are roughly 302 dialects with 10 being the main number of dialects being used (Meredith). If the words sounded too similar but had different meanings it would make it even more confusing. In rural villages, Chinese dialects are used more often compared to urban cities. This would mean that the mandarin pronunciation and fluency of people from rural areas are not always precise, with 40% being inaccurate and 70% of them not speaking mandarin frequently (Li, Junying). Being determined to stay in the city, Lijian would try his best to constantly communicate and practice with other people to speak mandarin (putonghua). This became a part of his daily routine, something for him to check off his to-do list.
Something else that Lijian Hua also had to learn was a new skill for his job. With the language barrier between him and his colleagues he mainly depended on himself in the learning process. Having no prior experience in assembling cars meant that he lacked the knowledge that he needed if he wanted the job. Migrant workers often move to the city without having skills that most city jobs require or need on the market, most of them not having a high education unlike the people from cities. Lijian Hua himself also stopped going to school after middle school. With the growing presence of this challenge, there has been more help and guidance with the transition in jobs from villages to cities from organizations and the Chinese government. From 2013, “the World Bank-supported Rural Migrant Skills Development and Employment Project was established in the provinces of Ningxia, Anhui and Shandong, giving rural migrants better access to skills development opportunities and providing them with employment services and worker protection” (World Bank). Although Lijian Hua didn’t have these opportunities, he still pushed through and took time improving himself through reading books and watching other people assemble cars. Lijian Hua mentions, “I spent my free time learning and teaching myself how to assemble cars, the quicker I learned the easier it was for me to get used to working. I didn’t like reading because it was boring but I felt more confident when I knew what I was doing.”
After a normal work day from 9am-5pm he would finally be able to go home and rest. Every time he went home he would throw his shoes off and sit on his bed before dropping down his body and pulling out his phone. He continues to go on Wechat and video calls his family. They would chat about their day and what they ate or did that day. Even though he works hard during the day he hopes that these times will make him feel better about missing home. Lijian Hua doesn’t go home that often because his village in Jilin is very far from where he lives and tickets are very expensive. Even migrant workers who are only a couple hours away by car or train don’t go home often either. In 2018, over 60% of migrant workers that worked within 200 kilometers of their hometown found it hard to return home due to work schedules and low income (China’s National Bureau of Statistics). If they work at factories then they are needed during breaks as well. Their pay may be deducted and they won’t be earning enough. In the end, Lijian feels that it just isn’t worth it to go home. He says, “I try my best to stay patient and cope with this through calling my family. It is the only option for now.”
Lijian Hua has experienced ups and downs after coming to the city. Now that he has been relocated to Qingdao he wishes that after a couple more years he will be able to go home more often and eventually be able to open up his own business in the food industry. Migrant workers have the perseverance to succeed in a city where unfamiliarity lies, learning and adapting to the changes everyday, little by little. This is something that all people can take away from. From Lijian’s perspective, no matter how hard it is, things will get better.
Works Cited
Li, Junying. “The language status of migrant workers.” 2007.
World Bank. “New Skills and Job Opportunities for China’s Rural Migrants.” World Bank, 1 Sep. 2014,
Meredith, Anne. “Languages in China — What Are the Most Popular Languages?” CLI, 7 Jan. 2022,
studycli.org/learn-chinese/languages-in-china/.
“在上海做农民工的真实生活：挤车、等工、漂泊.” Baidu, 25 Jul. 2019,
baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1714205759238432395&wfr=spider&for=pc.
中国国家统计局. “全国农村劳动力市场总体稳定.” 2019.
