We are spending 4 days in Beijing and 3 days in Shanghai. We have no Manderin at all. We leave in 2 months. There is a good Manderin school in our city. Would what we could learn in a 2 hour class for the next 8 weeks greatly improve our trip? Or should we just go in mute and stumble around?

We will have smartphones and a vpn so Google should be able to help us.
Any advice on visiting with no language skills?

Thanks

Most people have zero language skills and visit without issues. You cannot really learn much in so little time. Nothing wrong in trying though.

If your not taking time away from something important to learn the language then go for it. Otherwise it won't make a huge difference from going in with no Mandarin.

Most western hotels will have English speaking staff who can help you with points of interest and writing down places to show cab drivers. While in the city it shouldn't be very difficult to find someone who speaks English as long as your not shy about asking for help. The thing is most younger Chinese people (under 40) have some English ability but are simply very shy about their ability so may prefer not to engage with you. On the other hand many young people would love a chance to practice their English so as long as your within 4th Ring Road in Beijing, finding someone who can speak English isn't impossible.

As for Shanghai, I would say English speakers are even more abundant so as long as your in the city, you shouldn't have too much trouble (especially with a smartphone in hand).

The only times where Mandarin would be a must is if your going to try to take public buses or hope to not get ripped off in places where you traditionally haggle for prices. With your condensed schedule I doubt you'll be going too far out of the cities anyways (aside from tourist spots), so wherever you'll be should have English speakers (whether they be University students or tour guides).

Taking a few weeks of the course may help you become familiar with how Chinese people interact along with some basic phrases though. The courses won't make a world of difference but could be interesting nevertheless.

Good luck and I hope you have a great trip!

You could learn some mandarin if you are interested, thought it would not be necessary (or a particularly good use of your time) to try to cram mandarin in 8 weeks for your short trip. If you are worried, don't be; learning a few basic phrases should be enough, and even speaking no mandarin at will you will still be just fine.

i think a couple of lessons would be of use - but the main focus should be on the pronunciation of words.

My first visit to China didn't give me any problems asking for help (people are willing to assist)... but my pronunciation was the main issue.

You might think a street is pronounced in a certain way, but no one may understand you. Changing the pronunciation of the vowel or understanding how consonants work and all of a sudden you'll get directions.

For me, better pronunciation, and the basics for a taxi were the key to a fairly happy time.

Essential? By no means. But if you just want to hop in a taxi after a long day out to go to the next place it will make it easier.

Agreed. A small vocabulary with good pronunciation is far more useful --and less embarrassing-- than a large vocabulary with bad pronunciation.

A common pitfall I've noticed over the years with adult Chinese learners is a tendency to over rely on pinyin as a guide to pronouncing words. Your ears are much more important in this regard. Just look at how masterfully a typical Filipino singer in China can nail Chinese songs that he/she has memorized; they didn't get there by staring at romanized Chinese.

That having been said, I am by no means anti-pinyin. Without it, learning the language would have been a lot harder. And, it is a handy input method on computers and phones; even a lot of --mostly younger-- Chinese people swear by it.

Chinese is much more sensitive to pronunciation than most languages. A speak a tiny bit--but it's as likely as not that I won't be understood. My wife tells me what I should be saying and what I am saying and I can't hear the difference, but they sure can.

That being said, I would have no qualms about going to any tourist place in China with nothing but a dictionary. Going off the beaten track is another matter, if I were going some such place alone I would be looking for an interpreter.

English is widely spoken in major cities like Shanghai and Beijing, although not so much by taxi drivers so you should always have your destination written down in Chinese characters. It's different in smaller cities, but OP isn't going there and doesn't have time anyway.

If OP enjoys learning languages, why not do the course? Otherwise, don't bother; save the money for your trip.

http://youtu.be/xbiqxkoLiO8

Learning to speak Chinese is difficult?

4 year old American kid speaks fluent Chinese in native tongue.

Because they LISTEN.

Kids pick up languages a lot easier than adults!

Agreed: learning pronunciation could be helpful. Other than this you won't be able to learn much in 8 weeks.

Honestly, you are not going to learn anything in two months that will greatly improve your experience.

Instead, just go and be ready to laugh.

Perhaps, learning hello, goodbye and thank you and learning how to say it correctly will add to your experience.

Major tourist attractions and cities all have many people who speak English to varying degrees and non-verbal communication will go longer than bad Chinese.

Have a good time.

I'm curious what you mean by this . . . do you mean too much effort to pronounce each pinyin sound separately, or mispronouncing the pinyin, which is not always intuitively pronounced from its english spelling?

(non-speaker here - just curious about your point, not arguing it).

胡椒 = H�jiāo = pepper
护照 = H�zh�o = passport

城市 = Ch�ngsh� = city
诚实 = Ch�ngsh� = honest

山西 = Shānxī = (the province near Beijing, in which Taiyuan is located)
陕西 = Shǎnxī = (the province in which Xi'an is located; sometimes romanized as Shaanxi in order to trigger the 3rd tone)

西安 = Xī'ān = the aforementioned city
先，现 = Xiān, xi�n = first, now

机长 = Jī zhǎng = captain/pilot
机场 = jīchǎng = airport

苏州 = Sūzhōu = famous city in Jiangsu
宿州 = s�zhōu =unimportant city in Anhui
肃州 = s�zhōu = unimportant city in Gansu
徐州 = x�zhōu = city halfway between Beijing and Shanghai in the north of Jiangsu

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You, as an adult, can employ theoretical "pinyin" principles until the cows come home, but are almost guaranteed to strike out. Meanwhile, your kids, and singers that memorize songs will excel in all of the above sample cases, with the possible exception of the last (i.e. only half of my Chinese friends can differentiate between 宿州 and 肃州 out of context).

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Going back to the singing theme, if you (or anyone else) spends 2 hours learning 月亮代表我的心 (really easy!), you'll be in far greater shape than the pinyin crowd because you will have established a connection between music and Mandarin.