Work out which language you actually need first
Before writing 'Mandarin-speaking' into a request, ask who in the household needs to be understood without a translator, and in what language that person actually speaks at home. An elderly parent who grew up speaking Hokkien or Cantonese at home may have limited or no Mandarin, even if the rest of the family communicates in Mandarin or English day to day. If the requirement exists for one specific relationship, name that relationship and that language, not a broad label that doesn't match what's needed.
It also helps to be honest about how much overlap is enough. Some households need full conversational fluency for daily care of someone who speaks only the dialect; others just need enough to catch instructions, a name, or signs that something is wrong. These call for different levels of skill, and naming which one you need narrows the search considerably.
- Ask which household member the language is for, and confirm what they actually speak at home.
- Decide whether you need full daily conversation or just enough to follow instructions and notice problems.
- Write the specific dialect into your request, not a general 'Chinese-speaking' label.
Why one dialect doesn't stand in for another
Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka and Mandarin are separate spoken languages with their own vocabulary, tones and sentence patterns. A candidate who speaks fluent Cantonese may follow very little spoken Hokkien, and the reverse is just as true. Growing up in a Chinese-speaking household or community doesn't mean someone speaks every dialect used within it; treat each one as its own skill to check, the same way you'd treat English and Malay as separate skills rather than assuming one implies the other.
It's worth asking directly which dialects a candidate speaks, in what order of comfort, and where she learned each one (at home, at work, or picked up informally). A candidate who lists a dialect as a secondary or half-remembered skill is telling you something useful; take that at face value rather than assuming it will be enough once she's working.
How to test for it realistically
Asking 'do you speak Hokkien' invites a yes, the same way asking about a cuisine invites an agreeable answer. Instead, if possible, have her speak briefly with the household member who actually needs the language, on an ordinary topic: a meal, a daily routine, a simple instruction. How much of the exchange happens without switching to Mandarin or English is a far more honest signal than her own assessment of her ability.
Listening comprehension is the part households tend to skip, and it matters as much as speaking. An elderly speaker may talk quickly, mix dialect with Mandarin mid-sentence, or use household-specific terms a candidate hasn't heard before. If a direct conversation isn't possible before hiring, ask the candidate to describe, in the dialect, something simple and specific, like her daily routine, and see how naturally it comes rather than how carefully rehearsed it sounds.
- Where possible, let her speak directly with the household member who needs the language.
- Watch for how often she switches to Mandarin or English rather than staying in the dialect.
- Ask her to describe something ordinary in the dialect, not just answer yes or no about knowing it.