During pre-university training, many foreigners face adaptation problems associated with a huge difference in national consciousness, cultural traditions and rules of conduct. To help foreign students adapt to a different language and sociocultural environment, the teacher needs to be aware of the ethnopsycholinguistic characteristics of different nationalities. Numerous errors arising in the process of intercultural communication with the Chinese are related to linguistic and ecstatic factors. The peculiarity of Chinese writing, consisting not of letters, but of hieroglyphics gives birth to a special way of thinking of the Chinese. Features of the Chinese national character, manifested, in particular, in emotional isolation, restraint and the traditional system of education of China influence the process of learning a foreign language, forming a noncommunicative style of study foreign language. Despite of such positive national characteristics of Chinese students as diligence, patience, accuracy, responsibility, a large cultural difference (in traditions, customs) often leads to a misunderstanding of the behavior of partners, and sometimes to a cultural shock. The authors of the article emphasize that teachers should take into account the features of verbal and non-verbal communication of the Chinese. Using a nationally oriented approach in learning improves the effectiveness of learning Russian as a foreign language and obtains better results.