Despite the peculiarities of their language

There's a curious passage in Jonathan Spence's To Change China: Western Advisers in China, 1620-1960. When Peter Parker, an American missionary doctor, was about to set sail for China in 1832, "he discovered that despite the peculiarities of their language 'the Chinese understand each other perfectly well' and that thanks to the labors of Morrison and Remusat in compiling dictionaries and grammars the 'auxiliary means are not now wanting for those who are desirous of learning this curious idiom.' " Parker spent many years in China working as a surgeon and learning Chinese. Spence writes that by 1844, Caleb Cushing, first minister plenipotentiary from the United States to China, made Parker secretary and interpreter to the United States Mission, though Parker could still not write Chinese documents and had to rely on a Chinese assistant to take down dictation and, I'm guessing, correct his mistakes and polish his language.