So as a Taiwanese, what do you think about foreigners speaking Mandarin as locals? Someone said that it’s weird when others put time into learning a very region-specific English dialect, and I haven’t really had any experience myself with a foreigner learning a less standard dialect of Swedish (my own native language), so I’m curious about if this is what people generally think or not. I’m planning on learning to speak like a local when I get to Taiwan, but will people think it’s weird?
And also, a question to everyone, exactly what should I avoid to not sound too girly? I don’t mind speaking a little femininely, but I can imagine it being too much at a certain point.[/quote]
There’s nothing wrong with sounding girly if you don’t mind it. I care because I want to keep my Chinese register more-or-less consistent with the one I use in English, which is not super-manly, but not particularly girly, either. You may find people take you less seriously if you sound like a college-age girl, however.
I say it definitely makes sense to learn the regional dialect (I mean Taiwan-style Mandarin, not Taiwanese) so that you fit in. If you a Taiwanese English-learner has a Scottish accent and moves to Australia, it’ll be a bit weird, don’t you think? No major problems, but you still just stick out like a sore thumb. It’s the same reason I’d start saying “trolley” and “fizz drink” if I moved to the UK, just so I feel a little bit more in place.
Not to mention if you say things like 公交車 (instead of 公車) or 出租車 (instead of 計程車) or U盤 (instead of USB… which isn’t really right in the first place) or 市場 (instead of 行銷), people in Taiwan may not understand you immediately.