Do you help the foreigners you see who are struggling to communicate?

If your Chinese is good enough and you aren’t that struggling foreigner, that is.

Sometimes I think I should help, but I feel a little awkward or like it’s not really my place. On the rare occasions that I have offered to help, it was to defuse situations where I could tell the Taiwanese local was getting frustrated.

Do you typically step up to help bridge language barriers? If you are having trouble communicating, do you appreciate it when strangers cut in to help out?

I like to confuse the situation further by talking limited Taiwanese :joy:normally a hoot :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:impresses the 7/11 staff though . Then they get all fluent and I have to gracefully leave :frowning:

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https://youtu.be/8cwWgxbqah0

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I watch the situation. If I think it’s a learning beneficial experience for them, then I don’t help.

If they are purely just trying to accomplish something, then I’ll help.

I’ve found myself helping mainland Chinese in 3 different other countries trying to buy something (iPhone), get directions, or just everyday activities.

Yeah, that’s why I don’t really help that often. I think it’s good for them to figure out how fumble through it if it’s not really a pressing situation.

A couple of times I have helped out some hapless Filipina house slave who’s been sent to 7-11 and can’t communicate her needs.
Otherwise, fuck em, think of it as a high-level Darwinian cull of the herd.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVN1gwhpeyE

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Yeah all the time, ordering stuff or asking directions etc I’ll step in and help if both sides reach an impasse.

I stepped in when I pulled up on a minor traffic incident which had just happened in front of me. Vietnamese girl who didn’t speak Chinese was on her bicycle and got hit from behind by a woman on her scooter.

It was a husband and wife on two separate scooters. Young daughter was with the dad and little brother was on the scooter with mom. There was a couple of other Vietnamese girls riding up ahead who turned around and came back. One of them spoke some Chinese, but I had a feeling the lady was gonna try to take advantage of the cyclist and sure enough she tried to offer her a few hundred NT.

The Vietnamese girl had just bought the bike not even a week before. It was obviously brand new and still had some protective packaging on the frame. The rear wheel was toast, flat tire, and the crank arm was bent. Since it was a cheap bike (only around 1800nt), I convinced the mom to pay her the cost of the bike and the girl could decide herself if she wanted to have the bike repaired or just get another one.

Husband stayed quiet most of the time but agreed with me that it was fair. Mom tried to blame the kid for not holding still and therefore wasn’t paying attention when she hit the girl, admitting guilt.

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Yes.

There are not many westerners here so it’s a good thing in my eyes if we try and help each other out a bit. We were all once new here and all of us I’m sure has needed or would have liked a helping hand , or at least a kind gesture at some point in our lives.

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So, I think it’s only fair to help.

Just the other day there was this Japanese couple on the mrt who tried to go to 101 and was asking help from the staff, but it was going nowhere.

I helped them out and they were on their way,

Kind weird if you didn’t help people who are not Taiwanese, or no one

I have helped people who were obviously tourists before. I just think if someone’s living and working here for a while, it’s better for them to muddle through and use it as motivation to get better at the language.

Vietnamese girls in Taiwan? Factory girls let loose on a Sunday?
That aside, i will always help if i feel its appropriate. If not? no.

Yes I generally do for English, Spanish, and Korean speakers.

Once I had to explain to some Americans who were asking the chef to pour soy sauce on their rice that people don’t do that here, the confusing on their face and the disgust on the chef’s face was something.

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Depends… I think the best way to step in is to ask if they need help first just to show some respect.

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I do if they’re obviously tourists, but otherwise not really.

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