Also it depends on who is asking the question…
if it is a child I’d tell them in Chinese I am not an american I am an alien. (我不是美國人。我是外籍人。) They get a laugh out of it and I’m sure some of you out there have been called an alien once or twice because of me 
if it is an adult I would say in Chinese I am not an american I am a person. Are you from the People’s Republic of China? You look Chinese to me…您來自中國人民共和國嗎? 您看起來像某人從中國對我…
They don;t like it when the shoe is on the other foot…
Tell them that your hair is blonde and that they need to get their eyes tested.
I often tell people in (very bad) french that I don’t speak english. And they will ask me the same shit over and over. “Where are you from” “Je ne parle Anglais” “Where are you from” “Je Ne Parle Anglais” “Are you from Europe” “JeNeParle Anglais” “Are you from Russia?” “Je ne parle Anglais”
I have found that even if I don’t change it up. if I say “Je Ne Parle Anglais” Over and over and over and over and over and over and over, somme people still keep trying to talk to me. Like the fact that I am repeating a non-english phrase over and over does not occur to them.
I have also tried saying “No English” in a very bad accent. Doesn’t work.
I have found that (and this isn’t lying, cuz I am not from England) saying “WoBuShiIngGuoRen(I’m not English, dude)” Works best for convincing people that I don’t speak English. Imagine that.
[quote=“SuchAFob”]I often tell people in (very bad) french that I don’t speak English. And they will ask me the same shit over and over. “Where are you from” “Je ne parle Anglais” “Where are you from” “Je Ne Parle Anglais” “Are you from Europe” “JeNeParle Anglais” “Are you from Russia?” “Je ne parle Anglais”
I have found that even if I don’t change it up. if I say “Je Ne Parle Anglais” Over and over and over and over and over and over and over, somme people still keep trying to talk to me. Like the fact that I am repeating a non-English phrase over and over does not occur to them.
I have also tried saying “No English” in a very bad accent. Doesn’t work.
I have found that (and this isn’t lying, cuz I am not from England) saying “WoBuShiIngGuoRen(I’m not English, dude)” Works best for convincing people that I don’t speak English. Imagine that.[/quote]
I tried the “je ne parle pas anglais” thing when I was living in China, until one day the woman started speaking back to me in French. I need to learn Hebrew or some other such language that no one in Taiwan would possibly know. They have Arabic and Russian programs at NCCU, so those are out. I wonder if there’s a “Teach Yourself Beginner’s Pashtun” book out there …
Notsu and Igorveni should be able to help out here 
I knew I should have taken a semester or so of Akan, Yoruba, or Swahili while I was at University of Florida … sigh
This has gotten a bit confusing.:s
If you do speak english, and a person asks you a question in english, why would one feel compelled to lie and tell them you do not speak english?
Perhaps if the person was asking a particulary anti-social question, or was presenting a very unpleasant pesonage - grungy, dirty or smelly - or was alluding to an unwanted romantic interlude, then I might understand the reasoning.
Other than a situation such as that, why lie about it?
Just curious. :s
Ok, here’s the Estonian: Mina ei r
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]This has gotten a bit confusing.:s
If you do speak English, and a person asks you a question in English, why would one feel compelled to lie and tell them you do not speak English?
Perhaps if the person was asking a particulary anti-social question, or was presenting a very unpleasant pesonage - grungy, dirty or smelly - or was alluding to an unwanted romantic interlude, then I might understand the reasoning.
Other than a situation such as that, why lie about it?
Just curious. :s[/quote]
Honestly, I don’t like talking to strangers. I have never liked talking to people I don’t know. I don’t see why this should change because I am in another country. But in the US people didn’t try to start conversations with me EVERYWHERE. Here people try to start conversations at least 12 times a day. And frankly, I don’t even talk to my friends 12 times a day.
And, frankly, half the time they are icky older guys who looked my up and down really well before they started in on me. And frankly, no. I am not going to talk to them. For the record, I used to tell people in the US and in Mexico that I didn’t speak english (and spanish) too.
I refer you to the original question which started this thread – such a stupid question, as Ironman put it: “when they can see films, books and tv from overseas with all varieties of hair color”.
Confronted with an obnoxious or utterly moronic person walking up to you on the street and asking something as inane as this, why even deign to talk to them? “No hablo ingles”. 
Of course, if it were a child asking, or someone in the backwaters of Kygirkislostan, I’d be happy to give a friendly explanation.
Amen!
[quote=“SuchAFob”]I have found that even if I don’t change it up. if I say “Je Ne Parle Anglais” Over and over and over and over and over and over and over, somme people still keep trying to talk to me. Like the fact that I am repeating a non-English phrase over and over does not occur to them.
[/quote]
Maybe they don’t realize that you’re not speaking English. I still can’t tell Mandarin from Taiwanese yet, so it makes sense to me that someone might hear another European language and think it’s English they don’t understand.
[quote=“naijeru”]
Maybe they don’t realize that you’re not speaking English. I still can’t tell Mandarin from Taiwanese yet, so it makes sense to me that someone might hear another European language and think it’s English they don’t understand.[/quote]
Never thought of that.