Cannot be bothered, then. Wolf, haven’t you heard this expression?
I’ve never heard the expression either. What exactly does it mean?
Same as “I cannae be ersed.”
The guy sitting next to me on my first flight to Taiwan was so eager to to practice English that he even gave me and a friend a ride into town with a nice stop off at Roxy, his treat. The bastard. Seriously, I was never much bothered by complete strangers accosting me in English.
Now I live pretty close to a Chinese shopping/restaurant area in California. While I usually speak English there, I do enjoy getting a Mandarin “fix” from someone other than my wife every once in a while. For the most part, the people I accost with my horrible Chinese are good sports about it and even manage the usual compliments, though not always with a straight face. Haven’t asked for any phone numbers yet, though.
Iris, I think you mean the ‘a’ in “fan”. Either that or you’re mispronouncing “fun”. 
Oh well, it’s been 20 years for me since German class. It’s definitely not “ishhh”, though, you rascally Rascal! (Aber vielleicht Frau Schultz war aus Berlin.)
She always told us that JFK had said, “I am a (pastry similar to a jelly donut).” Fortunately, the crowd was forgiving.
Well, no offense, but do you really think you need to lecture two native Germans on how to pronounce German correctly?
“A” in German is usually pronounced incorrectly by native English speakers and it sounds closer to "
It is very different when you see a foreigner speaking English than a asian-american speaking english. When me and my friend speaks english in MRT or on a bus, we usually get this weird look from others, as if we were trying to show off our english skills. But on the other hand, if a foreigner (non-asian) speaks english, they get approach by girls/boys wanting to be their friends or a nice way of saying it, pratice their engilsh. I wish someone would approach me so I can have more friends here in Taiwan! HeeHee…
MiakaW 
And now back to the topic…
I usually don’t mind if someone tries to strike up a conversation with me, but what DOES bother me is people coming up to me and asking me English questions. Wanting to PRACTICE your English is one thing, but asking QUESTIONS about English is another. I find this to be rude. Other than this if someone wants to talk, no problem. And as for the kids… it depends on my mood but overall I just plain hate kids… 
but that’s another topic…
When having an English conversation about German philosophers, always make sure to mispronounce “Kant.”
I was on a rest stop at Wushe before riding on to Puli when a car stopped by me. I had a chat to the couple and their buddhist nun daughter before they pulled out a badly re-translated (back into English) version of Sleeping Beauty and asked me to correct their daughter’s pronunciation. I had a listen and did my best. I didn’t mind at all; they were very friendly, invited me to come and visit them in Puli and gave me some peaches from Lishan.
I guess if you’re too busy a polite excuse is fine in most cases but I don’t think that those of us who are teachers should be so proud of our professionalism or suspicious of people’s motives that we can’t have a quick chat in English when time allows, and maybe give an email address, even though nothing will probably come of it.
Are we not in general agreement that it would be good if the Taiwanese populace as a whole became a little more open or open-minded towards foreigners? How can this happen if we don’t talk to people and seem like a friendly bunch?
[quote=“Juba”][quote=“Rascal”]“A” in German is usually pronounced incorrectly by native English speakers and it sounds closer to "
But I’m not – I’m lecturing you on how to pronounce English correctly. 
I would appreciate it if we could discuss this in person at some point. Two of my three German teachers were German natives (I don’t know which regions). It’s entirely possible that I am misremembering my lessons, but I would guess that it is more a question of how we think what we’re typing should sound if it were being spoken instead (whew).
I’ll shut up, er, quit typing about this until I can go to a movie night with one of you. 
Apologies for the hijacking.
I got approached by an 8 year old today who asked if I was a foreigner. When I said yes he asked me if I’m Japanese. Well, I guess this is only funny if you know that I’m not very Japanese at all.
I once spent an hour on the bus to Hsin chuang speaking English to a woman returning from her calligraphy class in Taipei. She admitted that it was the first time she ever spoke English, and that she was a homemaker who sat in front of those English teaching tv programs every morning. I couldn’t believe it. I wish I had that kind of dedication and confidence with the whole learning Chinese experience.
The original post by WorkingVaca said nothing about being annoyed by spontaneous conversations with strangers on busses, or on the street, or at a cafe. I think she was trying to address the ‘let’s be friends’ aspect, which is different then the ‘let’s have an interesting conversation and then move on’ situation. Yes, of course, be friendly and share the cultural differences, on buses, sidewalks, cafes, wherever…it’s part of what living here is all about. But let’s not lose sight of her original question: when it becomes more then just a nice chat and moves into phone # requests or swapping emails, then what? How do we handle this?
Personally, I did exchange phone #s once with a girl who ‘wanted to be my friend’, and nothing much ever came from it. Conflicting schedules, busy, etc. I haven’t done it since, and probably won’t again. I just politely decline, and say ‘but maybe I’ll see you around again.’ Big smiles all round.
There are many lovely people here in Taiwan. I just don’t want to be playing phone tag with everyone I meet. That’s all.
it may be slightly off the topic, but recently i visited south africa to go to a friend’s wedding. one day i was buying CDs at a lakeside flea market when my fiancee called from taiwan, after the call the guy running the CD store came over all exitedly with his brother, they were amazed to meet someone in south africa who could speak fluent mandarin, turns out they were from Tainan, and had been in south africa for a few months starting their small business, their english was more than great, but they were dead keen on getting my phone number so we could hang out and ‘be friends’ just because i lived in taiwan and speak chinese etc… but i was only in town for a couple of days… still just goes to show taiwanese are friendly folks, regardless of the potential for free english lessons…
oh… and whilst i was there a taiwanese family with 2 small kids walked past and i had the immense pleasure of pointing at the little kids who were staring at me and saying “Wai Guo Ren”… mwahahaha the tables turned at last… 
I usually just ignore them or mutter a few short answers but my favorite way to get rid of people (if I’m in a mean mood) is to speak Arabic (I don’t know how to speak Arabic, but I do know how to say it in Chinese and make unintelligible sounds). People quickly loose interest.
GOPBill
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]I disagree for the most part with all of you. I consider it a nice thing when people are friendly and wish to talk, even if it is for the ulterior motives of practicing English or learning something about foreigners by talking with a real live one. I’ve encountered it countless times, and usually I’m happy to oblige them. In Nepal a student came up and started talking and we ended up hiking together for 3 weeks around Annapurna. In Vietnam kids came up and I ended up carrying on e-mail exchanges with two of them for years. In Laos kids came up and we ended up swimming and playing in their boat together. In Cambodia a beautiful girl approached me and we ended up taking a trip to Angkor Wat together ( ). In Japan kids played with me in a river and interviewed me beside a temple. And in Taiwan, I’ve consented to engage in small-talk with numerous inquisitive kids and adults (sometimes being photographed with them as well), and not only is it no big deal, but I usually enjoy it – being a star without having done a thing, and having the opportunity to educate, entertain and make people happy with the slightest of ease.
I remember hearing this kind of grumbling before, in Southeast Asia, from a foreigner complaining about all the kids running up and saying “hello, hello.” He explained how he would scowl at them and shoo them away. Not me. I smile, wave, “hello, hello” in return, and maybe throw in a nonsensical phrase in their own language to astound them and give them a laugh.
Are you really that busy? Are you that important that you can’t waste a few moments of your time with other human beings who are curious about you, admire you, and want to share your company? We’re all incredibly fortunate to have the money, the passport and the opportunity to skip around the world, visiting foreign lands and living among foreign people for so long that it becomes blase. But for those who lack such opportunity it can be a thrilling experience just to share a few words with a foreigner. Is it so hard to give them that thrill? Just by smiling at someone one can make them happy. By carrying on a few words one can make their day, and corny as it sounds, make the world a better place.
Next time some kid approaches try thinking of it as a positive experience. You might even find that you like it. I do.
[/quote]
Well Said!
From San Francisco?
Someone wanting to be your friend, just so they can learn English off you is just as bad as wanting to be your friend, so they can get in your knickers or into your wallet. Being a foreigner in Taiwan is sometimes like being the beautiful woman in a sports bar or a movie star. What I dislike is being pushed into a situation where I’m made to seem unfriendly and rude. If someone genuinely wants to have a conversation or wants to be my friend, then they can do it in Chinese. That proves that they’re genuine - not just trying to ‘get into my English knickers’. Sometimes when I’m on the MRT I just want to read my paper. There’s nothing unfriendly about that. Also if another foreigner starts chatting I’ll usually talk because I know they’re not just after English practice, I’d be damn wel surprised if they were trying to get into my pants, and they’d be right out of luck if they were after my money.
Brian
That good, eh?
Aceman – my location is in my profile. I have no idea about hers.