Wow, Buttercup’s cool. She only has one star! C’mon, people, I want zero!
Ok. These people who are stereotyping foreign men and Chinese girls are just doing it for fun to stir up conversation. That’s fun and all and unanono’s English is weird! Jeez, unanono, what’s up with your English, mate!? Well, keep posting but work on the grammar!
OK, back to the original topic, people. Robaldo, I’d like you to look for a moment at the true masters of foreign language learning: children. I knew so many immigrant kids while I was growing up in the USA. They went through hell at school. All the other kids would laugh laugh laugh at how bad their English was. There was this kid from Taiwan in my middle school who just pretended like he knew karate to keep people from picking on him. There were numerous Latin American kids who got hell because of their accents and just hung out with each other. I had one Polish friend who also got picked on you-don’t-know-how-much (and I was there to see it) by the other kids. It actually, I’m serious, made kids cry when they went home because their English was weird and everybody made fun of them.
My conclusion is: the mockery is a blessing. If you go home and cry, there will be an internal transformation that will actually prepare you to absorb a new language. If you stay smug at home and are proud - then you’ll end up like my Polish friend’s parents who still have big Polish accents. Maybe I’m crazy, but I think a lot of the reason that children are better at learning languages is because they allow themselves to be influenced by their peers. But adults have “solidified” personalities - “stable solid individuals” which is a noble thing but it will prevent you from being soft and “fluent” like a child who is very impressionable. Do you follow?
I’m just saying that when people make fun of your Chinese - this is a blessing in disguise. I truly believe this. People say that language learning has to do with age. But I think it’s actually more complicated than “age”… What parts of “age” distract you from language learning? Can you reverse those specific components of “age”? Does it have to do with the “solidification” of your personality as you age? …the fact that your personality has solidified itself with a certain language and lost the flexibility that it had in your childhood? Can you let go of that language and have a more flexible personality?..a personality without language that can accept a new one?
I think crying is a sign of flexibility. Take the insults and try to make something of them. I think that might be what immigrant children subconciously do.
P.S. - the sad face on this post is actually a happy face in disguise.
Since we are on the topic of mocking people’s Chinese, I have a question which is somewhat related.
In my work place we have a mixture of Taiwanese and foreigners. All but two of the foreigners speak Chinese (Mandarin) albeit with varying degrees of success. I guess we are lucky because even when we completely MURDER the language, no one laughs at us.
HOWEVER, what I have noticed is that there is a trend, when speaking in groups (in Mandarin) for certain members to switch to Taiwanese as a means of exclusion. It is as if, suddenly, our input into the conversation is no longer required. I find this aggravating in the extreme, and it has been mentioned to me by some non-Taiwanese speaking Taiwanese colleagues that even they find it quite hostile.
Sure, I understand that everyone needs to blow off a little steam, and that there are some things that are not for everyone’s ears. But in these cases, wouldn’t the sensible - not to mention ‘considerate’ - thing to do be to postpone that aspect of the conversation to another more appropriate place???
I don’t think anyone can even try to justify this type of behaviour on the basis of culture. I don’t think it is in the basic nature of ANYONE to be this inconsiderate. Is it?
Does anyone else have to suffer through this? (Actually, the funny thing is the major culprit in this scenario is overseas educated, and of all people should know how bitter the sting of exclusion can be at times!)
Germans and French seem to have a real flair for it too (switching to their native language whilst in a group with non native speakers).
As for here, I find it happens a lot with Mandarin speakers - we will be in a meeting conducted in English and suddenly 2 people start in Chinese to each other. And both of them speak English.
The Mandarin/Taiwanese thing has always struck me as the English/French thing in Canada.
I’m actually happy that people speak French in Canada and I’m happy that they speak Taiwanese in Taiwan.
Rude? Yes, it is rude. It’s the middle finger sticking in your face with a message on it: “You are in Taiwan. Learn Taiwanese.”
Let’s face it, sunny. If you’re ambitious enough to take on Mandarin, you have it in you to study Taiwanese, too.
Learn a little Taiwanese and speak it to these jerks. No doubt, when you speak Taiwanese to them, they may or may not respect you. They might welcome it. Or they might think, ‘gimme a break.’
In my experience, when I speak Taiwanese to someone, they speak Mandarin back to me.
When I speak Mandarin to someone, they speak English back to me.
There is a hierarchy of languages in Taiwan.
All I can say is - Taiwanese is a fascinating language and it’s worth the effort to study.
You can see these people’s overt rudeness as a struggle for linguistic survival. It’s a fight. And they still speak French in Canada, too.