[quote=“RobinTaiwan”]You can’t blame her. Too many foreigners live here for years but they never bother to learn the language. Her assumption was wrong in your case but it would have been right nine times out of ten. Foreigners in Taiwan do not exactly have a reputation for being good language learners.
I think this is just a case of a co-worker getting to know you better. The way you write about her suggests that you don’t like her very much, though.[/quote]
Robin, I really don’t get what you are saying. When my co-worker laughed that I don’t speak much English outside of work, I had not made any mention to speaking Mandarin. I simply said that I usually don’t speak much English outside of work. I could be speaking any of the over 5000 languages on the planet.
[quote=“suiyuan31”]What gets me about this is that you are telling her you do not speak English outside of school, you always speak to her in English, and yet you assume she should know you speak Chinese? She speaks Chinese…why don’t you just show her and speak with her in Chinese? No one knows I speak Chinese until I do. Mind you, I don’t work in the bubble known as the English teaching world, but I am sure your school has secretaries/cooks whose English blows. Speak with people in Chinese and then they’ll know you speak it. I don’t get it…how is this her responsibility???
Me thinks you are not confident enough in your speaking ability to just speak Chinese at work [/quote]
Funny, but I only speak Mandarin with the boss and non-English teachers at that school. Of course the two English teachers are usually teaching when I speak Mandarin with the boss. I have not been working at the school very long. Not to mention that the conversation was not about speaking Mandarin.
I worked at another school and never spoke English with any of the staff.
[quote=“steelersman”][quote=“RobinTaiwan”]You can’t blame her. Too many foreigners live here for years but they never bother to learn the language. Her assumption was wrong in your case but it would have been right nine times out of ten. Foreigners in Taiwan do not exactly have a reputation for being good language learners.
I think this is just a case of a co-worker getting to know you better. The way you write about her suggests that you don’t like her very much, though.[/quote]
Robin, I really don’t get what you are saying. When my co-worker laughed that I don’t speak much English outside of work, I had not made any mention to speaking Mandarin. I simply said that I usually don’t speak much English outside of work. I could be speaking any of the over 5000 languages on the planet.[/quote]
Then why are you offended because she asked if it was French that you spoke outside of work? How is that an assumption that you don’t speak anything but English?
Unless you’re leaving something out, your reaction to this conversation makes no sense
I guess that it was because she was laughing. She didn’t say, “So do you speak French,” in a manner indicating that she was trying to ask what language I speak outside of work. She was laughing and my impression (yes, maybe I am wrong) is that she seemed it difficult to believe that I don’t speak much English outside of work.
I am not sure what part of the post seems to indicate that I think it is her responsibility. I never said she was dumb for not knowing I speak Mandarin. I just thought it was obtuse to think someone is crazy when they tell you they speak some other language outside of work. I was not expecting her to guess that I speak other languages just that when I say I speak another language outside of work not to laugh and act like it is unbelievable.
[quote]
Me thinks you are not confident enough in your speaking ability to just speak Chinese at work [/quote]
Or maybe I just know that English teachers will reply back to me in English anyways. It seems to be pointless to speak English with English teachers at work.
[/quote]
