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Taiwan - etiquette

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  • #16
    Originally posted by SQflyergirl View Post
    This is what trips up people. When in France, a bit of French is appreciated.

    When in China, depending on the situation, the best is Queen's English.

    Or you could end up like this family: who tried what you're proposing....

    .... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china...ugh-china.html


    I'm Chinese, proud of it, but when necessary, my 普通话, 广东话 and my smattering of other dialects all get hidden in a very very deep subfolder in my mind.


    Originally posted by CarbonMan View Post
    I agree. I'm also Chinese but my spoken Mandarin elicits only laughter from my own family without fail. Years ago, when the Chinese speak Mandarin to me, I would immediately respond "dui bu qi, wo bu hui jiang hua yu" , to which they would laugh and continue to speak Mandarin, as if I had made an (poor) attempt at a joke. So yes, just do your best to look as if you just heard Martian for the first time, eventhough you may understand them and then respond in perfect English (sometimes an American accent helps).
    I think we are talking about different Chinas.

    To my knowledge, Hong Kong and Taiwan are okay.

    You might need to start speaking in English to get things done in mainland China? I don't know the PRC. I avoid the place and have never gone back since I was 20 and have no intentions to do so in the near future. Though I understand from Jhm that cursing and swearing at the mainlanders in English is very effective when they try to cut queue or push you around in China!

    I go to France very frequently. I don't even try to speak a word of French because I'm afraid people would laugh at me. I just can't twist my tongue round to pronounce the words, though I can read very elementary French. Anyway, no spoken French. Just English in France and Paris. Everyone is still helpful. I don't even need to open my mouth to ask for help. Just standing on the street with a map and looking confused would often get offers of help from people.
    Last edited by phaleesy; 2 February 2016, 05:13 AM.

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