I know the feeling– being replied to in English, even when you initiate a conversation in standard Chinese. It is annoying.

It’s like they just don’t get it. It might be a fair question to ask them how they would feel if they went to Australia or somewhere, and wanted to speak English, but everybody there insisted on speaking to them only in bad Chinese.

Then again, it might not actually be such a fair question– because the Taiwanese people who insist on speaking English to you in Taiwan have probably never been abroad, and probably never intend to. They will probably never know what it feels like to be a foreigner residing in a foregn culture and struggling daily to learn the langauge. So you may be asking too much, because they have been conditioned to behave that way. I guess part of chosing to live as a foreigner is to accept things which cannot be changed.

That said, the goal to set for yourself is to practice until your Chinese is way better than their English, so there will be no contest. That’s what worked for me when I moved from Texas to Sweden back in the ’90s! I haven’t gotten to that point quite yet in Taiwan, however. I thought Swedish was hard to learn… until I started learning Chinese!

Also, I’m sure you will make acquaintances among locals who for (whatever reason) either don’t speak English, or are perfectly willing to converse with you in Chinese or Taiwanese.

I have noticed an interesting social dynamic. Often, it seems to me that people in Taiwan under 40 or so, or people in larger cities who have, like, white collar or middle-class jobs and a college education, etc. are the types of people who seem the least comfortable speaking Chinese with me. There are many exceptions, too, of course– I am making a generalization here. But it’s like they can’t get over the shame of not having learned to speak English in school. Like it is a mark of their lack of academic success or something.

However, I often find that people who are either blue-collar types, relatively uneducated, especially over 50 or so, taxi-drivers, the woman running the noodle stand, etc. are often very easy-going about speaking with me in Chinese.

I think one reason may be that they don’t feel any particular shame or regret for never having learned English, because nobody ever asked them to learn it, and no one ever expected them to learn it. So the fact that they can’t speak English does not bother them at all, and that’s one reason it is not such a big deal for them to chat with a foreigner in their own language. That’s the kind of practice that really helps in the long run.

Is that your experience, too?

–scott

photos…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21506490@N00/

Also, hate to say this, if you’re not fluent enough in Chinese or speak with a heavy foreign accent, they can tell, so they may just be trying to make things easier for you.

And as English is undoubtedly the common global language (I’m not claiming everyone speaks it, but the vast majority do compared to any other language) it’s hardly a valid or fair point to say Taiwanese shouldn’t try speaking English to foreigners without first asking them where they come from, particularly to an obvious Westerner.

However I definitely appreciate your point as I’m also struggling to practice my Mandarin. In such cases as you mention I simply do one of two things: 1. I just continue to speak in Mandarin and allow them to practice their English in reply. I find if it’s a conversation of any substantial length, the local will typically switch back to Mandarin eventually, unless their English is particular good (and assuming you’re not obviously struggling with Mandarin). 2. If I really want to have the conversation in Mandarin I simply say so in Mandarin (please speak Chinese, thankyou). That usually does the trick, especially if you say it with a smile rather than a frown.

Regardless, don’t loose your patience with it…you’ll need that to deal with the local drivers!!