I've said my first word in Chinese!

Chinese Language
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Earlier today, I had lunch with a couple of friends at a Chinese restaurant. When we came in, I said “你好”, and the Chinese owner smiled and started speaking very quickly in Chinese. I had to make her stop and tell her that’s about the only word I can say, but I was so proud! Actually, she congratulated me as if I had said something resembling Tang Dynasty poetry!

:sweat_smile:

Edit: I was tempted to say “wo3 men yao4 …” when I realised I have got no idea how to say “to eat”. I suppose the tones would have been all wrong, and I don’t even know whether the sentence is correct. But it’s a pity, because I’ll never know whether she would have understood me.

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Congrats!

haha yeah - you have to get used to it (if you’re not ethnically Chinese*). The sheer surprise and praise you’ll get for even the most rudimentary level Chinese is definitely a thing. While not definitely not universal, personally about +90% of the interactions I’ve had in Chinese both inside China and out have gone this way as well.

(*I feel bad for all the ethnic Chinese learners as instead of undeserved praise, they get dumped on pretty hard for not already being native speakers, like it’s their personal moral failing they didn’t grow up magically knowing it.)

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