User Comments - xiaofrosty

Posted on: A Visit to the In-laws

My first teacher was Taiwanese, but I have also tried other schools here where the teacher is from the mainland. In one school in particular the teacher had a favorite student that had been in her class for a few years and I was the new kid in her class. Since I know zhuyin and genuinely believe that is the best way to learn to speak properly. He of course was brought up to believe that pinyin is the way to go.

However once the teacher found out that I was taught by a Taiwanese teacher, she kept on finding fault with my pronunciation, even though the other guy would read chinese as if it was english. (no detectable tones)

It was getting quite obvious what was happening and embarrasing for me because I even invited my Vietnamese dentist to the class. She was just a beginner. Thankfully she got pregnant and decided to drop out of teaching to take care of the kid.

So even in this country, I also witness harassment first hand.

Posted on: A Visit to the In-laws

She did mention that when arriving at the airport, it was always a hassle once they found out she didn't sound like one of them. She said they can pinpoint where most people come from just by the accent.

She always says she is MIT (made in Taiwan) I guess one would pick up the accent from what is spoken at home.

From some of the chinese that I have known from the mainland also likewise don't have a favorable opinion of Taiwan. For what reason, I'm not sure.

But I can really see that this could be the case. I lived & worked in Montreal before I moved to the US. There are many French people that will refuse to speak english without even knowing if the other person is a tourist or not. I purposely refuse to speak French when I go home to visit for that reason and it is a constant hassle.

Posted on: A Visit to the In-laws

Generally speaking in the US hearing bad english is very common because of the many recent immigrants. However we can generally figure out what is being said, except in extreme cases. This is the difference when speaking bad Chinese to a native Chinese person.

Chinese can never even figure out what is being said. The reason is you need to get 3 out of 4 tones correct, otherwise it is impossible to know what is being said. I know a chinese lady that met an english lady that had a Chinese phrase book and she wanted to say that she was hungry. She was supposed to say "wo du zi e le".

There is only 5 words. She apparently didn't get at least three tones right.

My chinese friend told that lady that it didn't sound anything she knew.

In fact my chinese friend told that lady to forget about trying to speak chinese.

Posted on: A Visit to the In-laws

I am sure she is from Taipei. My teacher also Taiwanese grew up in Taiwan. Her parents are from Sichuan. Apparently she has a Sichuan accent which makes it difficult when she goes home to Taiwan. She says she has to speak english to avoid being detected as from Mainland China.

Posted on: A Visit to the In-laws

thanks, toianw.  I was about to give up.  Somebody really should put a visible button somewhere.  For those of us that got our start with Taiwan teachers this means everything.  I know a lady from Taiwan that can't even talk about what China did to her language.  She gets really emotional about it.  I think I've become very simpathetic to her views and feel the same disapointment as she does.

Posted on: A Visit to the In-laws

jenny, i was able to get this:

chinesepod_E1196trad.pdf

this may have been before I signed up for the 7 day free trial.  Seems there may be different privileges for different plans. 

Posted on: A Visit to the In-laws

謝謝 jennyzhu & toianw. yesterday I was able to see one lesson in traditional characters. today I don't see where I have the choice. Seeing traditional gives

me that warm feeling. seeing simplified gives me that frosty feeling!

Posted on: A Visit to the In-laws

This is a trial lesson for me, however the pdf files

don't allow copy & paste to a word document.

This is a serious limitation.  Anybody have a solution?