It’s with a fair degree of confidence that none of what I’m about to say applies to anyone reading this on Reddit in 2025, but nonetheless, my admonition: be a good listener.
Native Chinese speakers, you need to do better (sometimes).
Ok, I get it; I’m white, so when Chinese words come out of my mouth, I may catch you off guard. But we’re in China, and there’s a good chance I’m pointing to written Chinese or an object that matches my words about half the time.
If you don’t understand me, fine, but don’t stare at me like I have a second head. Say something like, “听不懂”, or anything else that gives me an indication that I haven’t phase shifted out of existence like Geordi Laforge and Ro Laren.
When 80% of the people I talk to understand me perfectly well; it’s not me, it’s you.
It’s different being an American, I realize. I grew up in a heterogeneous, hetero-linguistic society, and have spent the last 4 decades listening to people beat the ever-loving shit out of my native tongue like it’s a rented mule that the owner doesn’t want back. Admittedly, something like 25 words per the 10 million I hear in a year are just too far gone to be salvaged by the blob between my ears and so I kindly smile and speak clearly, “I’m sorry, please say that again”.
Try it. I promise it won’t hurt.
——End rant. Love you all
