Comments on New Every Morning: English Bandits Suck

People here are ignorant, PERIOD. Here's an id...

2010-07-31T18:22:09.973+08:00

People here are ignorant, PERIOD. Here's an idea, just give the people who speak English to you the same exact treatment back, i.e. "哇你很會說英文啊! 好厲害喔!!! of course, say this with a very exaggerated tone; or, just ignore them...You are no one's private English teacher...

Justin, It's good to see I'm not alone. A...

2009-06-03T21:55:20.523+08:00

Justin,

It's good to see I'm not alone. And by the way, I love your site!

Becki,

I can't believe that lady did that to you! Actually, sadly, I can believe it. One time I was really intent on reading my novel on the MRT and this lady interrupted me just to tell me that the author's name was the same as hers. And????

Anonymous,

Good advice. I'm working hard on the local language, that's for sure. It would be a lot easier if more Taiwanese people were willing to speak Chinese with me.

Yu-Chen,

That is possibly one of the sweetest compliments anyone has ever given me. Thanks! =)

Hi I must say that I really enjoyed reading your b...

2009-06-03T11:43:57.937+08:00

Hi I must say that I really enjoyed reading your blogs. You should publish all your stories one day. Cheers.

Unfortunately there are English bandits/leeches an...

2009-03-19T17:53:00.000+08:00

Unfortunately there are English bandits/leeches and bullies all over the world :( But fortunately, these are only a minority of people :) Don't get discouraged!

I would recommend the following:

1) work as hard as possible on the local language - the better you get, the fewer people will switch to English

2) politely ask people straight out why they are speaking English to you. If they have difficulty understanding you in the local language, you may learn how to improve. If people are speaking to me in English just because they want to practice, I reply that I don't mind speaking English sometimes, but I would appreciate the chance to speak the local language like everyone else and dislike being treated abnormally just because I come from an English speaking country. This has usually worked for me.

What memories this blog brought to my mind. Somet...

2008-08-08T01:24:00.000+08:00

What memories this blog brought to my mind. Sometimes I miss Taiwan! This is definitely one thing that I don't miss.
I remember riding on the MRT one day, and a lady wanted to talk to me very badly. I wanted to read my book very badly. She stood on her tip toes, reached her arm over my book, and threw her business card into my novel.
I promptly threw it in the trash bin when I got off the train...
Stupid English Bandit!

I feel for you, I really do. For the past 5 years ...

2008-06-16T09:47:00.000+08:00

I feel for you, I really do. For the past 5 years the biggest problem in my life has been english bandits. I still haven't solved it cause I have to much of this like American altruistic niceness in me? Like I owe someone something? Trying everyday to get it out of me and become a blunt prick. Anyway I would suggest instead of saying that you CAN'T speak English, that you WON'T speak Engilsh. If you get any argument back like you owe them, tell them they're more than welcome to go to the US. Also throw out some 入鄉隨俗's at them --- that's hard to argue against.

Marcus,

Thanks! We love in a great place, d...

2008-06-15T13:27:00.000+08:00

Marcus,

Thanks! We love in a great place, don't we?

Cahleen,

Great post! English bandits, I wis...

2008-06-12T13:03:00.000+08:00

Cahleen,

Great post! English bandits, I wish I'd thought of that. I'm lucky I'm of Asian descent, so I act like an "undercover American" and pretend to be Taiwanese.

I also liked what you said in another post, bragging about how cheap transportation is in Taipei. That and universal health care are two big reasons why I continue to live here.

For more Taipei bragging material, check out this article I wrote:

http://taiwanjournal.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=43917&CtNode=122
Marcus

Sandy,

I can't believe someone actually ask...

2008-06-03T13:43:00.000+08:00

Sandy,

I can't believe someone actually asked you to speak English in a Chinese class! Why don't people just go join an English class if that's what they really want?

MJ,

I know I should ignore them, but it's just so darn annoying!

all you can do is ignore people. say "mei guanchee...

2008-06-01T19:50:00.000+08:00

all you can do is ignore people. say "mei guanchee" with no emotional attachments, exactly how a local person would say it to you. completely ignore those dumb comments such as "lance armstrong" and so forth. those people are trying to impress you and they'll stop when you aren't being impressed.

Congratulations on your amazing progress!!!
<...

2008-05-31T08:42:00.000+08:00

Congratulations on your amazing progress!!!

This post is another reason you should move to the South! Many people here would love to speak Chinese to you! ... including my English students and friends :).

I also have the same issue in my Chinese class with foreign students. One day at a break a woman from another country told me she wishes I'd ask more questions in English in class because she wanted to improve her English... I told her that wasn't really the purpose of our going to Chinese class, ha.

Hang in there.. I truly think there are people who would enjoy practicing with you!