[sparkles]

Originally Posted by Valencia1

Just saw a kid who speaks English while his parents speak Cantonese. Funny.

hey! i was one of those kids hee! im not a kid anymore though...and i still do that. I recently got my HK residency that im entitled to cus i was born here, but i dont feel very chineseeeeeeeeeee let along local...yet anyways.

[HK_Newbie100]

I don't mean this in any critical way at all, but it just strikes me as really odd how people can live somewhere for 10, 20 years (and maybe even call that place 'home'?) and still cannot put together a full sentence in the local language. Would life not be much more enriching if you could fully participate in the loca l culture at all levels? And then some people go on to say they feel alienated by local behaviour??? I know learning Chinese is like scaling Everest, pretty daunting stuff to an expat, but step by step, I'm sure you can get there eventually, or at least gain huge respect and friendliness with your efforts, however good or less than perfect.

Apologies for being slightly off topic, but just some foolish thoughts...

[keto1]

Originally Posted by HK_Newbie100

I don't mean this in any critical way at all, but it just strikes me as really odd how people can live somewhere for 10, 20 years (and maybe even call that place 'home'?) and still cannot put together a full sentence in the local language. Would life not be much more enriching if you could fully participate in the loca l culture at all levels? And then some people go on to say they feel alienated by local behaviour??? I know learning Chinese is like scaling Everest, pretty daunting stuff to an expat, but step by step, I'm sure you can get there eventually, or at least gain huge respect and friendliness with your efforts, however good or less than perfect.

Apologies for being slightly off topic, but just some foolish thoughts...

Although this makes sense logically, it's not so straight forwards. THere are many reasons why you may not learn the local language:

1. It's hard.

2. You're older (>30) and havent studied for a long time and dont want to.

3. Everyone around at work you speaks English so you dont have to.

4. You regard Chinese as being lower than you, thus learning Chinese makes you closer to being a lower person. It is no secret that all 1st world countries are Caucasian.

5. You married a beautiful English speaking HK gal, send your kids to an International School, and all your other peers in senior management or directorship are from Western countries, and none of them speak Chinese either. So you have no reason to.

6. None of the other locals will speak Chinese to you, even though you try to speak Chinese, because they dont have the patience for some White guy playing at being Chinese.

[wkeungy]

Born in HK and went to Sydeny 10 yrs then back here now...
Aussie Hongkie.... you know...

[nation]

Originally Posted by keto1

4. You regard Chinese as being lower than you, thus learning Chinese makes you closer to being a lower person. It is no secret that all 1st world countries are Caucasian.

What??????? I won't dignify the idiocy of those 2 sentences.

[KnowItAll]

>> a full sentence in the local language

English has been and remains an offical language here.

[KnowItAll]

And perhaps the real reason from my end is .. no matter how much of the language I'd learn, I'm still someone that most people would never look as a local .. so why bother.

Hong Kong is home ... thats where the family and friends are, and its about the quality .. not quantity. I really have no desire to make 6 million others my closest friends.

[InstructerJames]

Ohh lets face it learning the language takes all the fun out of guessing how angry they are with you

so heck you cant be insulted if you havnt got the fientest idea of what they are saying.

[ayukobaby]

This room is getting a bit hot here with all those posts about learning chinese n wheres "home". i have fun reading them hehe but well personally i dun think its a problem to call somewhere home even if u dunno the local language perfectly. home is somewhere you feel comfy to stay in, somewhere you have your friends n families to hang out with. and after all, language is just a means to help yourself fit in here but not an end itself. and as know it all said, english is the official language here n u can still survive without knowing cantonese. so why bother? plus the local here like to speak to you in english rather than chinese. i think its not that they have no patience to let u play being chinese, just that they may feel better for being able to communicate with u in a second language hehe its all fun. anyway its good to see people being critical at times. i enjoy reading this thread.

[sky2000]

I born in HK. Also want language or culture exchange.