I've been trying to learn Cantonese for 2 years now, an effort made more difficult by some of the local population. Certainly there are plenty of people, native Cantonese speakers, who encourage my efforts, but strangely it's often seen as something of a novelty that I would bother trying to learn to speak the predominant language where I live. This attitude puzzles me.
Regardless of what language I use to address someone here, many people will insist on responding in English. This is usually done in an attempt to be helpful, and while I appreciate the sentiment, it's hard to practice the local language when half the locals I meet are "too helpful" to speak to me in Cantonese. Others who reply in English appear to be doing much the same thing I am, taking the opportunity to practice a non-native tongue. In a third scenario, the person to whom I'm speaking is so enthusiastically impressed with my meager smattering of lingual skillz that regardless of what I just said or asked, the answer I receive is, "Wah, so good your Cantonese la!" Say thanks in Cantonese, begin to ask the question again. "You live here long time?" Two years, begin 3rd attempt at question. "Why you not speak Mandarin? Is much easier la." And there goes my bus. Thank you for your assistance.
It's so good to know that you're trying to learn Cantonese! Some of my friends have been in HK for over 10 years and they've never thought about learning it. I guess because a lot of us can speak English, my friends don't find the need to learn it.
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