Non-native speakers navigate the world of 'good' and 'bad' English

Re:Non-native speakers navigate the world of 'good' and 'bad... by nindalf on Sunday May 23, 2021 @02:47AM (#27252929)

I’m not in the same boat as the folks in these articles who’ve clearly suffered much worse treatment. I had a relatively easy time. But personally, I hated it when someone complimented my English. It felt infantilising, like how it would feel if someone appreciated you for tying your shoelaces all by yourself.

The next time an American or British or Australian person tells me how good my English is, I’m telling them that “oh your English isn’t too bad either”.

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Re:Non-native speakers navigate the world of 'good' and 'bad... by MattGaiser on Sunday May 23, 2021 @03:30AM (#27253083)

You have to remember that to many of us Americans and Brits and Canadians, speaking any amount of any other language is impressive. We are comparing it to the 10 words we can speak of something else.

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Re:Non-native speakers navigate the world of 'good' and 'bad... by starky on Sunday May 23, 2021 @01:15PM (#27256692)

>It felt infantilising, like how it would feel if someone appreciated you for tying your shoelaces all by yourself.

I've been places (particularly Asia) where people were actually impressed that I learned a handful of words/phrases to be polite. Like do you think I'm too arrogant or stupid to take the time to learn a bit of a language that isn't English?

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Re:Non-native speakers navigate the world of 'good' and 'bad... by andrewshadura on Sunday May 23, 2021 @12:02PM (#27256000)

What about ‘For how long exactly have you lived in Britain?’

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