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A comment on If English was written like Chinese (1999). Parent comment

Re:If English was written like Chinese (1999) by gerdesj on Monday June 03, 2024 @07:14PM (#40568816)
On a recent holiday to to Hong Kong {sp}, I noted the Metro announcements were in Cantonese, Mandarin and then English. I also noted that apologies and other minor social skirmishes and interactions, eg after bumping into someone, were mostly delivered in English.

When in Rome, speak English: its the French language.

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Re:If English was written like Chinese (1999) by PaulDavisThe1st on Monday June 03, 2024 @11:14PM (#40570343)
Franco-Germanic, por favor.
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Re:If English was written like Chinese (1999) by samus on Tuesday June 04, 2024 @06:22AM (#40572708)
Hong Kong is a special case where English still has higher prestige to begin with. Locals sometimes code-switch to English even if everyone present would understand Cantonese.
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Re:If English was written like Chinese (1999) by gerdesj on Wednesday June 05, 2024 @08:28PM (#40592162)
That sounds like a carefully worded response and I will respect it as such.

Language is important in so many ways - it often defines who you are, regardless of where you are.

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