Reply to Yu Ying - Do/Can Non-Native Kids Actually SPEAK Chinese?

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Reply to " Yu Ying - Do/Can Non-Native Kids Actually SPEAK Chinese?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In regard to the comments regarding people needing to lie to compliment YY kids on their Chinese, don't people do this in every language? I frequently hear people complimenting others who are obviously learning English on how well they are doing. I take another language that I started as an adult, and I have received very undeserved compliments from speakers of that language.

I think it is common for speakers of any language to complement others who are learning that language, both to be polite and encouraging. This not at all something that is unique to Chinese speakers in talking to kids from YY.
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I agree, but the condescending tone used by those posters and the fact that they always point out how they have to lie because the kids' Chinese is so terrible is what makes those particular posts annoying.[/quote]

Oh, I get what you're saying. I'm just wondering why those people feel that it is something unique to Chinese culture to be polite and to compliment others, particularly children, who are learning their language.

In my experience, the same is true of many, many cultures.  It is a silly point for them to make as a criticism of this school.

I regularly hear English speakers lie when they politely compliment the English skills of people who are obviously still learning the language. Should these people stop trying to learn English because they are not speaking it perfectly? Maybe they'll never speak English perfectly, but they are trying and continuing to learn something new, just like these children. Learning another language and about the culture from which it originates is always a good thing, even if one never achieves absolute fluency. 
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