A few very simple beginner questions

[Shi Tong]

Well, Roddy, you're in Beijing, so would you know how to speak guoyu?

I'm not saying you're wrong, but that doesn't mean I automatically am, seeing as the language is spoken by over a billion people.

[renzhe]

He's saying that using you3 like that is not correct in Guoyu.

It is often heard in Taiwanese colloquial speech (as I said, I believe that this is interference from Taiwanese, but I don't know enough to be certain), but you shouldn't write this in a school report or hear it said by a newscaster.

If you speak like that, you will sound like a character from a corny Chiung Yao love soap.

[Mugi]

Also, you can ask people: "你有在看电视吗", to which you can use the nagation 没有.

You can use that as much as you want, but people outside of your living room are going to think you're wrong, not colloquial.

Not in Taiwan. Although it might not be the standard for Guoyu in Taiwan, and would be frowned upon by teachers, the reality is many people would say this.

To those of us who learnt Mainland Mandarin, it sounds wrong, but most Taiwanese wouldn't blink an eyelid.

[roddy]

Fair enough, anyone outside of Taiwan then