Chinese Small Talk?

[suMMit]

@Flickserve I dont know what it is with that 哪里哪里， i know its polite, but i always feel its so cheesy or fake or something when i say it?. Lately ive taken to saying 我说中文说得不太好, which i think is the same idea?

[jannesan]

13 hours ago, Dawei3 said:

Only much later did a friend teach me 你是国内中国哪里人? 

 

Can't you just say 你是中国哪里人？

When I was in Taiwan I was told I should ask 你是台湾哪里人？instead of 你是哪里人？

[abcdefg]

15 hours ago, suMMit said:

 I dont know what it is with that 哪里哪里， i know its polite, but i always feel its so cheesy or fake or something when i say it

 

还差得远 or 还差得远呢 is what I usually say when trying to deflect this particularly tiresome "Your Chinese is so wonderful" phony compliment. 

[DavyJonesLocker]

4 hours ago, abcdefg said:

还差得远 is what I usually say when trying to deflect this particular tiresome "Your Chinese is so wonderful" phony compliment. 

 

it gets tedious very quickly, then the follow up to "how many years have you been studying". I steer the conversation away as soon as I can without trying to look rude.

 

I'm past looking to practice chinese on natives phase, so most times I don't engage in conversation unless I would normally want to. The chosen language (English or Chinese) is an almost an irrelevant component to my participation. I have to admit my spoken chinese has suffered from it though.

[Jim]

Use 过奖，过奖。I like trying to come across as a character in a costume drama.

[889]

One thing you don't do is invite a compliment by apologising for your poor Chinese. If someone nonetheless does begin a compliment, I just grimace a bit, mutter 别说吧 then very quickly move the conversation on.

[imron]

5 hours ago, abcdefg said:

还差得远 or 还差得远呢 is what I usually say when trying to deflect this particularly tiresome "Your Chinese is so wonderful" phony compliment. 

My go to is 跟你比还差一点.  It almost always gets an interesting reaction.

[suMMit]

you're all so humble, i'll bet a lot of you have great chinese, and the compliment is sometimes genuine.

 

Personally i cant wait til the day i can reply: "F**ckin' A right I do brother, its taken me a lot of work, but yeah, its not too shabby"?

[889]

" . . .  and the compliment is sometimes genuine. "

 

The genuine compliment comes when they stop complimenting you.

[Flickserve]

1 hour ago, 889 said:

One thing you don't do is invite a compliment by apologising for your poor Chinese

why not? Loads of Chinese people say the same about their English.

[imron]

22 minutes ago, Flickserve said:

why not?

If you get annoyed by people complimenting your Chinese, apologising for your poor Chinese is just going to result in further compliments about how your Chinese really is so good.

[imron]

1 hour ago, suMMit said:

you're all so humble,

跟你比还差一点 is not really being humble, it's being a smart-aleck.

[suMMit]

@imron yeah, thats a nice one

[Wurstmann]

On the topic of things Chinese people never say outside of textbooks, I recently found my first 马马虎虎 in the wild:

 

 

[Jim]

Ha! I remember distinctly the first time I ever heard it for real as well, years after the classroom.

[roddy]

I've said this repeatedly over the years, but - the entry-level textbooks have to teach something. It has to be something that will be understood and adequately polite in any region or situation, and it'll be safer to err on the side of being too polite than impolite. 你好吗 is also an entirely logical progression from 你好, as you get the question form without introducing any new characters apart from 吗. I think it makes a perfectly valid first chapter choice. 

 

Assuming you've only got time and space for one alternative - what should it be?  

[ChTTay]

I usually just say 还行吧 when someone compliments me too much or unnecessarily then move on. A pretty standard “it’s ok”. 

[Wurstmann]

2 hours ago, roddy said:

Assuming you've only got time and space for one alternative - what should it be?  

Maybe don't treat it like another version of English? They pretty much teach what they think learners expect, regardless of wether it's how the language is used or not. 

[Jim]

I've got a bit of comedy value out of 幸会 over the years.

[Flickserve]

8 hours ago, imron said:

apologising for your poor Chinese is just going to result in further compliments about how your Chinese really is so good

 

I have no problem with that.

 

It's just exchanging pleasantries. 

 

Far better than the "are you married, got boyfriend or girlfriend, where are your parents , how much money do you own, do you own a flat, how much do you earn"