'Meaner' locals might mean better Chinese

Now, as I begin my fourth year in this lovely country, I feel the need to complain. Actually, many otherwise cheerful foreigners who showed up in Taiwan thinking it a good place to learn a little Chinese love complaining about Taiwanese people. The problem is Taiwanese folks are generally too nice to us. Of course it's not really their fault.

Taiwan, bless its heart, has decided the way to jump into the international scene is to educate its young in the international language of commerce, and thus more than most Taiwanese can speak at least basic get-by English, and are eager to practice with the odd traveling foreigner. This is probably much worse in Taipei, the most international part of the country, where most foreign students happen to be, coincidently.

To an unfortunate student whose only real ambition in Taiwan is to practice as much Chinese as possible in a short time, the situation works against him. This leads a few ambitious souls to refuse to speak English as a general rule. I once saw a guy on the MRT who attached a sign to his backpack asking strangers to only talk to him in Chinese. Is this proper etiquette? Is it fair that Taiwanese students in the U.S. don't have to worry about the waiter trying to practice his tones every time they go out?

Personally, I've taken a more laissez-faire attitude to this kind of thing. As my Chinese gets better, fewer Taiwanese try to speak English with me anyway. Still, as Taiwan looks toward attracting more foreign tourists and businesses to their beautiful island, a handful of us grumpy students wish Taiwan would be just a little meaner.

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