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>On a complete tangent, this is one of the perks of living in a foreign country if you speak the language well - instant recognition that you have mastered thei

by xiaoma 18y ago

>On a complete tangent, this is one of the perks of living in a foreign country if you speak the language well - instant recognition that you have mastered their language, and that you must therefore not be a complete moron. Absolutely. I'm a partner in a small educational venture in Taiwan, and my sales conversion rate is actually significantly better than that of our local staff. I don't believe for a second that it's because I'm that good. Having people shocked at my Chinese skills definitely gives me an extra oomph. I'm not sure if Chinese people in the US would get the same credit.

davidw 18y ago
> I'm not sure if Chinese people in the US would get the same credit. I think the problem there is that you have no idea what background the person has. There are plenty of ethnically Chinese Americans who of course speak English perfectly, whereas if you're obviously "not from around there", people are going to connect the dots faster.