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Follow this Chinese podcast along with a transcript and translation: imlearningmandarin.com

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In today’s episode, I talk about the recent history of Chinese attitudes towards foreigners speaking Mandarin and how this differs from the English-speaking world.

It’s always struck me that the way Chinese people react to foreigners speaking their language can have a major impact on our learning journey.

On the one hand, it feels nice to be showered with praised as a beginner for saying a few basic words.

But on the other hand, this can get old quickly.

And the culture of treating foreign Chinese speaking as an entertainment spectacle, with international Chinese speaking competitions broadcast on TV to a whole nation can seem odd for learners who’ve never encountered it before.

So today I discuss the origins of these attitudes and the reasons why Chinese people tend to react the way they do when they hear non-native speakers speak Mandarin.