Hi, everyone.
I'm here looking for a Swedish-speaking person who might be able to guide me a little bit on the pronunciation since I'm trying to learn it myself. I've been in Stockholm for 3 years. Don't ask me why I hadn't learned it there, I'm wondering that as well. Lol
Please let me know if someone can help. I'm a Chinese btw. Coffees are on me or if you insist on charging a fee, that can be discussed also.
Thanks a million!
"if you insist on charging a fee"
This is exceedingly presumptuous. You are seeking a scarce and valuable service for the price of a cup of coffee, and suggesting that to request payment of a fair market rate is to "insist".
Chill man. I‘m not looking for a teacher or some kind of professional help. I'm just looking for a little help and want to make friends with, so that I can stay connected with Sweden.
I helped some foreigners with their life or Chinese study, I didn't charge anything. A cup of coffee is good enough for me.
It's not like you can live a life here without any help from others. It's an equal relationship.
Sorry I didn't explain myself more clear.
Foreigners coming here generally involves time, money and effort, plus bearing some inconveniences. One reason for doing so is that foreign language skills here are relatively scarce but in high demand.
Your helping some foreigners with their Chinese study is commendable. Let's also assume that you received no benefits in terms of getting a chance to practice their language with them. However, this is still not equivalent to a foreigner helping a Chinese person with language study because:
1. You did not invest time, money & effort and bear inconveniences to come here in the first place, as a foreigner typically would have.
2. In terms of language study, Chinese language skills are an abundant resource here. It is basic economics that an abundant resource will have a lower market value than a scarce & high-demand resource.
Most Chinese in my experience are generous and honorable. But there are a few who try to exploit foreigners for language study under various pretexts -- this is a longstanding phenomenon familiar to most expats here. To get a sense of how foreigners perceive such behavior, check out the following GoKunming forum thread:
Perhaps it was not your intent, but your post was reminiscent of this general pattern.
I understand, foreigners invested time money and have inconveniences. I was once a foreigner myself in Sweden.
Your points are interesting though.
1. Your saying makes me feel like because you are a foreigner and minority here so that our time and efforts are not equal? Everyone lives here is paying a price. Since you choose to live abroad, for sure you will burden much more than the local and in return you are experiencing totally different life than your own people. Better or worse, it's your own choice. It doesn't mean people have the obligations to treat you differently. People chose to be nice to you because they are nice.
2. How many times do I have to state that I'm not looking for professional helps? Unless someone is a teacher or expert in their own language, they cannot really teach someone else on how to learn a language. All that I'm looking for is just a bit help with some of my questions. If someone speaks Swedish don't feel like to help, it's totally fine. Or he/she think I should pay a reasonable price based on his/her judgement it's also fine.
3. Just because you knew or heard or experienced some bad experiences doesn't mean every Chinese wants something from you with no return.
Plus, as for your "economic theory", I have no comment on that. if you do everything based on this very protocol, it's your business.
4. I just think if there is a Swede here somewhere, as scare as it is, it would also be good to know someone who had lived in their hometown and can share more or less the same memories and feelings of Sweden is rather a good thing.
Don't need to diss something before you know the whole story.
Responding to your points:
1. It has nothing to do with equality, wanting to be treated differently, or niceness. Again, it is just simple economics: supply and demand.
2a. "All that I'm looking for is just a bit help with some of my questions." >> "help" in this case = a service provided by a stranger, whether or not it is “professional”. Calling it something else doesn't change its nature.
2b. "Or he/she think I should pay a reasonable price based on his/her judgement it's also fine." >> It is inappropriate to put the onus on a stranger to "insist" that they should be paid for providing you with a service. The default expectation is generally that services between strangers will be on a paid basis.
3. I wrote "Most Chinese in my experience are generous and honorable."
4. Sure, good for him, and I would imagine also good for you to reminisce about a country where you spent some time. This seems like it would be fair if the language learning aspect was excluded.
After reading your replies, I don't think you meant badly. As we all know, it's normal to have some misunderstandings when people from different cultures interact. I hope you find someone for an arrangement that works for you both.
As stubborn as you wish.
1. You don't know what exactly I'll be asking for. And I see no necessity explaining it to you since you are not who I'm looking for.
2. Do remember to pay next time you ask someone for direction.
3. How is that even possible to exclude the part of language study from a real conversation? Are we supposed to use body language instead? Either using English or Chinese or Swedish, there will always be someone benefit a bit from the conversation to improve or maintain their language efficiency. And you cannot really expect people to avoid mention anything related to questions regarding the language itself.
4. Anyway, it is not appropriate to use insist.
@Aria Li
Don't sweat it. If someone here speaks Swedish and wants to get in contact with you they will. Don't pay attention about this or that. Many people that come to China want language exchange with a native speaker. Just wait and see if someone responds to your request. If not maybe you can ask a language school.
Couple of years ago there were some Swedish students in the city, and before they left back they arranged a traditional annual Swedish festivity at one bar in Kunming. I forget if the bar owner was Swedish or not, or what that's bar name was.
Another place where Swedish (and more generally Nordic) exchanges frequent, is TCG Nordica. They seem to be moving at the moment, but I'm sure that if you visit there for some exhibition opening, you will catch some Swedes.
Good advice from Liumingke and JanJal. I am going to bow out as our debate doesn't seem to be getting anywhere.
