I really don't mind this sort of thing unless it becomes one-after-another, but I think a simple polite refusal or acceptance is the proper form. As for the appropriateness of the exercise, I think the form ("Hello my name is Joey I'm 7 I live in..." etc.) is a bit primitive, but the fact that real kids get to talk to real English speakers is good - all too many people in China have a nervous kind of feeling about 'foreigners' that is a result of bits of xenophobia in Han culture that stresses a 'They are REALLY DIFFERENT who knows what they'll do or say?' attitude, which often demonstrates or results in inappropriate this that or the other ('Welcome to China!' 'But I speak Chinese and have been here for 15 years.' Never mind, welcome to China!' etc. - after which it begins to be about face rather than real communication). Young kids, especially, can be talked to simply like real kids from anywhere, will respond to kindness even though it comes from a funny-looking guy whom they otherwise might be taught to fear as an ogre, and will be delighted. I really don't have much of a problem with this, unless, obviously, some parent simply uses you inconsiderately for a long period of time. The value of the exercise is not really in teaching method/learning more language, but in learning that people who look different and speak different languages are people too - as good a lesson as I know for people of any age, and a good one to acquire while young.
Dianchi below national standards, nearby construction may be halted
Posted byIt's a bummer, but I can't say Kunming is really uncomfortable, and am not planning on leaving - there are a lot of worse places. The thing that bothers me the most is the mushrooming of the number of automobiles over the past 6 years or so, and the construction of all the new buildings - reminds me of many US cities, but has happened with less organization.
419 million year-old 'missing link' discovered in Yunnan
Posted byUse of the word 'law' in scientific discussions is usually misinterpreted by many laymen, as well as (apparently) some scientists. Calling something a 'law' does not mean no doubt can arise concerning its validity (e.g.: Newton's various 'laws'). Science deals in theory and we deal in habit, but no one deals in certainty, except as (what psychological theory explains as) a psychological phenomenon, often associated with habit, and sometimes associated with revelations or satori. All theories, including that of the 'existence' or 'nonexistence' of God (questions which have nothing to do with science, despite the cries of Hawkins and the noisy new atheists), are open to revision and reinterpretation - sorry, but that's the best we can do.
Interview: Photographer and artist Zi Bai
Posted byGood subject matter, that on which the world chokes.
What does it cost to raise a child in Kunming?
Posted byWhich high schools cost Y80,000 a year? Those for the elite, perhaps.
What does it cost to raise a child in Kunming?
Posted byHow many more children do you think Kunming needs?