One of the cultural differences that most
foreigners learn in China is the way of replying to compliments. In
Australia, if someone says you are wearing a nice dress, you would most
likely to say “Thank you”. However, to respond to a compliment like that
in China would be considered slightly prideful, and it would make
people feel more comfortable to be more modest. People think that it
will be helpful for building better interpersonal relationships with
others.
It is almost like there are certain rules
for what is appropriate to say in certain situations. For example, you
are visiting someone’ house for the first time, and you are kind of
expected to say something positive about the house. Such as “it is so
clean and beautiful”, but the host are never supposed to directly accept
the praise. The host is more likely to say something like “oh, I didn’t
get free time to do the cleaning, sorry about the mess”. Even though
she might have worked hard on it all day.
There is a Chinese phrase that is
basically appropriate for all this kind of conversation. That is 哪里哪里
[nă lĭ, nă lĭ]. The direct English translation is “Where, where”, simply
means “no no no, I’m being flattered”. So next time, when Chinese
people compliment your Chinese, use this phrase哪里哪里 [nă lĭ, nă lĭ] and
they will be amazed how idiomatic your Chinese is.
Visit KB Learning Studio website for more information and to know more about our services at
www.kblss.com.au.
