https://www.teamblind.com/post/Accidentally-sent-my-son-to-Japan-to-study-Chinese-fxdjjwqJ
This has to be a bit. They didn’t want to send their son to Taiwan because they have a “hillbilly accent”, so they sent him to Japan instead?
Japan also seemed like the better choice because the northern latitude coincided with China’s capital, Beijing.
What is going on in this person’s brain? Do they think the magnetic poles impact a person’s accent? Being closer to the equator makes you sound more like a hick or what lmao
Ah yes studying Arabic in Mexico will help me develop an Algerian accent because of the latitude
Oh dear god I think he first learned Taiwan has a different accent, and separately learned that it’s in the south, so therefore there would be a southern accent and mentally melded the two together as Taiwanese have a hillbilly accent
He then learned the University of Tokyo has a good Mandarin course, and it’s on the same level latitude as Beijing, so he would get a proper northerner accent.
If this is real, this guy is incredible
i just wanted to point out that an exaggerated taiwanese accent is generally perceived to be more effeminate to your average mainlander. so their son was not in any danger of sounding like a hillbilly, at worst people might think he was gay or fem
at worst people might think he was gay
So the one part of China that is not ruled by the Communist Party is the same part of China whose locals are most likely to sound like “comrades”?
I was told that Southern Chinese accents do not sound good on men, and Taiwanese accents could come across as “feminine”-sounding. It seems like Taiwan is also the only place in Asia where gay marriage is legal, so there seems to be some logic in that. Not prejudiced or anything, but I’m not spending thousands to send my son overseas so he can sound gay.
They are so prejudiced
Northern accents are apparently more masculine, hence our choice in Japan, a northern masculine country.
TO LEARN CHINESE
I’m crying
This is actually a thing, Taiwanese Mandarin accents are difficult to the point that even Taiwanese people acknowledge it because the other way around with another accent is usually easier to understand
Imagine if the OP sent their son to some other Chinese diaspora and comes back with fluent Wenzhounese and is completely unable to communicate with 99.95% of Mandarin and Cantonese speakers
since southerners including taiwanese don’t distinguish s/sh, z/zh, c/ch, and in some cases r/l and f/h, it could be a bit difficult to listen and understand for beginners.
Also, I would imagine that Japan is much closer to China in terms of culture and language, than Mexico is to the US or the UK.
wtf is that website and why does everyone have a company name next to their screen name?
People with Taiwanese accent are perceived to be more effeminate. And there’s no singular “hillbilly accent” because China is like the UK where the further your (Mandarin) accent diverges from the standard, the more you’re perceived to be from a working class/peasantry background.
