I’ve studied it off and on since high school, but really struggle with speak. I get anxious about the times and accidentally saying something nonsensical. But we had a family show up that didn’t speak English, and I was able to do more than crank out 谢谢。

  • randint@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 month ago

    I would personally say 我(的)中文還不怎麼好啦/我的中文还不怎么好啦 (wǒ de zhōngwén hái bùzěnme* hǎo la). 啦 carries a bit of humbleness and is often used when denying a praise. 啊 wouldn’t really work here, though I can’t really tell you why. Might be because it can (depending on tone) sound like you’re denying sth impatiently and that it should be obvious, I think? … sorry I don’t really know how to put this into words precisely.

    *Although 怎麼/么 is usually said to be pronounced as zěnme, I have always felt it’s more aptly described as zeme.

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 month ago

      Might be because it can (depending on tone) sound like you’re denying sth impatiently and that it should be obvious, I think

      That makes a lot of sense, thanks for the tip.