Have you ever been going merrily along in the language you’ve been learning only to hit a big bump when you discover that a word you’ve been using for forever doesn’t mean what you thought it meant?
That happened to me with one of the most basic words in Mandarin: xie xie. I had been taught that it means thank you, and had been using it accordingly.
Then I found out that xie xie and thank you are not 100% equivalent, and I’d been annoying the socks off at least one Chinese friend by saying [what I thought was] “thank you.” Whoops.
To read the story, check out my post on Taking Route today, Stop with the Thank Yous!
And guess what? For those of you who’ve been waiting for the print version of Home, James to come out, today is your lucky day! Home, James is now available in paperback! Get yourself a copy, and send a copy as a gift to your favorite expat family, or to non-expat friends to give them an entertaining peek into the world of a kid in global transition.
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March 11, 2018 at 6:40 am
This is a really meaningful post to me. I’ve been aware that I say “xie xie” way too much, and have been a little self-conscious about it, but it’s such a compulsion, and my kids say it all the time, as well. This post really helped give me a much better perspective on it. I’m going to share it with my kids, as well, and pay closer attention to the appropriate times to say it. I think you have changed my life!
March 12, 2018 at 8:12 pm
I’m glad it was a helpful post! It’s hard to change such an ingrained habit. I was very appreciative that my helper made me aware of my bad habit. I would have kept xie-xie-ing obliviously for many more years had she not said anything. Hope you and your kids can slowly change your xiexie’s into a wider variety of ways to express appreciation!
March 11, 2018 at 11:07 am
Very good topic! I lived in China for a long time before I figured that out. In Guangxi Province, they called us the xie xie people.
March 12, 2018 at 7:30 pm
The “xie xie people” – I love it! 🙂