Daily advice for HK immigrants to the West:
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Daily advice for HK immigrants to the West:

At work or at play, you may be called on to speak. Don’t apologize and say, “English is not my first language”. With Asians, a lot of time, people just assume that you don’t speak great English. There’s no need to reinforce the prejudice. You can live in humility without the added humiliation. If someone remarks, “You speak good English,” you don’t need to push back too hard either. You can simply thank them. If you want to be funny, you can say, “Thanks. You should hear my Cantonese”. Never apologize for something that can’t be helped or who you are. Be proud of the fact that you’re bilingual or multilingual. Instead of playing along with their prejudicial narrative, you can change their minds by speaking slowly and clearly. When you slow down your speech, you have more time to think and you sound more thoughtful. If you just give off the cuff answers like you’re racing for the F-1 finish line, you’re bound to have to apologize later for your faux pas.

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