How do Chinese people see Americans?

[Jeremy Andrews]

I've always been curious about how Americans are seen in various other countries.

Are they curious about us? What kind of impression do they have about our personalities?

[smartmandarin]

Haha...

In my country (Taiwan), most of the Americans are here as an English teacher.

Usually Americans here don't have a good reason to learn Chinese since English is an international language already, which is a total waste being in a Chinese languge speaking country but not learning it!

 

I have students from many different countries. Interesting thing is...most of my European students don't really like Americans,

some of my European students think Americans are arrogant, which I don't know about that...cause I've never met

an arrogant American...

 

Americans that I know (mostly are my coworkers and students) are friendly and straightforward.

So to me, Americans are friendly, straight, and sometimes humorous.

[Demonic_Duck]

Being English, I've never been on the receiving end of any specific stereotypes relating to Americans, but this is my overall impression, the good and the bad:

 

Americans (negative) - loud, often obnoxious, boring personalities (the last one I only heard from one Chinese girl, so take it with a pinch of salt)

Americans (positive) - confident, warmhearted and open to experience

English (negative) - former imperialists, a bit stuck-up

English (positive) - gentlemen, generally speak better Chinese than Americans

 

As for perceptions of American vs. British English, it seems to be a matter of preference with a roughly 50-50 split, based on the perception of Am Eng being more "standard", and Br Eng being more "refined". A lot of Chinese though, even ones with relatively good English, are surprisingly bad at even being able to tell the difference.

[Jeremy Andrews]

Usually Americans here don't have a good reason to learn Chinese since English is an international language already, which is a total waste being in a Chinese languge speaking country but not learning it!

Wow. If I had the resources to go to another country, I don't think I'd turn down an opportunity to learn their language.

Ironically, I intend to learn Mandarin but remain in the US the rest of my life. What I'm actually hoping for is an opportunity to chat with recent Chinese immigrants (and perhaps be the first person they network with), or at least chat with some foreign exchange students from China before they go home so I can learn about them.

The way I see it, there are a lot of Mandarin Chinese speakers in the world (some of whom will find their way here), but not a lot of people in the US who speak it. Most consider it difficult or impossible. The established Chinese-American communities here mostly speak Cantonese, and thus can't communicate with the recent immigrants who often speak Mandarin. Spanish is already an extremely common second language here, but Mandarin isn't... yet.

Americans that I know (mostly are my coworkers and students) are friendly and straightforward.

I almost have to wonder if being seen that way makes us seem gullible. After all, people who are always very direct and straightforward can often be misled by people who are more subtle, including con artists.

But anyway, good to hear that some people think well of us. I usually hear a lot more from the ones who don't, especially these days.

[Demonic_Duck]

To be honest, if you're white, you'll likely be targeted more by con-artists in China. Doesn't matter whether you're American or not. I guess the reason is that white people are seen as a) not familiar with the culture and thus out of their element, b) don't generally speak Chinese well enough to understand nuances and can thus be tricked, c) have lots of money.

[Ruben von Zwack]

My language teacher in Beijing recently was complaining that her American students mostly ask for pinyin, pinyin, pinyin, and don't like to learn characters. I saw in your other topic that you are learning the Hanzi. So that's good, you are going to defy the stereotype! Strength to you! 

[Demonic_Duck]

I think there does seem to be a grain of truth in the "Americans are not good foreign language learners" stereotype. Most of the time when I hear someone mangling their Chinese pronunciation so badly it makes me wince, it turns out they're American. Then again, most of my foreign friends are American, so I guess there's some selection bias going on there too.

[li3wei1]

Many people's views of Americans are largely shaped by two things: Hollywood movies, in which the average American is way above average rich - big house, big car, doesn't have to work all day. If they made movies about average/poor people they'd be really boring. The other thing is US foreign policy and the resulting smearing of its people by anti-American opinion formers. Just because America invades small countries with little provocation to protect its business interests, bombs civilians with unmanned drones, tortures people and colludes with terrorists and assassins doesn't mean that its people aren't big-hearted, friendly, down-to-earth people. If my car broke down in the middle of a desert, I would very much like the next driver to come along to be an American. Or maybe a Canadian, in a pinch. Oh, sorry, I've gone off-topic, I'm not Chinese.

[JustinJJ]

"美国人都很开放”

[OneEye]

In my country (Taiwan), most of the Americans are here as an English teacher.

 

There's a stereotype for you. I've been addressed many times as 老師 by people who didn't know me (I'm not). But among the Americans that I know here and have known since moving here, very few are here to teach English, so I don't think this impression of us is accurate at all. Now, some of my friends do teach, but most of them teach school subjects like math, history, art, etc. at international schools here, not English. Others work in business, own businesses, are in graduate school, work as translators and interpreters, etc. I don't know why Taiwanese people think we all come here to teach English, but in my experience at least, that's not the case.

[li3wei1]

Long ago I had an American friend in Taiwan who was sick of that stereotype. Once someone asked her 'Will you teach me English?' and she replied, 'Sure, will you do my laundry?'

[Ruben von Zwack]

There is a cliché that bothers me a lot, not about Americans specifically but about "Westerners", and it's "Asians are so insanely polite and indirect, and all Westerners are so bold and direct."

It's really a communication hindrance.

 

To give one rather ridiculous example:

My flat mate asks me if its okay to have guests over the weekend.

What I say: "of course!"

What I think: man, it's a nuisance, they will be sleeping in the living room so I need to tip-toe around at night, there will be black hairs all over the bath room as if they filmed a Japanese ghost movie in there, and you're going to have one big cooking party over the whole weekend.

 

Flat mate asks: "Should they bring gifts?"

what I say: "oh but of course not!"

what I mean: Yes of course I want gifts!

(what I think: wahhh how can you ask that, so embarrassing )

Every Britsh and French person would understand and bring an expensive bottle of Sherry, French ham, or Scottish cookies, and invite me for dinner.

 

So when they show up - no gifts

 

Another ridiculous example:

A friend from Singapore arrives at work in the morning after everyone else is already there, every day, for weeks.

Her German boss says: "You know, when you arrive earlier, you can leave earlier".

Every European would get it and arrive earlier from then on.

Not my Singaporean friend, she replies "haha, but I prefer to sleep long and work late!"

 

I noticed only my Taiwanese flat mate who stayed in Europe for a whole year got the art of politeness and indirect speaking.

[Guest realmayo]

Ah interesting, so the misconception that westerners are super-direct means that easterners don't bother looking for subtexts...

[Pingfa]

A common stereotype is that they are simple-minded performing monkeys. They can't read or express subtlety, are straightforward like a child and like to make fools of themselves, etc

 

Being too honest is a sign of stupidity to many Chinese. Many think Americans (well, westerners) lack guile and say everything they think.

Ultimately, the average Chinese isn't as well off as Americans so it is a much more competitive environment. Many Chinese don't understand why Americans seem to be so trusting, the reason for this is simple: Most of the essential needs of the average American are already met, so not so many Americans feel the need to screw people over.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not making a statement about the moral fabric of Chinese people in general, I'm saying Chinese live in a harsher environment. All the corruption and scamming essentially stems from desperation, hence their reluctance to trust people - in short, in China, you can't afford to trust people.

 

The moral strength of any populace is largely dependent on the wealth of the nation.

To paraphrase some Chinese politician, China's development in recent years has been so rapid that the perks that usually come with a civilized society haven't had time to fully develop.

[OneEye]

I have this hat that I wear a lot when it's cool outside. It looks like this. I call it my "what country are you from" hat, because I get asked that question every time I wear it. Several people have told me, "I didn't think Americans wore hats like that." Some people try out languages other than English on me ("Bonjour!"). So there's one for you: Americans don't wear hats like that.

 

Last week a couple on the MRT talked about me, not two feet from me. "Where do you think he's from? England?" "No, English people don't wear hats like that. I think he's Italian." "I don't think Italian people wear hats like that. Maybe he's French?"

 

I'm sure they both had extensive experience in those countries.   Anyway, they were surprised when I turned around and said "It looks like a hat a Taiwanese person would wear. Maybe he's Taiwanese."

[Ruben von Zwack]

 [...] in short, in China, you can't afford to trust people.

 

The moral strength of any populace is largely dependent on the wealth of the nation.

 

You are painting a dark picture of China there. I know it's common to speak gloomily about China, as if it were India. So having been to India in the past, I was pretty scared when I went to China for my first time recently.

But no one told me any outrageous lies, no one cheated me with the change, no one even stole from me. Some people even went out of their way to help me just out of kindness, for example, when I was stranded at a bus station in the middle of nowhere, someone took me downtown on their little motor roller. It was quite a ride, about 20 minutes, and they had to ask around a lot to find my youth hostel. And they didn't want any favour in return, just a photo together.

So since, I am under the impression that the Chinese are much better than their reputation.

[Pingfa]

True enough it's quite common for a Chinese person to go the extra mile for a foreigner, but take in mind this is because you are a foreigner; they want to leave a good impression.

 

Still I suppose what I said was overly gloomy. "You can't afford to trust people" may be too broad, you can't afford to be too trusting would be a better way to put it.

I just wanted to express that China is all around a harsher environment than America and the Chinese are, like all people, a product of their environment.

 

It's not that Americans are stupid, it's not a genetic issue, it's a matter of need. It's not that Americans are too trusting, it's that they have less need to be skeptical in their environment.

 

I think worth noting is that many mainlanders often think of Taiwanese and Hong Kongers as simple compared to mainlanders; this is because they live in a less harsh environment and can express themselves more freely.

[roddy]

The problem I have with your view, Pingfa, is that if it was just a matter of desperation and need, all the scamming and corruption would stop once the person in question had food and shelter. But they don't, they become Railways Minister.

 

It's not desperation, it's a combination of human nature and a weak law-enforcement environment, plus either a steady flow of easy marks (train stations, airports, tourist attractions) or a monopoly of power (local government). Your average stall-holder or office worker is no more going to think about scamming anyone than you or I. 

 

As for what people think of Americans - generally depends on the last American they met. "I had a missionary / frat boy in my cab last week. You Yanks are all really religious / drunk."

[Pingfa]

Indeed. In retrospect the comment about wealth was rather shortsighted - when I talked of the harsh environment I was taking the political aspect in mind, I didn't mean to simplify it into a purely economical issue.

 

I agree with you about the tendency to judge a country based on the last person they met. I had a friend that used to hate French people, met a nice French dude, suddenly French people are great. My brother hates or loves a different country every week depending on how well his dates go. 

[Jenaxidai]

I like western people and have an American Grandpa. From some American friends I have contacted on FB, I can tell many western people are nicer than Chinese, though I'm a Chinese.

 

Have a check what had happened in my community, you will know more about Chinese culture.

 

It's the first time I come to this forum, it seems very interesting. Hugs to all of you here & Merry Christmas.