A phone call yesterday, when I was trying to ask whether foreigners can be treated at Hong Kong clinics:
Receptionist: (Cantonese, though the Mandarin phone greeting sounds the same) Hello?
Me: (Cantonese) Excuse me, do you speak English?
Receptionist (Mandarin) I can.
Me: (Mandarin) I am an American. I want to know whether…(can’t remember word)
Receptionist: (English) You can speak English.
Advertisement
