How should you reply when a foreigner asks: [How are you?]?

Hi, my name is Jason and I'm from Vancouver. I am a Taiwanese Canadian who can speak English and Chinese. I have been studying Japanese for several years and am now engaged in some translation work. Please give me your advice.

As part of the language exchange, I initially participated in Japanese-English-related questions and answers on Lang-8, Hi-Native and Quora. However, because some of my PO articles about certain English-speaking countries attracted attention ( about 10,000 views ), I I want to use Matters etc. to complete my point and see if I can also record it in Chinese.

sequence

This article was inspired by one of my Quora PO posts .

What is usually taught in textbooks is "I am fine, thank you. And you?", but in fact, I have lived in an English-speaking country for several years and I have almost never heard this sentence, so I want to convey my local observations again.

Isn't it okay to say "I'm fine"?

Fine is traditionally a somewhat formal expression, although it may be grammatically correct, I think because in the current era of globalization and American culture, people prefer the friendly and relaxed expression and shy away from it. Of .

For this reason, for example, if you want to express "you're welcome", instead of using the somewhat condescending "You're welcome", the younger generation may be more inclined to use " No problem " which is a "little thing". (If I have a chance, I will write about this phenomenon in another article another day)

Depending on the tone, "fine" may also have a somewhat impatient feeling like "Okay" or "That's it".

What about other adjectives?

Usually "good" should be the one that is used the most. If you want to express something more positive, use "great". (Note: Well is the adverb form of good, but it basically refers to physical condition, for example: "I'm well").

So what's the answer?

Sometimes "How are you?" can be a simple "Hello" greeting, or it can be a question that is really interested in your situation, so based on my many years of experience, you can answer it and then ask yourself "Good, how are you?" you ?" (note: you should be emphasized).

This is because saying "Good" is too concise and concise , which may make the other party think that you are not interested in talking more.

Asking "how are you" in a sentence is not rude, and it can also express care and concern for the other person's situation. It can be regarded as a greeting or question.

in conclusion

Of course, you don’t have to ask rhetorically, you can also decide whether the question is really important depending on the situation (is the other person familiar with you, have you not seen each other for a long time, etc.).

Ultimately, language evolves with the times, so it's best to be reasonable and not stick to the correct answers in textbooks.