An ex-student, Sheila, British, was teaching English at a secondary school Maris Stella (海星) in Singapore. (2025: She's now back on my Mandarin course.)
One day, she walked into a clothes shop.
This was the conversation between Sheila and the shop assistant:
Sheila: (pointing at one of the dresses on the clothes rack) Can? (for trying on)
Shop Assistant: Can!
Sheila went off to the changing room, and upon emerging,
Shop Assistant: Can?
Sheila: Can!
Sheila paid and left.
(Singapore, 1980s)
Lol. Only when I exited the store did I realised the exchange had been so short. Not quite an ex-student yet, I'll hit 80 later in the year, fingers crossed. The last 30 have been enhanced by Mandarin studies, for which you deserve much of the credit.
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