The way I will deal with this situation

The situation Suresh Canagarajah encountered described in the article was pretty upsetting. Honestly, I hardly run into this kind of situation. When I chat with people who I think is Chinese, I speak mandarin with them. Although sometimes they do not respond me in Chinese, instead of thinking they are avoiding using Chinese language, I believe they for some reason, like were born oversea, did not learn how to speak the language.

However, I can imagine the situation the author faced. In this case, I think I will be pretty confused at first if someone I believe can speak the language do not employ the language with me. I may assume that the person I encounter has not spoken the language for a very long time that he or she has already forgotten how to speak it. If I am really convinced the person can speak my first language, I would not stop trying to talk to he or she with the language yet, because this person might not heard me clear in the first time.

However, if he or she still does not respond me with the language, then I would stop trying, and I would assume either I judgement was wrong about this person’s background, or this person was avoiding using the language. Either way, I will feel pretty upsetting and confused like the author did. After this encounter, I would be interested in why this person does not speak the language with me.