The last panel isn’t part of the action, so it won’t make anyone laugh. Plus I find the girl’s reaction unlikely, most Chinese are impressed when they see you writing in Chinese, and are more likely to comment that your writing is very 可爱. If they do point out your mistakes, they are unlikely to do so in an annoyed way.

About pronunciation thing, stoic, I recognised that I was mis-pronouncing one syllable in my address and rectified it. God jaysus, the taxi drivers all of a sudden immediately knew where I was going!

Also, you know when you see a handwritten note in English from a native Chinese writer because there is a distinctive “style” of handwriting…. You know what I mean… (http://chinaholisticenglish.org/?p=2988) Well, when I’ve pointed this out to Chinese friends – that the way they write letters actually has a distinct Chinese-taught look to them – all I get is puzzled looks. And if you ever want to disguise an English note all you have to do is switch to cursive to get the “我看不懂!” and told how difficult it is to read that. As if learning to recognize 3000-5000 standard 汉字 is easier????

For real. This is right on. These comics are a good litmus test to see who gets out of the expat bubble and who stays comfortably inside.

If you don’t get it…then you just aren’t in the know.

It’s about handwriting.