Last week I saw a comedian, she was born in the Dominican Republic but moved to the US when she was 9. A lot of her jokes are about Dominican and Latino culture, the immigrant experience etc. It's clear she's very in touch with her culture. But she also joked how even though she's forgotten how to speak Spanish, she learned Mandarin in high school, and her parents are mad at her for speaking better Mandarin than Spanish.

I am also Dominican-American, although born and raised in the US. I know some Spanish, and also learned Mandarin in high school. After the show, I approached her to say how much I enjoyed it. I also said to her, in Mandarin, "Why can't you speak Spanish?" She was pleasantly surprised, and then I switched to Spanish and told her that I'm Dominican too. I was kind of nervous and don't remember the whole conversation, but I think I said something jokingly in Spanish like "Did you forget how to speak Spanish?". She laughed and very kindly said "wow you speak Spanish better than me".

However looking back I think I implied to her that she should feel ashamed for not speaking Spanish well. Which wasn't my intent at all, I just wanted to connect with her in both Mandarin and Spanish. But her comment "Wow you speak Spanish than me" could have indicated irritation? Her face and voice were friendly but I feel bad now