The subtle traps of Chinese modesty

Although I study Chinese language every day for at least a couple of hours, I know I will never appreciate the full range of its subtlety. Many expressions seek to soften a statement, modifying it ever so slightly so that one does not draw undue attention to oneself. Let me give one example, the character 算 (suan). It means to count, calculate, be counted or considered as. It all depends when and how you use it.

For example, one might say: 我的孩子算是学习好的 (wode haizi suan shi xuexi haode).

That is...