my Australian teacher said it's "Chinese English"
The only thing "controversial" about your exchange with your Australian teacher, suededevil, is his/her characterizaion of your grammatical mistake as "Chinese English".
This is a slur on your national origin and your teacher owes you an apology.
People learning english for the first time all make mistakes and their mistakes all fall into patterns common to each different native tongue.
Your teacher dismissed your mistake as "Chinese English", leaving you deflated but uninformed about your mistake, so you came here for the explanation which your teacher should have provided in the beginning.
Your teacher could have explained your error to you. He/she might even have explained that people who speak your native tongue experience certain predictable difficulties when learning English. This knowledge could help you overcome those difficulties because you would see the pitfalls ahead.
Dismissing your mistake as "Chinese English" is a put-down, suededevil, not language instruction. I hope you confront your teacher and obtain an apology.
