"You already speak good Cantonese!" — Genuine compliment or just being polite?

I had a few encounters where locals say things like "你講得好好喇!" ("You speak very well!"), even when I know I’ve just mangled the tones or fumbled through basic sentences.

It got me wondering—do native speakers genuinely mean it, or is it more of an encouraging thing people say to non-native speakers who are trying?

I'm all for positive reinforcement (kinda I need it 😅), but I'm also trying to gauge how far along I actually am.

Curious to hear your experiences—especially from native speakers! How do you usually mean it when you say that?