Language for the International Race

I have always loathed the fact that I am ethnic Chinese but don't know how to read and write the language except for my name. In Japan, Japanese who can't speak Japanese are called "boiled egg". In Malaysia, I'm called a "banana". But no matter what term you use, the meanings are the same. What is more ironic is that I now know more Japanese than Chinese!

After coming here and doing Sustainable Development, I realised that this term could be defined in many ways, depending on how we look at it. Sustainable economy? Sustainable eating? Sustainable living? Sustainable environment? Sustainable gossiping? Sustainable learning? O wait, sustainable learning seems appropriate for this article then, so let's talk about it.

I am conscious that the my language capability and learning trend are both unsustainable if I want to be good at it. I need to know my roots, my dialect and most importantly, maintain the flame in the torch for the next generation. I am a Foochow, and shamefully admit that I could not speak a word of it! I know it's a mammoth task for me to catch up learning that dialect and most likely, the Foowchow dialect will be decimated in my generation once my grandmother is no longer here.

Now if I put the Brundtland's definition of Sustainable Development into perspective; "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs", I am in deep trouble. My brother, cousins and I have certainly developed a strong foundation in our education level but we have compromised the ability of our future generation to uphold their Foochow root and identity. The future generation of Yaps would not have any inkling of their past and most definitely dialect too. I am saying that we should have at least given our future generation the option; whether to learn the language or abandon it. We have not gotten any form of education or exposure ourselves to learn the dialect. It's pretty irrational to cry over spilled milk now but let's make it better from here.

Having said that, I also meant that language is increasingly more important in a globalised world. People are getting smarter, capital transfers are getting easier and companies are expanding across the seven seas more rapidly than before. Language is no longer a barrier of trade but rather an edge that will tip the equilibrium state of two equally good candidates vying for the same job, project or sales. The more language, the better chance of survival in a globalised world.

When I was in Spain and Portugal, I realised that knowing a few more languages would not only save time and money, but also enhance the value of my travel if I could relate personally with the surroundings, talk to the people, understand the culture and read their manuals.

Mandarin lessons in CD, given free to The Times readers

Today I scoured through the dailies and found that The Times has also gotten into this language fever. They are having a one-week series of learning Mandarin conversation starting today, free to all readers. I found it extremely interesting but equally embarassing because Chinese was something that I ought to know at this age. I was so engrossed with their "syllabus" that I ended up making a personal commitment to follow up with their subsequent lessons.

Well, the little broken Mandarin that I knew previously and my formal grounding in Japanese kanji would come in handy and be a good starting point to pick up Mandarin now, I am sure.

Above showing the difference of writing "horse" in the Chinese (printed) and Japanese way (written in blue)

But first, I need to callibrate between the Japanese and Chinese way of writing a similar word.