I come from a Chinese-speaking background. But I‘m glad to say I’ve survived pretty well in this predominantly English-speaking community, thanks in part to our bilingual environment.
However, I can‘t say the same for my parents. Both Chinese-educated, they feel more comfortable and confident conversing in Mandarin or Fujian dialeet.
“It wasn‘t easy for us,” my mother recalls. “Nurses at clinics and hospitals would always attend to those who spoke English first. The rest of us could only wait.”
That was way back in the early seventies.
Today, this slighting of the Chinese-speaking does not seem to be aproblem here. Or perhaps it has just become less acute.
Ever notice how you‘re given better service when you speak good English？ This is understandable because most of those who speak good English have degress and credentials. In short, they’re well-educated and have clout.
They‘re more likely to know their weight as customers and might pen lethal letters of complaints. Hence, the need for workers to show them more respect.
We are a practical society. We learn religiously what is useful （defined by the amount of money and respect it brings us）。 As for what we‘re supposed to learn and know…well, that can wait.
My siblings and I pulled through school with good English grades, partly because my mother insisted on supervising our grammar and vocabulary practices though she didn‘t understand much.
But I remember cringing during those meet-the-parents sessions in secondary school. My form teachers were English specialists, most of whom had trouble with their Mandarin.
I always felt embarrassed when I “confessed” that my parents spoke no, or at best, halting English. I wonder how my parents got anything fruitful from those sessions but they would always return excited, relating to me what my teachers said about my performance.
Slowly, I‘ve come to understand： Why did I have to be ashamed of my parents’ poor English？ Let the English teachers worry about the communication barrier instead.
Today, I pride myself as a product of a Chinese-speaking family who can handle both languages fairly well.
When my father says loudly in NTUC Fairprice‘s cereal section, “Shall we buy ’concrete‘ for breakfast tomorrow？, my siblings and I always laugh and say ”It’s cornflakes.“ He just gives a goofy smile and we love that.
Because my siblings and I have gone through our self-defining years comfortable with who our parents are, I now feel a sense of achievement over those who reject one language for another.
It is hard learning a language. But it is more fulfilling recognising our weakness and not dismissing it as just another irrelevant problem.
The writer is a third year student of School of Communication Studies, NTU. This article first appeared in The Nanyang Chronicle, NTU‘s students’ newspaper
來自講華語家庭的自豪感
李美賢
我來自一個(gè)用華語溝通的家庭,在這個(gè)以英文為主的社會(huì)里,我很慶幸自己還能應(yīng)付自如。在一定的程度上,這得歸功于我們的雙語環(huán)境。
我的父母的情況卻完全不同。因?yàn)槭苋A文教育,用華語或福建話交談,他們會(huì)感覺比較自在和有信心。
“對(duì)我們來說,那真是不容易,”我媽媽回想起從前?！霸谠\所和醫(yī)院,護(hù)士會(huì)先招呼那些講英語的病人,其他的人就只能等?！?BR> 那是70年代初期的事了。
現(xiàn)在,輕視說華語的人,似乎不是一個(gè)問題?；蛘哒f,問題已經(jīng)沒有以前那么尖銳。
有沒有過這樣的經(jīng)驗(yàn)？如果你說得一口字正腔圓的英語,你會(huì)得到更好的服務(wù)。這完全可以理解,因?yàn)榇蠖鄶?shù)英文說得好的人,都擁有高學(xué)位和資歷。也就是說,他們受過良好的教育并具有影響力。
他們可能比一般人更清楚消費(fèi)者的權(quán)利,也可能會(huì)寫具有殺傷力的投訴信。因此,員工對(duì)他們需要倍加尊重。
我們生活在一個(gè)務(wù)實(shí)的社會(huì),對(duì)于有用的東西（根據(jù)它所能為我們帶來的金錢和榮譽(yù)而定）,我們會(huì)一絲不茍的去學(xué)習(xí)。至于我們應(yīng)該學(xué)習(xí)和有所認(rèn)識(shí)的東西……那不急。
在學(xué)校里,我和兄弟姐妹的英文都取得很好的成績(jī)。那是因?yàn)閶寢寛?jiān)持督促我們練習(xí)文法和詞匯,雖然她本身對(duì)它們并不太明白。
我還記得,每當(dāng)家長(zhǎng)必須到學(xué)校會(huì)見老師時(shí),我就有一種畏縮的感覺。我的級(jí)任老師都是專業(yè)英文老師,可是,他們的華語大多數(shù)卻不太靈光。
當(dāng)我“坦白”的說出自己的父母不會(huì)講英文,或者講起英文來結(jié)結(jié)巴巴的,總覺得很不好意思。從這樣的會(huì)面,我不知道我父母會(huì)由老師那里得到什么?？墒?爸爸媽媽回到家里時(shí)總是很興奮,不斷的告訴我老師對(duì)我的評(píng)語。
慢慢的,我終于明白一件事：我為什么要因?yàn)楦改傅挠⑽牟疃械叫呃⒛?？?dān)心要如何和我父母溝通的,應(yīng)該是那些英文老師。
現(xiàn)在,我為自己來自講華語的家庭,卻能相當(dāng)好的掌握兩種語文,感到非常自豪。
當(dāng)爸爸在職總超級(jí)市場(chǎng)大聲的問：“要不要買‘concrete’當(dāng)明天的早餐？”我們都會(huì)笑著說：“是‘cornflakes’?！卑职志蜁?huì)對(duì)著我們傻笑,讓我們覺得他可愛極了。
我和兄弟姐妹,在自我認(rèn)同的成長(zhǎng)過程中,沒有因?yàn)槲覀兊母改甘艿氖侨A文教育,而感到不自在。相對(duì)于那些因?yàn)橐环N語言,而排斥另外一種語言的人,我有一種滿足感。
學(xué)習(xí)一種語文不是一件容易的事,積極的作法是認(rèn)識(shí)我們的弱點(diǎn),不是不屑一顧,把它當(dāng)成另一件無關(guān)緊要的事。
。作者是南大傳播學(xué)院三年級(jí)學(xué)生。原文發(fā)表于南大學(xué)生報(bào)紙The Nanyang Chronicle.葉琦保譯
However, I can‘t say the same for my parents. Both Chinese-educated, they feel more comfortable and confident conversing in Mandarin or Fujian dialeet.
“It wasn‘t easy for us,” my mother recalls. “Nurses at clinics and hospitals would always attend to those who spoke English first. The rest of us could only wait.”
That was way back in the early seventies.
Today, this slighting of the Chinese-speaking does not seem to be aproblem here. Or perhaps it has just become less acute.
Ever notice how you‘re given better service when you speak good English？ This is understandable because most of those who speak good English have degress and credentials. In short, they’re well-educated and have clout.
They‘re more likely to know their weight as customers and might pen lethal letters of complaints. Hence, the need for workers to show them more respect.
We are a practical society. We learn religiously what is useful （defined by the amount of money and respect it brings us）。 As for what we‘re supposed to learn and know…well, that can wait.
My siblings and I pulled through school with good English grades, partly because my mother insisted on supervising our grammar and vocabulary practices though she didn‘t understand much.
But I remember cringing during those meet-the-parents sessions in secondary school. My form teachers were English specialists, most of whom had trouble with their Mandarin.
I always felt embarrassed when I “confessed” that my parents spoke no, or at best, halting English. I wonder how my parents got anything fruitful from those sessions but they would always return excited, relating to me what my teachers said about my performance.
Slowly, I‘ve come to understand： Why did I have to be ashamed of my parents’ poor English？ Let the English teachers worry about the communication barrier instead.
Today, I pride myself as a product of a Chinese-speaking family who can handle both languages fairly well.
When my father says loudly in NTUC Fairprice‘s cereal section, “Shall we buy ’concrete‘ for breakfast tomorrow？, my siblings and I always laugh and say ”It’s cornflakes.“ He just gives a goofy smile and we love that.
Because my siblings and I have gone through our self-defining years comfortable with who our parents are, I now feel a sense of achievement over those who reject one language for another.
It is hard learning a language. But it is more fulfilling recognising our weakness and not dismissing it as just another irrelevant problem.
The writer is a third year student of School of Communication Studies, NTU. This article first appeared in The Nanyang Chronicle, NTU‘s students’ newspaper
來自講華語家庭的自豪感
李美賢
我來自一個(gè)用華語溝通的家庭,在這個(gè)以英文為主的社會(huì)里,我很慶幸自己還能應(yīng)付自如。在一定的程度上,這得歸功于我們的雙語環(huán)境。
我的父母的情況卻完全不同。因?yàn)槭苋A文教育,用華語或福建話交談,他們會(huì)感覺比較自在和有信心。
“對(duì)我們來說,那真是不容易,”我媽媽回想起從前?！霸谠\所和醫(yī)院,護(hù)士會(huì)先招呼那些講英語的病人,其他的人就只能等?！?BR> 那是70年代初期的事了。
現(xiàn)在,輕視說華語的人,似乎不是一個(gè)問題?；蛘哒f,問題已經(jīng)沒有以前那么尖銳。
有沒有過這樣的經(jīng)驗(yàn)？如果你說得一口字正腔圓的英語,你會(huì)得到更好的服務(wù)。這完全可以理解,因?yàn)榇蠖鄶?shù)英文說得好的人,都擁有高學(xué)位和資歷。也就是說,他們受過良好的教育并具有影響力。
他們可能比一般人更清楚消費(fèi)者的權(quán)利,也可能會(huì)寫具有殺傷力的投訴信。因此,員工對(duì)他們需要倍加尊重。
我們生活在一個(gè)務(wù)實(shí)的社會(huì),對(duì)于有用的東西（根據(jù)它所能為我們帶來的金錢和榮譽(yù)而定）,我們會(huì)一絲不茍的去學(xué)習(xí)。至于我們應(yīng)該學(xué)習(xí)和有所認(rèn)識(shí)的東西……那不急。
在學(xué)校里,我和兄弟姐妹的英文都取得很好的成績(jī)。那是因?yàn)閶寢寛?jiān)持督促我們練習(xí)文法和詞匯,雖然她本身對(duì)它們并不太明白。
我還記得,每當(dāng)家長(zhǎng)必須到學(xué)校會(huì)見老師時(shí),我就有一種畏縮的感覺。我的級(jí)任老師都是專業(yè)英文老師,可是,他們的華語大多數(shù)卻不太靈光。
當(dāng)我“坦白”的說出自己的父母不會(huì)講英文,或者講起英文來結(jié)結(jié)巴巴的,總覺得很不好意思。從這樣的會(huì)面,我不知道我父母會(huì)由老師那里得到什么?？墒?爸爸媽媽回到家里時(shí)總是很興奮,不斷的告訴我老師對(duì)我的評(píng)語。
慢慢的,我終于明白一件事：我為什么要因?yàn)楦改傅挠⑽牟疃械叫呃⒛?？?dān)心要如何和我父母溝通的,應(yīng)該是那些英文老師。
現(xiàn)在,我為自己來自講華語的家庭,卻能相當(dāng)好的掌握兩種語文,感到非常自豪。
當(dāng)爸爸在職總超級(jí)市場(chǎng)大聲的問：“要不要買‘concrete’當(dāng)明天的早餐？”我們都會(huì)笑著說：“是‘cornflakes’?！卑职志蜁?huì)對(duì)著我們傻笑,讓我們覺得他可愛極了。
我和兄弟姐妹,在自我認(rèn)同的成長(zhǎng)過程中,沒有因?yàn)槲覀兊母改甘艿氖侨A文教育,而感到不自在。相對(duì)于那些因?yàn)橐环N語言,而排斥另外一種語言的人,我有一種滿足感。
學(xué)習(xí)一種語文不是一件容易的事,積極的作法是認(rèn)識(shí)我們的弱點(diǎn),不是不屑一顧,把它當(dāng)成另一件無關(guān)緊要的事。
。作者是南大傳播學(xué)院三年級(jí)學(xué)生。原文發(fā)表于南大學(xué)生報(bào)紙The Nanyang Chronicle.葉琦保譯