The fruits of language learning

One of the initial challenges, then eventual advantages and ultimate joys, of living in a new country is the exceptional opportunity to learn and acquire a new language.

Of our foreign postings, our most colorful and rich language learning experience took place in Beijing. When we moved to China’s capital from Cantonese and English speaking Hong Kong, we only spoke two basic words, ni hao and xie xie. Our first two weeks in the city was a struggle in comical proportions. When taking taxis pre-smart phone days, my mother devised a clever way of giving directions redolent of an arts and crafts class. She made a cutout collection of plastic bags with the logos of groceries and malls we frequented which we showed to the driver before the start of every trip. That ingenious idea amused most cab drivers who, without question, would drive us safely to our destination.

Dining in a restaurant that same summer week, we requested for ice cubes since hot tea or warm water is customarily served regardless of the season. Our wishes were futile and we started to feel frustrated and very thirsty. My mother kept her cool and called the waiter again. Smiling sweetly she pointed to the glass of water and using her thumbs and index fingers made the shape of a small square then pretended to shiver uncontrollably. Charmed but not perplexed the waiter nodded repeatedly, quickly left then returned in a jiffy with a bucket of ice, cheerfully saying, “b?ng” – ice in Mandarin! While my mother saved the day, I decided it was time to say goodbye to the cutouts and pantomimes and start to learn Mandarin.

Learning a new language is the key that unlocks our sense of wonder as we start to live in and explore a new adoptive country.  For itinerants like us, it is a must-do in order for us to appreciate the novelties and adapt to the culture that we are gradually immersing into. It is a unifying medium that deeply connects us with the people, especially those we interact with on a daily basis such as neighbors, vendors, acquaintances or new friends who become part not only of our daily survival but of our life as strangers in a country not our own.

Our kids learned Mandarin from school and playmates while I took a three-month course in a language school. But my most enriching lessons took place in the markets or shopping areas, especially when asking details about an item, while haggling, when conversing with neighbors, chatting with drivers and interactions with my students, who were learning English as a second language from me. These exchanges were not without mishaps though and countless lost in translation episodes.

Mandarin as a language is tonal. A word that is wrongly enunciated can mean otherwise. For example sugar and soup are both “tang.” In a fast food I once asked for sugar and said t?ng (the wrong tone) so the staff handed me a bowl of soup. This happened a few times so I eventually realized that when I needed táng (sugar) it was best to say it while pointing to my drink or food.

A close family friend visited us one winter. The moment we entered the car, I introduced our pengyou (friend) and his family to Mr. Chen, our driver and instructed Mr. Chen (in Mandarin of course) that we shall go straight home and for him to stay clear of the icy roads. Our friend was very impressed at how “fluent” I was with the language. Little did he know that I had memorized those lines many times over, they being perhaps our 10th visitor in Beijing.  As in any language learning, the secret is in the drill.

Learning Bahasa Indonesia was a breeze because of its over 3,000 shared vocabulary with Filipino and our regional dialects. Yet when we spoke Bahasa Indonesia with the locals they still asked us the same curious question: “Where are you from?” Awkward incidents while learning the language still happened, such as when our daughter shocked a waiter when she ordered susu pedas which, to her mind, was hot milk.  She should have ordered susu panas because pedas in Indonesian means spicy, not hot.

Disorienting as they may seem from the very beginning or hilarious or embarrassing as they were at times, it is through the routine and extraordinary experiences with the people we interrelated with when our authentic language learning materialized.  Blunders were inevitable, yet it was through these lapses that we learned more or had polished our skills in communicating in a new language.

Coming to New York I thought of how I am missing the excitement of learning a new language. Yet sans the language barrier it is easy to navigate the city, run errands, visit museums and places of interests or to simply spark a conversation. On one hand, I am equally awed at the distinct tongues and accents I hear in this socio-culturally diverse city. So when I talk I make sure my words or gestures are within culturally accepted norms and oftentimes I try to adjust my tone and cadence in order to be clearly understood. For example, when ordering “take out” food as we say back home, I make sure I have mine “to go” and not “take away” or bungkus as we used to say in Indonesia.

In her book “Individual Differences in Language Acquisition,” Muriel Saville-Troike said that we apply “pragmatic skills and communication strategies” while learning a new language. This I thought were the tactics my mother used in our early days in Beijing. The linguist-professor also mentioned about “intonation and stress, rhythmic patterns and choice of words and pronunciation” as factors in language learning, which thankfully I find extremely handy when communicating in multi-ethnic New York.