Last week I signed up for a group class learning French. I had tried learning the language some years ago so I have some basic understanding about how the French language works . I need to brush up my grammar. It is always fun to be in a class when exams are optional. I have been floundering with the language and I certainly hope to get better at it. When we introduced ourselves, we were asked why we wanted to study French. I suppose I could say that I had always been attracted to French existentialist philosophies and I like French cinema but I don’t think I said any of that. I might have said ‘j’adore la langue française’ for its intonation or I like holidaying in France.
Language does reflect how a culture works and thinks. It tells us about their values and customs. Knowing more than one language is not just functional, it actually affects our thought process as in how we think, what to think about and how we express ourselves. It helps us to understand humans and the world a little better. When we learn a language, we are introduced to their words, and their views and feelings about the world around us. It is not about finding words in another language, it is more than words.
In The lost and forgotten languages of Shanghai, a debut novel by Ruiyan Xu, a gas explosion occurs when Li Jing, a stock trader and his professor father is dining in a restaurant in Shanghai. Though Li Jing survives the explosion, he loses the ability to speak Chinese. While his native language is Chinese, he first learnt English when he was born in Charlottesville. and after the accident, Chinese language is now Greek to him. He has lost the ability to enunciate the four variations of tone in Chinese. His father and wife, Meiling through the hospital arranges to bring in a doctor who specialises in aphasia. Dr. Rosalyn Neal flies in from Oklahoma city and she is going through a divorce. Her marriage fails because she cannot bear any children. She is working with Li Jing to restore his Chinese but she cannot speak Chinese. While Li Jing’s rudimentary English begins to improve, he struggles with speaking in Mandarin. To save his investment fund company, Meiling quits her poetry editing job and assumes her husband’s role in the investment fund company that has been founded by Li Jing. As it turns out, Li Jing is getting good at handling the company clients and has an innate ability to deal in stocks . Due to his ability to speak in Chinese, Li Jing is not able to return to work and he has to communicate with his wife and son, Pang Pang through a machine dictionary or through Alan the translator. When the contract with Dr Neal ends, Meiling decides to engage the doctor personally to continue working on her husband as she tries to keep both the home and business afloat. She takes Despite her inability to speak well in Chinese, Rosalyn prefers chatting and haggling at the Huating Market. Meiling prefers to shop at the boutiques along Huaihai Road. Rosalyn’s friendliness and openness contrasts with Meiling’s cool demeanour. Due to language barriers, Meiling and Li drift apart as Li and the doctor grow closer. While they stay together as a family unit, both Li and Meiling cannot articulate how they feel. Things can never be the same again
The premise of the story in The lost and forgotten languages of Shanghai is interesting. It asks the question: Can people carry on a union without speaking a common language ? The story illustrates that a shared language is quite essential for effective communication, otherwise misunderstanding will arise. Of course we can be conversing in the same language, we may not be on the same page and miscommunication happens too.
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