Language

Today I would like to talk about languages.

Among all the subjects that we have in school, I like Chinese best. Chinese characters are so charming that each one is actually a beautiful and meaningful picture. Especially when it comes to Chinese literature, how splendid the world inside words is!

When I was studying German several years ago, I heard a joke about language learning: If we regard a language as a forest, learning the language is like travelling across the forest. Then learning English is going in with smile and going out with smile, leaning German is going in with smile and going out with tears, learning French is going in with tears and going out with smile, and finally, learning Chinese is going in with tears and going out with tears. This joke shows perfectly how difficult it is to master Chinese; as a matter of fact I think the most fortunate thing ever happened to me is born in China.

After studying English for nearly ten years and studying German for almost one year, as well as contacting other languages through films, such as Japanese, Korean, French, Thai and so on, I still insist that Chinese is the most completed and attractive language in the world. Tang poetry might be the best example, whose beauty can never be understood by those who don’t know Chinese at all.

Unfortunately, you cannot find someone even poorer at reciting then me. I always forget in which year Lu Xun wrote his first novel, and who collected the Song Ci. Furthermore, most of time my grade in Chinese reading comprehension is quite low, since it is so hard for me to memorise all the functions of rhetoric. However, it cannot stop me from being fascinated by literature itself. Nothing can provide me more joy and happiness beyond reading. What makes it not so perfect is that now I have realised that I can only enjoy reading in Chinese.

I know the problem is that I lack perseverance. I can handle mathematics, physics and chemistry because I do not need to recite the formulas; I know I can deduce them on my own if necessary. But how can I deduce a completely new word or an irregular form of verb? It really makes me sad.

For the same reason, I have given up all my dreams about languages. I used to think it couldn’t be better if I can master the elegant German, the romantic French, the lovely Japanese, and the sweet Korean. Now I have realised that I had better stick to my English.

Before I came to Singapore, I thought that it would become my second hometown, since I believed that few of us would go back to China after staying here for ten years. However, I have changed my mind. All I want to do now is going back to China as soon as I can. Therefore, I can read Chinese books, eat Chinese food, and live in Chinese weather. The most important thing is I can speak Chinese freely!