Today, as my family and I went out for a Labor Day outing at the beach, we bumped into my uncle’s coworker and her family. My cousin and I were too busy fishing by the shore to notice the company back at our base. My uncle yells out to us in Cantonese (our native language), “Hey, you two! Come greet Auntie and Uncle!” It was my first time meeting this family. A little white girl popped out from behind her Chinese mother. I turned around to see the father, a tall and slim Russian man. The little girl seemed shy, so I went over to introduce myself. “Hi, my name is Nancy. What’s your name?” I asked in English. “Wo jang pu tong hua,” she says, meaning, ‘I speak Mandarin’. To my surprise, her Mandarin was so clear; rather, it was much better than my self-taught (and not so fluent) Mandarin.
Here’s a little background on Chinese dialects: the national spoken language is Mandarin. Different dialects are not to be used in school and are usually spoken at home with the family and the community. Cantonese is the second most used spoken language in China, and the two dialects are very different.
The reason it was very surprising to me was that the little girl’s pale skin made me assume that English would be the language she preferred to speak in addition to it probably being the language she spoke at home and school, and even if it were to be Chinese, it would not be so clear, based on my experience of teaching Chinese to my American friends.
We had a language barrier, but it wasn’t so much that we could not communicate at all. I spoke in English, and she spoke in Mandarin. We both understood each other perfectly fine. And I learned that her name was Dasha, and she’s seven years old.
I can definitely relate to how you assumed that the little girl would speak English! I do this oftenly. It’s very interesting to see how the world changes and how close people are brought together through languages. Also, I think it is very thoughtful that you gave a little background on the Chinese dialects. It definitely clarifies some of the confusions people may have.
Nancy, I enjoyed reading this personal story. At home, my mom would speak Shanghainese to me, and I would respond her with Mandarin. Just like you and Dasha, my mom and I understand each other perfectly. I remember an Italian classmate has told me that she can understand her Sicilian-speaking relatives perfectly, and this again proves your point.
Its funny how we tend to immediately develop our opinion of someone before even speaking to them. I know so many people that are best friends but had such horrible opinions of one another when they first met. Having an experience like that definitely makes you realize that people are full of surprises and you should really try to get to know them because you never know what you might have in common.