Fun in Learning English, Mandarin, and French

Being the youngest in the family meant that while every one of my siblings and cousins were in school, I would be the only one left to stay at home. How I envied my older relatives when they packed their bags to school, and I longed to be able to go to school. Papa was not rich enough to send me to the kindergarten. I love stories and since I could not yet read, I spent a lot of my time listening to dialect stories from the radio.

I had a cousin who was five years older than me. His name was Ah Pong. He was quite a bully because if I beat him once, he would beat me back ten times. He really got on my nerves. My second sister knew I detested him. One day she said to me, "Choo, you want to know of a way to defeat Ah Pong?" I nodded my head furiously. "Just learn to say this sentence in English and when Ah Pong comes back this evening, say it loudly and bravely and he will run for his life!" assured my sister. "Wow! Why didn't my sis teach me this sentence earlier.... then I would not have to suffer so much under the bullying of Ah Pong." The whole day, I memorised the sentence so that I could remember word for word.

As the evening drew nearer, I eagerly looked towards the gate for Ah Pong's return.
On seeing him, I hollered to him, "Ah Pong, please come here!" Somewhat surprised, my pugilistic cousin sneered as he moved towards me, "What? What? What?"

"Ah Pong, I want to tell you today that I love you very very much!" I declared in my loudest voice. Ah Pong stared at me, his eyes growing bigger and bigger and he fled for his life, just as second sis said he would! I flexed my right arm muscles. For once, I felt so ooooo victorious! Suddenly I realised my second sister was giggling and patting her chest like a chimpanzee. "You've been tricked!
You've been tricked!" All my relatives laughed. I felt so ooooo embarrassed that I hid behind the chicken coop and only came out when the mosquitoes attacked me.
That night, I vowed I would master the English tongue! Perhaps this incident has sparked off my interest in learning other languages as well.

In Canada,I met many students from mainland China. As Malay is my second language, I did not study Chinese in school. Two of these Chinese scholars shared an apartment with me. One of them was Chen Tai a lady who was studying Russian language. She often spoke to me in Mandarin as she was quite limited in her English. One day, I went with her into the lift and we found a couple in hot embrace, kissing each other. I pretended I did not see anything but Chen Tai was so shocked that she could not sleep for three days! I told her not to worry as the winter was very cold, and the couple needed to hug one another for warmth.

When summer came, Chen Tai was surprised when she saw many ladies in their garden wearing just their bikinis. She asked me what they were doing. I was trying to tell her that they were sun tanning, but I did not know the Mandarin word for sun tanning. Hence I replied, "Ta men tai yang chong liang!" (Direct translation - they are sun bathing). Chen Tai laughed. "Oh you mean, ri kuang yi". Hence, I started my journey in learning to speak Mandarin. When I returned to Malaysia, many people were charmed by my spoken Mandarin, for I had a distinctive Beijing accent.!

This Beijing accent became quite useful when I visited Beijing some 20 years ago. One of my group members had overpaid for lychees. I told him I would go back to the same store but this time I would put on a Beijing accent. "I jing duo hsao chien ah?" I asked. (How much is one kati?)

"San yuan". (Three yuan).

"Hao. Ching ne gei wo wu jin bah". (Pease give me 5 katis).

Later, he looked at me in puzzlement, and scratching his head, he asked, "Ni bu shi pen ti ren ah?" ("You are not a local?")

I smiled.

"Ni chong nar li lai ah?" (Where are you from?)

I started singing, "Bu yao wen wo chong nar li lai, wo terh ku xiang tsai yuan fang, Wei shih moh liu lang? Liu lang yan fang, liu lang." "Please don't ask me where I come from. My hometown is far away. Why travel and travel so far away?" The fruit vendor laughed. I could hear this song playing in the shops and restaurants since I arrived in China. I guessed it must be the latest hit for the Chinese even though it was quite an old song in Malaysia. What an unforgettable experience! I not only bought the fruits at a reasonable price, but I made a new friend.

When I received a bursary to study in Canada, I decided I would take up French in the university as a second major subject. Little did I realise French is such a difficult language. I was almost in tears during the first week in class, for I could not make out the words at all. French sounded more like music to my ears. I could hear the beautiful rythmn of the spoken language. Gradually I began to pick up the language. If you think English grammar is difficult, try French. The language is made even more difficult with the addition of gender to objects! For example, a gift is masculine (un cadeau) while a library is feminine (une bibliotheque). Yet French is such a beautiful language. It would be good to have either a French for a son or daughter-in-law, because you will forever be the beautful or handsome mother or father-in-law. In French the word for mother-in-law is ma belle mere (my beautiful mother) and mon beau pere (my handsome father).

Every year, the University of Alberta organised a French Immersion Program. I applied for it again, even though I was rejected the first time in Grande Prairie Regional College where I did my first year university program as the program was only reserved for Canadian students. I was surprised that this time I was accepted. I kept asking the lecturer in charge, Professor Monod,and he said, "Le Gouvernment ne demandez pas question; moi aussi". The government does not ask questions, me neither. Professor Monod closed one eye, and he actually wanted a foreigner to join in as it would be an eye opener for the majority of Canadian students. My French was the weakest in the group, but I was determined to make the most of the one month immersion program in Quebec. One day Professor Monod asked us to write a one page article, but I had mistaken the word, "Une" to mean "dix" (ten) Hence, I spent the whole night writing a ten page story. Professor Monod laughed when he told the class my story was the longest but he enjoyed the story very much!

Learning languages is fun. Though we may not be as proficient in the language as our own mother tongue, nevertheles it helps to break the ice almost immediately when we greet someone in his mother tongue.

I will share about the fun I had when learning Korean, Hindhi and Tamil in my next article. :-)

Gan Chau