The Beauty and Uniqueness of Every Language

As a child, I found it hard to understand English grammar. The teachers merely explained but had not made it exciting and interesting for the children to understand the grammar. Hence most of us learnt by rote. Fortunately for me, I was a voracious reader, and I was able to write and speak good English even in Primary School. Constant reading had enabled me to have a natural flow of sentence structure.
It was only while I studied French in the University of Alberta that I understood the purpose and meaning of grammar. My appreciation of languages was enhanced when I took up Chinese Literature and Comparative Literature.

English tenses are important because of the sequence of events. Construction of sentences is also important, because words put before or after could completely alter the whole meaning. For eg. My mother wants to hire a baby sitter for my brother who is 40 years old. It looks like as if the brother is 40 years of age, but the mother wants a baby sitter who is mature and at least 40 years of age. English punctuation is also important because it will also alter the meaning of the sentence. It is important that we punctuate well as it will make reading easier for the person reading our article. Hence, I am somewhat appalled when I came across a blog by piggymoopi who writes in his/her blog "there's nothing meaningful to write up here". Words just roll on and on, with little proper punctuation. Obviously Piggymoopi is quite prolific, judging by the diligent posting. Hence, why not make the most of it for your readers.?

If we complain about English grammar, try French. Then we will realise that we are spared from having to remember the gender of objects! With each gender, the verb also changes. Yet French is such a lovely language. It is really worthwhile to learn the language although it can be quite frustrating, because sometimes we spell what is not being pronounced, and yet, do not pronounce what we clearly see! I love the French words for mother and father-in-law. "Ma belle-mere" translated literally means my beautiful mother, and "Mon beau-pere" translated literally means my handsome father. Hence even when you are somewhat bald and toothless, with sagging breasts at age 85, you are still the beautiful mother! Isn't that wonderful?

The difficulty in Chinese is the writing. There is little grammar in Chinese. Although there are only four tones, we must be careful with getting the right tone or the whole meaning of the sentence is altered.

One needs excellent memory to learn Korean, because the Koreans like to use many words to say the same thing that other races could say in lesser words. For eg. we say "Bonuit" (good night in French) and Wan An (good night in Mandarin) but in Korean it is "Ahn nyong hee ju mu sip si yo". "Wo ai ni" (I love you in Mandarin) but the Koreans have to say it in seven words, "Na nun sa rang ham ni da".

My tenants and some Indian friends have taught me a little Hindhi. I am surprised that the adjectives will change when they are used to describe men and women. For eg. fat for ladies will be "moorthi" and for the men it will be "moortha".

Languages like Malay and Swahili are not so difficult to learn because you pronounce what you see. Hence most of my classmates had no problem passing our spelling tests. I specially like the word "Terima kasih" in Malay. It means "Thank you" but translate literally, it means "Receive love". Isn't it beautiful? I like Swahili because it is such a musical language.

I guess the trick of learning languages is to understand the uniqueness and hopefully, to also appreciate the beauty in every language. Acute interest in language learning so as to break all barriers in communication will help one to gradually master a language.

If all of us could pick up some words in other languages, it will add more warmth and a personal touch to communication. I remember how I went around greeting all the sales staff in Seoul when I went shopping. The staff were so thrilled with my greeting that many of them gave me little souvenirs as gifts - Korean flag, dolls, scarves, handkerchief and pen.

Cheers to better communication!

Gan Chau