Awkward

Today, one of my Hong Kong friends and work companions asked an ETA peer a question about a word.  She turned immediately and said, ‘Bryan, explain what fellatio is...’

Yes.  Fellatio.  I cannot begin to describe the number of times really awkward words arrive from super nice, well meaning, and completely naive Hong Kong girls.  I’ve been asked to explain horny, boner,  and words unfit for print.  Now, I’m foul and lewd.  I know it.  I’ve said things that make hardened criminals curl their lips, that burn the ears and race to the bottom of acceptable utterances.   I’m with Frank Zappa on censorship.   But nothing on this planet will make me blush faster than the look of horror and shock when you explain what it is to them.  The clasp of the mouth, their hair whipping in front of their face as they turn away or shirk backward, and the gasp or giggle.

Even when they are not awkward, how do you explain what a ‘crush’ is to someone who has no word for it in their language?  How about flirting?  They all come down to this word, love or affection, which they then lump together despite their nuances and subtleties and leaves them with a confused definition that doesn’t help.  So many words seem to come into this territory  – the territory of shades and colors – that my attempts to explain them is met with my own confusion and bewilderment.  Give me a grammar problem any day… 

When you lose a language…

A topic that often comes up in my curriculum and pedagogy courses is Medium of Instruction. Prior to the 1997 handover, English was the favored language of education [EMI] in primary and secondary schools.    After the handover, a mess occurred.  Some schools switched to teaching in Chinese [CMI] while a few kept English.  Regardless of the problems of language learning this created, it quickly resulted in EMI schools rising to the top of rankings and desire of parents – particularly because the universities of Hong Kong [namely HKU] teach in English.  English was, and often still is, viewed as the language to success in Hong Kong.  But with the ever growing influence of Mainland China in the world, a newfound identity, and a desire to restore ties with the Mainland, Putongua [Mandarin] has also become a medium of instruction in some primary schools.  So, EMI & PMI & CMI…students could potientially recieve their education through three different languages.   

Well, “three” different languages in a way.  Cantonese and Putongua have an odd relationship.  Cantonese speakers always seem down on the language.    I’ve heard officials from the government say Cantonese is only a dialect.  When I tell them I am learning they just say, “Oh…learn Mandarin.”  They say that Cantonese has no writing, despite the fact when I teach and use a Cantonese dictionary to help Putongua speakers build vocabulary they shake their head and say, “um..that’s Cantonese.”  Regardless of my feelings about the categorization of Cantonese as language or whatnot, this story gets a little more interesting.

Based on the student’s responses on this day, I posed a question: What if Hong Kong schools stopped using Cantonese as a medium of instruction?  What if Hong Kong officials decided to only teach in PMI and EMI?  Their answer baffled me.  They would be perfectly fine with it, whatever needs to be done so that their kids can make money.  I asked if they saw any problem with this – if it might be a problem if their kids or grandkids didn’t know Cantonese?  Aside from problems communicating with them, no problem at all.  In the end, only one student said that she thought it would be a little sad if the Cantonese language died out.

Having taught in areas where languages are dying and people are desparately trying to preserve their cultures against an ever encroaching world, this really struck me.  I found myself defending Cantonese in the class.  I’ve never been in a place where a group of people said their native language wasn’t important.  I know that this isn’t probably the feeling of the majority of Hong Kongers, but an entire class decided it would be ok to lose their language if it meant securing economic prosperity.  Even after writing this, I’m still flabergasted.  It just makes me sad.

Language and food…

I wrote last about following in the footsteps of Bourdain.  One thing I forgot to mention is that none of those places speak English or have English menus.  This seems to be an ever present marker of great food in my travels. When I first arrived in Hong Kong, I stuck to the English offerings which gave me a sense of what I was going to get – and I had, frankly, a mediocre food experience.  While the normal/everyday offerings [and even fast food] were above the standard, I wondered – where is all this fantastic Hong Kong food?  Where is the drop your mouth, thank the food gods, happiness on a platter food?

The answer is that the places with that food are often the places with no translator, no translations, and are near something [disposal area, car mechanic, sketchily washed dishes, etc] that you wish was not near the food you are about to put in your mouth. Sometimes, it seems, you just have to get out of your comfort zone to get some good eats – either language or environment.

Illustrating the language issue – while in Japan, Shu Lan and I randomly stumbled into a restaurant.  We, driven by our starvation, had accidentally gone to the wrong floor [thinking we were at the place with the English menu advertised outside].  When we sat, the menu was written in a calligraphy Japanese, and all the waiters spoke Japanese.  All had assumed Shu Lan could speak it too, hence why they didn’t say anything at the door.  So, unable to read a single item on the menu – Shu Lan just asked the waiter to bring us two dishes he liked.  The experience was one of the best meals we had in Japan.

So, if you are in Tokyo, seek out Rinka. I would give better directions [it is in the Shinjunku district] but I seriously doubt I could find it again.  Here are some photos from that experience:

New vocabulary…

Last week was full of proofreading papers, as many students here have papers due during the same sessions. In addition to some simply odd language choices (ex. “we need to create a puddle of knowledge-based manpower”), occasionally the students pulled a new word that I have never seen (or a word I have rarely seen) in my 26 years of English. Often, these are the result of blind reliance on translator dictionaries or by accidental mistype (spelling the word closely to the intended one) and a digital spellchecker giving them the gem.

Among my favorites:

Mammonism – Devotion to the pursuit of riches.

Abecedarian – 1. Of or pertaining to the alphabet; marked with the alphabet; arranged in alphabetical order, as abecedarian psalms, like the 119th.2. Occupied in learning the alphabet, or pertaining to one so occupied.3. One engaged in teaching the alphabet and merest rudiments of instruction.

To Mug up – 1. intr. To read or study in a concentrated manner. Now freq. with up (on a subject, book, etc.); also formerly with away at, on at.

Often, they are misused and unintended – but they always remind me of the richness of English and the large vocabulary that we rarely use on a daily basis.  While I was in Bulgaria,  this occured fairly frequently.  Once a friend gave me directions to an art museum saying, “Turn by the palace of justice,” which simply made me chuckle because Americans would never describe a ‘courthouse’ as a ‘palace.’  Another time, when I asked why she had no pictures hanging on the walls, said ‘It is forbidden.’  The thought of checking out a new apartment and asking the landlord about placing things on the wall and s/he booming ‘it is FORBIDDEN!’ still makes me smile!