What's your "home" language?

When you're at home, what language do you speak? Perhaps it is English, or whatever is the national language of your nation. But, it may not be "proper" or "grammatically correct". What you speak is simply what only your own family understands. Sometimes it could be very correct English, but only your family knows exactly what you're trying to say because of the nuances that accompany your words.

The writer of this letter to the Forum Page of the newspaper brought up two important points:
1. We may all have studied in English-medium schools and use English very comfortably in our daily lives, but the moment we meet someone who speaks our "home" language, we revert immediately to that language.
2. To succeed in doing business in Guangzhou or Hainan, China, today, proficiency in Cantonese or Hainanese is key.

I remember the first time I met my friend from Hong Kong. We were in New York attending a conference, followed by a Board Meeting. She knew I was from Singapore. She started speaking to me in English. Then I said to her in Cantonese, "I can speak Cantonese. I am Cantonese." Suddenly, her face lit up and she got really chatty. Today, when we meet or talk over the phone, we communicate in a mixture of Cantonese and English. For the both of us, this is our "home" language. It also gave her a sense of comfort and reassurance that she could ask me in case she didn't understand or catch the accents of the other international members of the Board.

A few years ago, natives of Hong Kong and Guangzhou organised protests against the Chinese government's decision to increase broadcasting of TV programmes in Mandarin, as opposed to Cantonese (the local dialect). Language aside, many other underlying issues are involved. Why would a small protest make the news around the world? Simply because most of the Chinese immigrants in western nations are Cantonese. This affects them too!

The language of our home and growing up years is the language of our heart. Talk to me in this language and you've unlocked my heart and home to you, a stranger. We are generally a lot more "culturalistic" (as opposed to "nationalistic") than we care to admit.

Want to touch my heart, learn my language.

Happy learning!

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