Language

It's interesting how language skills develop. Allen says he notices that he thinks in English first, then Spanish and then struggles with Chinese. So, he finds himself flipping through words in his mind, in that sequence. Allen has been practicing his Spanish through the years since high school.

I, on the other hand, took French in high school which I STILL find completely useless and which, I STILL never use. However, I was exposed to sign language as a young child because our close neighbor and friend used sign language all the time. When I became a mother, I used sign language to communicate with my children at a very early age. My sign language skills are, shall we say, very LIMITED. However, sign language is the second language of choice I find myself using over here. I think in English and I [often] concurrently use sign language to try and communicate with people around me. I do it automatically and without thinking. Once I realized what I was doing, I tried to teach both our ayi and our driver the [limited] sign language I know. It seems to be working. They look in my eyes with a blank stare because they have no idea what I'm saying, but when they look at my hands, I see a glimmer of understanding.

It's funny that both Allen and I seem to be falling back on the only other languages we know. I also remember seeing a group of deaf Chinese people standing on the corner, "talking" the last time we visited. Maybe someone out there can help me out with this next question. Are the hand signals and sign language the same, universally, regardless of verbal language? If I knew more sign language, could I theoretically converse with a Chinese person using sign? Or, like any language, would there be different inflections, slangs, etc? Hmmm...

Which brings me to another topic...handicaps. China is not as evolved with their special needs programs like we are in the States. If anyone is thinking of moving here and they or their children have special needs or handicaps..this is not the place to move. Almost everywhere you go will have stairs, but not an elevator. Many places don't have ramps, etc. Schools do NOT implement special needs programs (as many of the schools already told us). This brings to mind the children here that DO have special needs...where are they? You don't see them on the streets or public areas. Why? Is there somewhere they can go, somewhere in China? How do people here handle that kind of thing?? Having kids, you learn that there are SOOOO many developmental delays and worse, afflictions that can happen in a child's life, especially the younger years. And with as many people and kids that are here in China, one may assume handicaps occur just as much, if not more, than anywhere else. I'm not sure why I don't see more "evidence" of that kind of thing here.

I'm so glad the United States is so advanced in their awareness of handicaps and people with special needs. It can make an already challenged life much easier with programs dedicated to that kind of thing. It makes me sad to think of anyone in that situation here in China, IF they don't have the resources to help those people.

Back to my original comments...I wonder if I will get to a point where I actually THINK in Chinese. I didn't realize I sometimes "think" in sign language because it's a silent language, not a verbal one. But, since I do it automatically sometimes, I must be thinking it as well. What little I now, that is! haha

One thing I do know is that if I want to learn Chinese, I will have to become a much more dedicated student. Like a Chinese student, learning English. This language is HARD and so very different than English. You may get a word that has several meanings just by the tone you use to say it. If I say something in Chinese and I use the wrong "tone", people have no idea what I'm saying. Wish all of us LUCK!! haha :) I already know that Allen is, by far, the better student. While I average learning a word a day (if I'm lucky), Allen is learning entire phrases already! Show-off! haha