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January 09, 2006
Language of The Heart
Going to Hong Kong and the various Chinatowns in North America has always been an emotional experience for me. It's like going home, going home to my childhood. I probably learned/heard Cantonese way before I started Mandarin in Kindergarten. My childhood was filled with Cantonese and its expletives, exaggerated expressions of shock and concern and constant jibbering in the dialect at the various nooks of Singapore's Chinatown and more so, People's Park.
Walking along the dirty streets of Chinatowns and Hong Kong, and listening to Cantonese (not English) as the common language fills me with a sense of utmost nostalgia. I always miss my grandpa when I'm away.
So I guess I'm a little concerned - concerned when this article reads that the langauge of my memory, my childhood, is fading and surpassed by the language of my peril - Mandarin. I sure hope not.
Posted by lainey at January 9, 2006 12:39 PM