Wednesday, October 16, 2013
I have an astonishing revelation.
This is the backstory:
I remember, when I was 5,
that I did well in English and Chinese.
I remember doing well up till when I was 7.
That was when I entered primary school.
I remember... Starting to mess up and watching my grades drop,
and no one had to tell me that I had to choose.
I just did.
I remember very vividly,
the day I told myself, as a 7 year old kid
"Rachel, choose between English or Chinese and never look back."
I remember thinking of the relevancy of each language in my life (present and future),
and decided on English..
And here I am, 15 years later,
studying linguistics and the English language.
(Never looked back)
(Though I still, with all my heart, wish that I can have both languages under my belt)
Isn't it strange how one thought as a child could affect the older self so many years later?
What is more astonishing though,
(and this is why I'm writing this now)
is that a certified linguist is supporting my thought from when I was a 7 year old child!
From The Infinite Gift by Charles Yang,
"In other words, children learn a language by unlearning all other possible languages."
How interesting!
And how, even more fascinating, is the fact that a child can actually be aware and choose.
*pauses*
Well,
this book is one of my main texts this semester.
At least it isn't boring.
I'll go back to studying now.
*dives back into the world of linguistics*
