In China, I've always been a "special needs" person. Up to now, it's like I'm deaf and mute, plus illiterate. People say things to me, and I try to read their lips but can't understand (no matter how loudly they shout). They draw words on their hands or on paper, and that doesn't help either. Only basic gestures work. At McDonalds I literally use a deaf person's picture menu to order food. I often point and grunt. So I came to language school.
But in language school, I still feel like I'm special ed. We do "speech therapy" every day, repeating sounds and tones and still messing them up, while trying to unlearn bad habits we've acquired. Often we're still unable to twist our tongues into the proper shapes. We write worse than pre-schoolers, and have to buy special paper first graders use to learn to write. Literacy still escapes us; our sight words are few. We have "directed study hall" on Monday mornings to set us straight. Most of us can't even write our names yet (even pronouncing our own Chinese name is still hard).
The good thing is these years in China have given me a whole new level of compassion for those who are alienated due to language issues. I understand immigrants who come to the US and struggle for years to learn English. I get how hard it is to be in school and not be able to read or write. Hopefully this compassion translates into gentleness and patience in my life always, and may I not forget the lessons this time has taught me.
But in language school, I still feel like I'm special ed. We do "speech therapy" every day, repeating sounds and tones and still messing them up, while trying to unlearn bad habits we've acquired. Often we're still unable to twist our tongues into the proper shapes. We write worse than pre-schoolers, and have to buy special paper first graders use to learn to write. Literacy still escapes us; our sight words are few. We have "directed study hall" on Monday mornings to set us straight. Most of us can't even write our names yet (even pronouncing our own Chinese name is still hard).
The good thing is these years in China have given me a whole new level of compassion for those who are alienated due to language issues. I understand immigrants who come to the US and struggle for years to learn English. I get how hard it is to be in school and not be able to read or write. Hopefully this compassion translates into gentleness and patience in my life always, and may I not forget the lessons this time has taught me.
