The Alphabet: ABCs

      Learning any language outside of the mother tongue is a strange and even mysterious endeavor. In my time abroad—now it’s been just under 10 years in non-English speaking countries—those wishing to acquire English are mostly lacking one element. That is, aside from the obvious lack of daily speaking opportunities, they all still can help themselves in one way. 

       This one element really comes down to realizing and accepting that most languages share many of the same basic sounds. While they are used in different situations and often times with varying rules for pronouncing some sounds only in certain positions, it is still useful to know that your mouth can already make the right shape. 

      Therefore, the ability to pronounce with improved accuracy actually just boils down to knowing when those sounds are made. It is a lot to take in at first. That’s why I recommend—after much teaching—learning the sounds of the target language. Learn that Alphabet and all the varying sounds each letter (or whatever writing system is used) makes. In English, we all know that most letters make at least two different sounds depending on the word in question. 

      For example, “A” in “cat” is different to the sound in “cake”. Or the “G” in “go” is different to that in “giraffe”. It goes without saying, after such realization, that this knowledge has already improved the speaker’s pronunciation and accuracy. 

       If we use German in another example we can already make great progress toward learning the Alphabet. Look at “G” (always used like the “G” in the English “go”) in “grün”—after making this discovery you can confidently pronounce “G” correctly in every situation. And now the vowel “A” —always as in the English “on” (our Short Vowel /O/ is like the German /A/)—in “Katze”. 

     Let’s also use some Mandarin in an example. For this one we get into another writing system. Even more special is the use of a “learner’s alphabet” (my own terminology) which is used mostly by children in countries such as Taiwan to learn pronunciation and reading. Most people refer to it by its first three “letters” (just as English speakers refer to the Alphabet as the “ABC’s”) thus, ㄅㄆㄇ. Take 不 or ㄅㄨˋ —> bu2 the ㄅ is always pronounced like the English “B”. “ㄨ” always makes the equivalent to the /oo/ as in “boot”.

       Knowing the Phonics greatly eases our brains allowing us to focus on the the truly hard stuff; Grammar. And if a language utilizes conjugation then you need even more brain power focusing on that. Remembering all the situations that are possible with changes to word endings is a real challenge. 

       Come back for more posts specifically for pronunciation help and tips. 

Language

Recently a friend of mine, also from the States, was waiting for me in the lobby of my apartment complex. It was in the evening. (That's when the friendly security guard is on duty.) They struck up a conversation while waiting. My friend sent me a message that he was waiting for me downstairs. 

As I approached the lobby I could see that they were talking. The security guard was duly impressed with my friend's ability to fluently speak Chinese. 

Here, a slight background about my friend and why he speaks so well. He has a love for language and an open mind for trying it out. He has lived in Taiwan for a little longer than I have and even works with Taiwanese in a professional setting. That is, he is communicating in Chinese at a high-level day in and day out. 

Back to the story: 

My friend turns to greet me. I wave greetings to the security guard and my friend, whereupon the guard makes the anticipated comments of praise about the foreigner's fluent and quite normal-sounding Chinese. "Yes, yes," I say in Chinese. "He is very good," I continue in Chinese.

Then the guard, nice guy, but this sort of thing happens to me frequently and gets under my skin and always has, remarks about my Chinese ability. "His Chinese," pointing at me, "is not good," he chuckles. 

Yes, that's true. My Chinese is not good. But why must we compare? I suppose I should have a better attitude about it. I should let it in one ear and out the other, especially given my attitude toward learning it. I decided that I would no longer try to acquire it, rather I would maintain and get along. 

It goes deeper than that really, but that's a story for another time.

Taiwan and Response to the Disease

The past three months have been quite the ordeal. The world is in turmoil and chaos. A virulent disease has virtually brought the modern world to its knees. For now, the foreseeable future, much is uncertain.

Here in Taiwan, life is not quite normal. It is, however, continuing in a manner that makes recent ways of earning and living somewhat normal.

Other than most people wearing face masks and being asked to spritz your hands with alcohol everywhere you go, it goes. One thing that is also affecting us adversely is the panic that we humans naturally fall into. Toilet paper, paper towels, face masks, hand sanitizer, and instant noodles have all but disappeared from the shelves!

Despite the relative normalcy in our lives here, people have responded to the news with panic. Hoarding is rampant and lines to get any of the above-mentioned supplies are long. You must line up to get a quota of face masks (you must present your national health Care ID). TP, and paper towels are almost impossible to find.

On a positive note, jobs are fairly consistent: school continues as normal (minus the initial two extra weeks of Lunar New Year Holiday), companies continue (some of them have opted for work from home or some version of that), private studios seem to have a normal or almost normal level of students.

Some group classes, especially with children, have been canceled indefinitely. The small children like to touch everything they see, which makes it difficult to keep hands, et al, clean and sanitized. That makes sense. Groups like choirs have also canceled gathering.

Fortunately, the number of cases continues to be relatively low compared to the rest of the world. The government in Taiwan saw the resemblance to SARS--from back in 2003--and acted decisively. I am happy they did it. It may have interrupted lives for two weeks but we can see the results and it looks fairly promising. Whereas the rest of the world ignored it and the results look grim and uncertain.

I do wish comfort and hope to all those who have been affected by this disease.