Being bilingual is honestly one of the things I’m most grateful for. When I say being bilingual I don’t mean just being able to speak both languages, but being proficient in both languages. Growing up, I hated going to Chinese school. Instead of the Saturday morning cartoons as a child I had my dreadful Chinese classes. I used to think to myself: “Why do I have to learn this language? I’m never going to use it anyways.” Looking back at that, I was so naive and immature. Honestly, what kept me going was the question my mom asked me one day when I was complaining before going to Chinese school: “Do you want to be a person of Chinese descent that doesn’t know how to speak Chinese?” This motivated me to finish Chinese school and altogether interested me in learning the Chinese language a lot more. Being fluent in Chinese has allowed me not only to connect to my roots, but has opened up so many more opportunities for me in the future to work and to live in China. I used to not enjoy speaking Chinese, I would speak as little Chinese as I could. Now, I love speaking Chinese; I’d say that around 90% of my conversations with my mother are in Chinese. I can now understand my Mom so much more. It’s not because of the fact that she can’t speak English well; it’s because of the fact that people can express themselves so much better in their native tongue. Every time I go to China there is no language barrier for me and it feels somewhat like a home that I haven’t been to in a long time. I can speak to my family and also interact with people I don’t know. I would feel perfectly fine if I were to live in China and I think that has opened a lot of doors for my future now that China has so many career opportunities now. My parents and I laugh when we talk about how I hated Chinese school so much and I tell them how grateful I am that they made me learn the language. It’s safe to say that learning Chinese was one of the greatest decisions of my life.
Image: Maple Bear Bilingual Immersion, CCo Public Domain, Google Images.
Image: Maple Bear Bilingual Immersion, CCo Public Domain, Google Images.