Chinese

Last semester I lived in the dorms and my nextdoor neighbor was Chinese. Taking this class has given me a new perspective when listening to him talk on the phone. I don’t understand a word he says, but I always know whether he is speaking to his mom, dad, or a friend. Listening to words that to me mean nothing emphasizes tonality and pace. The Chinese language further underscores these through its ability to flow in a way English cannot. When he speaks to his mother, he assumes a respectful tone, and although he can get carried away, his pace is much slower and his tone less excited. When speaking to his friends, the words he uses are much shorter, suggesting they are slang –or at least less formal diction. Conversations with his father lay somewhere in between formality and unchecked conversation. It is interesting that I never recognized his phone conversations as such striking examples of language’s devices, but before 337 I was unwashed.