I started this blog nearly 9 years ago but never completed/published.
Languages is a very important and powerful tool in our daily lives. It is the means and complex system of communicating to one another our thoughts, ideas, and basic needs.
Being more of an engineer and not a linguist, I draw on my experiences as an engineer to analyze how people speak in a non-science way. Just listen. Talk to people. How do they communicate?
For a while now, I have this theory that learning a mother tongue (as well as home culture) can partially shape someone's psychology. (Genetics and environment can be another factor in psychology.)
Take for instance, this TEDx talk... In a practical example, Phuc Tran (yes, that is his name) used his knowledge of the Vietnamese language and English as well to compare the differences on grammar but more importantly, how grammar effects how we think about past, present, and future, and the "what if's". It seems that in Vietnamese, there is no "would be, could be, should be" scenarios. It's about, "This is my life, I'm going to live it." There is no "what if's." What if our lives did not run on "would be, could be, should be"? It's really a life of, "This is how it is!"
I look back on my Chinese language. And realize some differences as well. For starters, Chinese doesn't conjugate verbs. Timing (yesterday, today, tomorrow, now, later) is usually placed in the sentence to indicate when something is doing when. Okay, that might be a minor thing. However, there are many accents and many ways and nuances of phrasing sentences in the Chinese language.
When I listen to Chinese from mainland speak Mandarin, it is very sing-songy. There is a bounce and rhythm to their speech patterns suggesting a history of past art, poetry, and singing in the the country. But in some ways too, a carry-over of metaphors can be heard in their speech. I find that many from the mainland like to pepper their speech, not shaming themselves in anyway and bring dishonor to themselves or their families or even admitting wrong. Please note, I'm being very general. Because I do know many Chinese who are more "Western" in their thinking.
But how does all of this play into their psychology? Much like the Vietnamese, they tend to settle for "it is what it is". For example, if one is going through school and they are labeled or set to go through school in math and science and later going through engineering. That's it. That's their course and there is no turning back. Or questioning themselves of "What if I did this? Could I have been a chemist?" Even if later they may find out they are horribly bad at engineering, there is no real turning back.
Then you start to segue to Cantonese. The Cantonese people (Southern China, around Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangzhou) have the most exposure to the British, Portuguese, and Western culture. If you can sit with a person from Hong Kong, their speech is very different. It is what you may call "more Western". Their language does include the "what if's" that Westerners are more used to. Although Hong Kong still has some form of British system in education, their thoughts and language kind of steer their course more so than what a test tells them to do.
Being more of an engineer and not a linguist, I draw on my experiences as an engineer to analyze how people speak in a non-science way. Just listen. Talk to people. How do they communicate?
For a while now, I have this theory that learning a mother tongue (as well as home culture) can partially shape someone's psychology. (Genetics and environment can be another factor in psychology.)
Take for instance, this TEDx talk... In a practical example, Phuc Tran (yes, that is his name) used his knowledge of the Vietnamese language and English as well to compare the differences on grammar but more importantly, how grammar effects how we think about past, present, and future, and the "what if's". It seems that in Vietnamese, there is no "would be, could be, should be" scenarios. It's about, "This is my life, I'm going to live it." There is no "what if's." What if our lives did not run on "would be, could be, should be"? It's really a life of, "This is how it is!"
I look back on my Chinese language. And realize some differences as well. For starters, Chinese doesn't conjugate verbs. Timing (yesterday, today, tomorrow, now, later) is usually placed in the sentence to indicate when something is doing when. Okay, that might be a minor thing. However, there are many accents and many ways and nuances of phrasing sentences in the Chinese language.
When I listen to Chinese from mainland speak Mandarin, it is very sing-songy. There is a bounce and rhythm to their speech patterns suggesting a history of past art, poetry, and singing in the the country. But in some ways too, a carry-over of metaphors can be heard in their speech. I find that many from the mainland like to pepper their speech, not shaming themselves in anyway and bring dishonor to themselves or their families or even admitting wrong. Please note, I'm being very general. Because I do know many Chinese who are more "Western" in their thinking.
But how does all of this play into their psychology? Much like the Vietnamese, they tend to settle for "it is what it is". For example, if one is going through school and they are labeled or set to go through school in math and science and later going through engineering. That's it. That's their course and there is no turning back. Or questioning themselves of "What if I did this? Could I have been a chemist?" Even if later they may find out they are horribly bad at engineering, there is no real turning back.
Then you start to segue to Cantonese. The Cantonese people (Southern China, around Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangzhou) have the most exposure to the British, Portuguese, and Western culture. If you can sit with a person from Hong Kong, their speech is very different. It is what you may call "more Western". Their language does include the "what if's" that Westerners are more used to. Although Hong Kong still has some form of British system in education, their thoughts and language kind of steer their course more so than what a test tells them to do.
Language is very interesting to study. I would like to learn more about other languages and how culture shaped language and vice versa.
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