“Eat da broccoli—make you jump high-uh”

There are few things I love more than accents. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a bigot, nor am I particularly ignorant, I just love the way that English sounds when it is spoken with strange inflections. Those who know me well will likely have some kind of memory of me speaking with a French accent; my love for them almost certainly had something to do with my desire to travel to Europe last summer. It doesn’t even have to be from a foreigner though—Southern accents fit my fancy too. Whenever my aunt says “ya’ll”, for example, I can’t help but giggle to myself. I love her dearly, of course, but that will never stop me from making fun of her drawl.

The same holds true for Chinese accents. Not making fun of them, just my love for them. I’ve never lived amongst a large population of Asian people before, so my exposure up until this point has been relatively minimal. I remember my 1 Symphony neighbor (Oh, how I’ll miss that mouse-infested apartment building…) telling me about his plans to teach English overseas. Or as he put it, he was going to “teach Engrish” to schoolchildren in Asia. What a noble cause.

Sadly, I haven’t actually heard anyone refer to it as “Engrish” yet. It’d make my day, but the Chinese whom I have the most contact with have an excellent grasp on the language. My roommate, “Figo”, is a wonderful example of this. His English is fantastic, and his grammar is almost better than mine. He also enjoys video games, magic tricks, and long walks on the beach (and he’s fresh on the market, ladies!). Kidding, he’s a great guy who has been a huge asset to me and has already helped teach me the language. Actually, only joking about the “long walks on the beach” part—the other two activities were the first things he told me about himself. He and I have already had several discussions about the differences between adolescents in China and the US…

Once again, I’ve strayed from my point. My point being, you ask?

That I’m learning the basics of Mandarin?

That my roommate and I are getting along nicely?

Nay. Those are both true, but it’s much simpler than that: while I may love being able to speak English with people in Shanghai (it makes my life easier), I love hearing them speak English even more.

…

And that just makes me a good listener, right?

Right.

Zai jian,

Jhw