This week I have had the pleasure of teaching Grade 5 and Grade 6 classes, although I was not sure how it would be with the older students, as I am usually better adapted to working with young children, it was a really fun week and I got to see them learn a little bit more and use their imaginations!

This week I have been contemplating the importance that language has, especially within my own life. Growing up speaking English, it has always been easy I suppose, whenever you go on holiday you are always safe in the knowledge that someone somewhere will speak English. Even in more rural parts of France, I have never felt out of my depths because of my ability to speak French. I was always able to convey my meaning and to understand what the other people were talking about. But, you see here it is different. Here I am not understood by the majority of people and I am not able to understand them in return. For me, the lack of understanding of the Chinese language has rendered myself hindered in certain areas. I am unable to converse and make friends with people my own age. I am unable to search online, or read books or understand the television. I cannot talk to the local children in my complex, or look to the wisdom of the elderly. I find myself unable to tell people that I like their clothes or that they look beautiful, or even thank people for the kindness that is in their hearts. For me, there is a barrier because of the language.

So language learning is so extremely important. With these difficulties, I find myself wishing that I had learned Chinese while I was small, that maybe I could have learned it while I was a childor at school. Even wishing that I had gone to classes before I had left England so that I could at least talk and understand people.

Yet, even with these barriers it has given me a drive to teach these students the language, so that if they ever go to another country, they will be able to speak and understand the people around them. They will be able to make friends and converse and be able to express themselves. That is the beauty of language! That you will not be rendered mute among around a crowd of foreigners but that you can join in and have your own opinion on things. Language is a beautiful thing, frustrating when you cannot understand, but still a beautiful thing that is able to connect people within communities and further afield. So for me, I'm starting with the basics, I'm trying to learn a little everyday so that maybe one day I will be able to converse in Chinese and not just in English.