Global languages

[koalathebear]

I was having lunch with Papa Koala today and as usual, our lunch was accompanied by much hand-waving, debate and discussion. As the restaurant owner brought us our coffee (I asked for two ordinary coffees and he brought us two flat whites :), he paused and said:

"I just HAVE to say something!" Then he paused and said: "It's just amazing. The

Comments

[ancarett]

Wow. I'm surprised at his comment. Maybe, charitably, he gets a lot of Chinese-speakers in his restaurant and has been conditioned to expect that someone of Chinese descent is going to speak Chinese.

I live someplace where you're likely to hear one of three languages (English, French or Anishnabee) spoken. Lots of "white"-looking people speak Anishnabee (it's fun to explain to visitors what that unusual language is that they're hearing if we walk by a class during discussion time). Many professors who are of African descent speak French as their daily language here on campus but so do lots of people of every ethnicity I see (we're a multilingual campus). We have a bunch of students from China who're studying here these days but we also have anglophone families of Chinese descent in town so I don't prejudge what language is going to come out of any stranger's mouth, regardless of visible ethnicity.

You can never tell by looking at anyone, what language they speak (well, maybe if they had that language in a slogan on their t-shirt). I just wouldn't ever assume or be surprised!

[koalathebear]

I'm a bit surprised as well because a restaurant owner should be used to all sorts of faces and accents and voices. Then again, to be charitable maybe it's like how I used to feel when I heard Ella Fitzgerald's speaking voice. When she sang it was deep, rich and full but when she spoke - she sounded like a wee little girl :) It's just a matter of expectations about what voice/sound should come out of what face. Nonetheless, it surprises me that the first moment of surprise should last for anything longer than a moment in Australia which is pretty multicultural.

I think I'm more frustrated when people try to insist that they can hear an accent in my voice simply because of the way I look when it's impossible because English is my native language :D

I also find it funny the way comprehension follows expectation. In China, frequently Chinese people will understand a foreigner speaking Mandarin simply because they believe they will not understand that person, even if that foreigner might speak better Mandarin than a Chinese-looking person. The same thing happens here in Australia with migrants. Sometimes because someone looks foreign, they have a weird experience that even though their English is totally clear - the listener thinks: "I'm going to have trouble understanding this person".