Some of what she says rings very true, but several things are factually totally wrong. She mentions living in Beaconsfield for a while. The experience is still quite raw, or at least, her writing of it. Here's a long piece she wrote for The Guardian in 2017, looking back at her early days in the UK. The Even Truer Version, WIth Hindsight and an Update Shortly afterwards, when I learned some Mandarin, I was grateful for that: the tones were very hard to distinguish, but at least the grammar was regular and easy - almost the opposite to dabbling in French, Spanish, or Italian. One I noted at the time I read it was that verbs don't have tenses in Chinese in the same way as English and many other languages, just regular prefixes and suffixes. There are many interesting insights into the differences between the two languages, as well as the two cultures, and indeed how language differences perhaps even frame the cultural differences. The hook for each brief chapter is a new word and its definition - not just the literal definition, but how her understanding of it relates to her gradual comprehension of British life. It's written in broken English, which gradually improves. Picture: Xiaolu as a new arrival in London in 2002, outside the Houses of Parliament (from The Guardian) That sense of being adrift and uncomprehending is beautifully conveyed. She knew little about her destination, and felt understandably lost and alien when she arrived. It was published in 2007, five years after the author came to the UK on an educational scholarship awarded by The British Council. This is the semi-fictionalised diary of a 24 year old Chinese woman coming to London to learn English.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |