Bridging the Language Gap

If you were afraid I fell of the face of the earth, fear not. I’m currently in Montreal. My grandfather is in the hospital, but good news is today is a better day then yesterday. It isn’t the first time someone in the family has been sick, however it is the first time that I have been old/mature enough to lend a hand. While my uncle is in the hospital with my grandfather, I’m at home with my grandma hanging out, helping out around the house, and in the garden. (We planted some beans all neat in a row. It was stupid cute.) My chief responsibility is and doing what I love best…cooking up a storm.

At first I was a little worried about the language barrier. I believe my grandmother and I share a combined vocabulary of 30 phrases.

Her English includes: Hello. Bye- Bye. No. Ok. Thank you. Doctor. TV. Cartoon. Pizza. Chocolate. Shopping. Good Night.

My Chinese: Hello. How are you? Yes. No. I don’t understand. You want? You eat? Enough? This one? No thanks, I’m full. Rice. Oatmeal. Bread. Vegetable. Water. Tea. Spicy. Hot. Shower. Play. Friend. I’m going out. I’m going to sleep. No he didn’t come home yet.

I recently learned, “my stomach hurts, you’re crazy! and that’s stupid.”

Apparently these are all the phrases you need to communicate. The rest of the message can be conveyed with a combination of pointing, miming, showing, and laughing.