How I Helped my Chinese Family with their English

Oftentimes, it’s difficult to learn a new language, let alone learning how to converse in it fluently. As a Chinese American with immigrant parents and close friends who are from China, I notice that they struggle with certain aspects of English. Because I learned the fundamentals of the Chinese language when I was young, I am able to understand why individuals like my parents struggle to learn English. My parents still heavily rely on me to help them to speak better English. My parents have improved their English capabilities tremendously since moving to America. Despite this, they still often get words mixed up and struggle with grammar and translations. By using my knowledge of the Chinese language, I am able to help them develop their conversational English skills.

To successfully assist them, I needed to develop a deeper understanding of the process of learning English as a native Chinese speaker. I wanted to discover more about their struggles to translate the language, allowing me to better help them in areas that they experience difficulty. After consulting with them, I discovered that they believe the hardest aspects of learning English are pronunciation and grammar. This is not surprising, as these tend to be the most challenging elements to comprehend when learning a new language.

But how did my understanding of the Chinese language help me teach my parents English? Although my parents struggle with conversations because of grammatical and pronunciation issues, I still understand what they are trying to articulate. For instance, one reason I believe they struggle with grammar is due to plural forms in the English Language. I learned early on that in the Chinese language there are no plural words. Knowing this, I  introduced my parents to the concepts of plurals and how to use them correctly. Although they still struggle, learning about the plural forms of words has helped them progress tremendously. As for pronunciation, something essential I learned in Chinese school is that the tone changes the meanings of words. While the tone is still important while speaking English, its purpose is to show emotion rather than changing the meaning of the words themselves. This disparity prompted me to teach my parents how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet and sentences. Learning the different pronunciations enabled them to practice sounding out words they had difficulty with before.

Learning Chinese has indirectly benefited my life in many ways that I didn’t envision. Many obstacles inevitably come with learning new languages. Understanding the fundamentals of the Chinese language has enabled me to understand my parents better, help my parents develop more effective English skills, and has enhanced my relationship with my parents. The ability to understand the differences between the two languages was pivotal in this process.